Aasif~Its My View~

Office on Weekends.

2009-07-26T19:25:00.000+05:30

One thing I always liked about when I was in school as well as in college was Friday afternoons. Coz that’s the day the tots of weekends wud pop out of mind and have series of plans like Cricket, Movies, Friends, Hang out and lots more. But coming into office the focus has really shifted. My work demands me come on Weekends too and Thank god it’s not every week. Its jus on Shift basis and you get weekday comp off if ya do come on weekends. But that doesn’t really mean too much as always weekend hols are more fun than the one on weekdays. Dunno why but my mindset is fixed on it. And about coming office on weekends, it’s almost a different story. You find empty cabins and you end being you're the only person in the whole module. AC's off and you hunt for fans to keep ya away from heat and sweat. A mood of silence prevails over our keyboard strokes will be the only noise that wud be heard. But to keep it bit lively I turn on my Music player in my Nokia 7210 and hear over the favorite beats of mine. Thanks to technology we almost do everything with it.
But I get a lot of spare time in weekends at office not like busy days I have durin my weekdays. Only a little bit of work but I had to hang arnd from 9 to 6 jus to ensure everything goes on well. So what do I do durin the spare time? Almost do everything I cud. Read a book, Browse thro articles over the net, fix up templates for weekday jobs jus to make my work easy for the rest of my week, And of course Blog!!! I hardly find time to do it but I don’t want to leave it as it increases my writing skills. So I really don’t know what to say about Office on Weekdays... Is it a boon or Bane???

JAI JAWAN

2009-07-26T19:24:00.002+05:30

I was 12 yrs old to be precise when dis thing happened. Until then I never knew that a place called KARGIL existed. At that age all I knew was India was on war with Pakistan. Have faint remembrance of watching news as dad was glued onto newspaper and news channels to keep track of the events happened. And finally the news came out as India has won the war. My mind pondered what war all about is and what for it is being deployed. At that age I came to a conclusion that it’s an outburst by two countries over some issue and they fight with modern day weapons like guns and missiles. And India won and celebrated just like a victory celebrated over a cricket match that India had won.

But today the 10th anniversary of the event saw series of coverage’s by media regarding the event. Saw a special show by NDTV at my office durin lunch break (Yup office on Sundays!!! Coming up in the next post). Saw all the happenings all throughout the war and watched the Real Heroes toiling hard to safeguard our nation. Knowingly or unknowingly tears popped out of my eyes when the jawans recollected the incidents, and also about their fellow colleagues who had lost their life for the nation. There was one jawan when asked about his fear for death he just said ' Death is nothing but just a part of Life ‘. Hats off Jawans. You're the real heroes. I even recollected an incident that I recently read in a book. The book was all about the series of happenings in Mumbai on November 26th 2008 (The day which almost none of the Indians would forget). The incident happened when The Taj Hotel was under siege. There were a group of ppl who were held up in the kitchen and they were trying escape through the emergency exit but feared going out as gun shots were still heard nearby. A commando arrived at the spot started leading them out from danger. But everyone feared that they might get shot as the gun battle was going on very nearby. Seeing their fears the Commando shouted 'Listen Everybody!! No worries THE FIRST BULLET WOULD GO THROUGH MY BODY I'M LEADING THE WAY FOLLOW ME'. I had no words to express after reading this. We salute you for all your Deeds.

And amidst all this thoughts one more thing popped out in my mind. Why all these things happen??? . It would have been nice if there aren’t any conflicts amidst any courtiers. But when will it happen? Bla bla.... Huh!!! I'm grown up now that’s the problem... We think too much...

From an INFOSCION to a POLITICION

2009-07-26T19:21:00.002+05:30

Nandan Nilekani in his new avatar as a Cabinet Minister had penned hisexperience after his first day in the Parliament. The last entrystopped when the House was just about to begin. Let’s see whathappened thereafter….“The House was in pin drop silence.. I was brimming with anticipationand excitement!!!! Manmohan had informed me that my introduction wasone of the important points of the agenda. I hoped that I will be ableto make my speech properly. After so many interviews and conferences,I was nervous today!!!! After the Speaker indicated that theproceedings of the House could begin, Manmohan formally introduced meto the entire House. He mentioned that as the head of the UniqueIdentification Authority of India, I was responsible to ensure thateach and every Indian had a digital smart card as a proof of hisexistence.

Manmohan spoke about why I was selected and also some references tothe various projects executed by me in Infosys were mentioned. TheHouse listened with rapt attention. I was asked to say a few words andI did exactly the same!!! I thanked the Government of India for havinggiven me this opportunity and I assured the House that I would striveto successfully deliver this project. The Speaker then formallyinducted me into the House and before the proceedings could move anyforward, there was a small commotion on the other side of the hall.It was Minister of Textiles who had a comment to make before the nextpoint on the agenda. He made a request that I should be attired in amore austere way instead of a flashy suit. It did not go well with theimage of a minister who should live to serve the common man and shouldbe less ostentatious in his habits. I stood up to reply. I offered myapologies to the Honourable Minister and assured that I shall be in amore acceptable dress next time. I felt that he was right. We alsoused to have corporate dress code in Infosys. So it's here as well!!!!I sat down and felt somebody nudging me. I turned around and to mysurprise; it was the former Indian skipper and one of my favouritebatsman Mohd. Azharuddin.

I remembered that he had recently won theelections. I smiled at him and mentioned to him that I used to likehis game very much, shaking his hand. No Rolex, I noticed. Azhar toldme that he would “fix” me an appointment with an Italian designer whohad designed his dapper Kurta suit. An Italian designer in Milan doingKurtas!!!!! I made a note of this and reminded myself to give thisexample to Friedman for his next book,” The World Markets areflattened”.Since there was no doubt about the “Fixational” capacities of Azhar, Itold him to give me the details and I would consider.

The proceedingsof the House went on with numerous bills being debated and passed as Isat as a passive audience waiting for my project’s turn to come up..After the lunch break, it was the moment for me!!!!MY PROJECT”S FIRST REVIEW CAME UP FOR PRESENTATION.I was at sea. My laptop did not have any reserve power. I went toManmohan and apprised him of the situation. I was sweating. He calmlyreplied that this would not be a cause of concern. I was flummoxed!!!!The Speaker asked me to explain to the House on what were my plans forthe Unique Identity Project. I replied that I have a plan prepared for30-60-90-120 days’ milestones and I have presentation to make forwhich I need a power socket, a projector and a screen. I had no ideawhat was going to happen after this.The next couple of minutes were a complete jolt for me. I wascompletely in a tizzy. Let me just summarize what happened. A JointCabinet Secretary Committee was set up to judge the feasibility of myrequest. The Under Secretaries for the Ministries of Power, IT andBroadcasting will prepare a Viability Report after scrutinizingNational Security threats to my request. This was because the powersocket comes under Power, laptop comes under IT and projector comesunder Broadcasting.

I have also been told to reconsider my timelinesof 30-60-90 days and start thinking in terms of years. Probably, theyare right. I did not have the foresight in this matter.The summary of the issue is that I need to come up with a moreinclusive, democratic, comprehensive long term plan for this projectto be executed over the next five years. I have also been given apresentation slot 3 months from now (by which the issues related tothe power cord etc will also be resolved). I am filled with mixedreactions. I was planning for a quick resolution; the management wantsa strategic solution.

I come out of the House and text Murthy.“You won’t believe it but these guys work just like us. I am on aNATIONAL BENCH for the next three months!!!!!!!!”

Why they are named so??????????

2009-07-13T21:39:00.002+05:30

Yahoo!
The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book Gulliver's Travels. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos ie.. it stands for Y et A nother H ierarchical O fficious O racle

Xerox
The Greek root "xer" means dry. The inventor, Chestor Carlson, named his product Xerox as it was dry copying, markedly different from the then prevailing wet copying.

Sun Microsystems
Founded by four Stanford University buddies, Sun is the acronym for Stanford University Network.

Sony
From the Latin word 'sonus' meaning sound, and 'sonny' a slang used by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.

SAP
"Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing", formed by four ex-IBM employees who used to work in the 'Systems/Applications/Projects' group of IBM.

Red Hat
Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap (with red and white stripes) while at college by his grandfather. He lost it and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return his Red Hat if found by anyone!

Oracle
Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a consulting project for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The code name for the project was called Oracle (the CIA saw this as the system to give answers to all questions or something such).

Motorola
Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time was called Victrola.
Microsoft It was coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the '-' was removed later on.

Lotus
Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from the lotus position or 'padmasana.' Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Intel Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company ' Moore Noyce' but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain, so they had to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.

Hewlett-Packard
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.

Hotmail
Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing email via the web from a computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in 'mail' and finally settled for Hotmail as it included the letters "html" - the programming language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective upper casings.

Google
The name started as a jockey boast about the amount of information the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named 'Googol', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. After founders - Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page presented their project to an angel investor, they received a cheque made out to 'Google
Cisco The name is not an acronym but an abbreviation of San Francisco . The company's logo reflects its San Francisco name heritage. It represents a stylized Golden Gate Bridge .

Apple Computers
Favourite fruit of founder Steve Jobs. He was three months late in filing a name for the business, and he threatened his employees to suggest a name for his company by 5 o'clock . as noone came forward with a name & clock ticks 5, he was having apple in his hand & hence he named it as APPLE

Apache
It got its name because its founders got started by applying patches to code written for NCSA's httpd daemon. The result was 'A PAtCHy' server - thus, the name Apache.

2009-07-07T21:59:00.002+05:30

My New Obsession Call it a Proud PosessionHurray!!!! I have got a new bike. Its Yamaha Gladiator. Never thought i would posess this machine. But all happened as it has to be. Was looking out for the 150CC segment and finally fell to the 125CC Sweetheart.Its was on 27th , tha day on which i got my bike and had decided to write about it only after a bit of riding experience with it. With pride i could say that its worth d possession. The Main thing i like abt d bike is tthe d graphics of the bike and d mould finish of it.
The front disc displacement is rocking and d black alloys suits her very well.You dont feel d heavyness of it though it appears to be big. D riding pleasure is awesome and gives a superior control over driving. On mileage point of view it comes arnd an average 55kmpl .One thing i felt abt d bike was it performs d best when you maintain it well.. On d whole my choice of buyin it hasnt gone wrong.

A Software Engineers Life

2009-06-29T23:23:00.003+05:30

It was raining heavily outside. Dark clouds gathered in the sky and nature was in its ominous best. I took a break from my work and went to the pantry to grab a cup of coffee. I had a sip and went near the window to see the rain pouring down heavily outside the glass structure. I was inside our huge office building, unruffled by even the fierceness of the nature.

Through the heavy transparent glass, I could see a small girl trying to hold on to her umbrella which the wind was snatching away from her. I felt sorry for the girl, and was happy that I was not in a similar pathetic situation. Yes. I take pride for the fact that I am a software engineer.

I have everything which a common man would envy; money, status, respect, you name it I have it. I always wanted to be software professional and here I am, working for one of the best firms in the world. But then, am I really happy? Now, I could see an imprint of my palm on the other glass window, through which I reminisced my past, basked in the warmth of the sun shine.

My childhood was so much of fun. I vividly remember those rainy days, when I hugged my mother tightly during sleeping listening to all the stories told by her. Now, I have a big house here, but then it is just a house, not a home. My parents are pretty far away from me now. I have a cell phone to talk to them everyday, but then I really miss those dinners which I had with my family everyday. I could easily afford to taste all the different cuisines these days, but the best of food there, lack the love and affection which is present in the food prepared by my mother.

I threw a lavish party for my colleagues for my birthday, but then they would never replace the birthdays when my friends secretly brought a cake and at the end, half of the cake would have ended up on my face. The couple of hundred bucks that u save for a long period just to give a treat to your friends in the road side chat shop can never give the pleasure even after spending a few thousand bucks these days.

The scene of me crying and refusing to have dinner on the day when I fought with my best friend came to my mind. Today, she has gone far away from me, taking away my love and with it my life, but I am sitting and coding here with a false smile on my face. Everyday I meet new people, but then I long ceased to make a new friend.

It's true that I have a lot of things now. I have a nice bed, but no time to sleep. Lots of money, but no friends to spend it with. The latest designer clothes, but a worn out body. Quite a few to flirt, but no one to love. Awards for technical excellence, but no reward for the crave for peaceful ambience. A confident demeanor, but a reluctant and apathetic mind. Full of rain, but no sunshine even in the farthest distance.

Now, I could see the small girl on the road enjoying in the rain with her umbrella firmly in her grip. She might not have all the comforts which I have, but then she has the innocence and fun which I lost a long time back.

I have decided to come out of this false fantasy, even if it is at the expense of losing the tap of the software engineer. I am going to again enjoy my life. I am going to go out in the rain and play with the small kid now. I removed my tie, and went near my computer to shut it down. Just then, I saw a new mail alert in my mail box. I slowly opened outlook and I found a message from my manager with an attachment saying that there was a critical defect in the code and I have to fix it soon. I convinced myself that I am not going to get bogged down again by these pressures and stick to my decision. I ignored the mail and went to the rest room. After a couple of minutes, the software engineer in me came out, his shirt tucked in with the perfect tie knot, sat before the computer, and started typing,

Hi XYZ,I am looking into the defect and will send the patch files before EOD.
Regards,

Incident 2 - Diminishing Value of money

2009-06-24T22:53:00.000+05:30

After all seeing all d commotion in Tnagar I finished up my Dads work n boarded a bus that goes directly to my aunt’s place in Vadapalani. Took out a 5rs coin n asked conductor for a ticket. He gave me d ticket n jus went off. I tot d ticket was of 5rs n checked it n found out to be 4.50rs. It was just a matter of 50ps but in other buses I hav at least seen conductors with the courtesy of asking whether we have 50ps with us so that he cud round off d change n give it to us. But dis guy didn’t even bother to ask for it n jus moved away. D amount is very stingy but still I was reminded of d dialogue from d movie Anniyan ( D Concept of 5ps-- It Finally went out to be staggering amount). So finally decided not to leave dis guy n somehow managed to find a 50ps coin from my purse n went over to him n asked for d change. He gave me back d 1rs with a weird look. But i didn’t make a big fuss of it n preceded further. All d way i was thinking who to blame n cudnt arrive at a solution. It jus d value of 50ps has faded n government can at least take appropriate steps to at least round of d value to d nearest rupee so that der is no rise of inconvenience on either side.

Incident 1 - All for a Mere Ticket

2009-06-24T22:42:00.000+05:30

It was Sunday n as usual had plans to make out for d day. Finally decided to go to my aunt’s place. Before heading I had to drop by Tnagar station for collecting some documents for my Dad. Opted for train after a long tym but all d way long I was reminded of d college days during which almost 2 hrs were spent by me daily on d suburb for travel. Finally reached Tnagar n it was crowded as usual irrespective of d weather. D guy who had to bring d documents was on his way n had to wait for him in d station. Got a place to sit n watching d busy crowd. By tat tym a train arrived on dat platform n most of them train got down n were heading for shopping. I also found a ticket collector amidst d crowd trying to nab a defaulter at least. On other side I saw a young guy walking in d platform but in some sort of uneasiness. Before I cud guess wat it cud be he almost neared d checker n he asked for d ticket to him. He kept on searching his pocket n wen d checker turned to check others ticket he just tried to ran away before d checker nabbed him he just jumped onto the tracks n tried 2 elope n by whisker he was missed by a train on dat track. He fell over d other side n somehow managed to run. At one instance I almost turned back in order avoid sight of him being hit by d train. N All Dis risk was just taken for a Mere Ticket tat wud hav hardly cost him 10 rs.

WWE - D Craze continues

2009-06-18T20:28:00.000+05:30

Watched WWE after a long tym. Was a huge fan of it durin my childhood and still d craze continues. Though its believed that the stunts performed are unreal n purely acting, some drivin force keeps me attracted towards it. D series was gud n main thing i liked abt d show is the way they pin up a story n bring up a rivalry among d contentders. One big differnce i found was tat d big names were missing from d industry n many new faces were inducted, Few veterans were still der n it was worth a show on my view.

D Blame Game Continues

2009-06-18T20:26:00.000+05:30

A Sad exit for d Men in Blue from d T20 tourney but still d blame game continues. On my prespective der is nothin to blame on a single individual n its a team game n d whole team has to bore d responsibility. Moreover d pressure situation increases for d team when der is more expectation from d supporters n media gives too much focus on d teams insice view. For instance take for d world cup debacle in 2007 it was due to d much hype c reated n wen der was mere attention given for T20 world cup in d same year . We won it... Anyways Hope India Bounce Back against d Windies n Let them get back on track. Wish them a gud luck.

Call it a Coincedence Or Destiny

2009-06-15T23:18:00.001+05:30

It was mid november n i had got d news abt my training at Ahmedabad on 28th n had to plan abt d travel . There was only one direct train available from chennai and as expected it was full for d complete week. Called up few of d frnds n they had decided to take a flight to d destination. I was not convinced with d plan n finally managed to form a group of arnd 5 including me n decided to make it via train somehow. One gud option was to book d tickets via tatkal but it was risky as it wud open only 5 days prior to travel n if we miss it out den its all gone. But anyways we had tat option open n started to look for an alternative. Suddenly d idea of connecting n travelling came up. We planned to go over to Mumbai n den travel over to Ahmedabad from der. So here goes d Plan 'Board from Chennai Central on 25th n reach Mumbai on 26th night and board a train from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on 27th Mornin n Reach our destination by afternoon. But wer wud we stay on 26th night? We decided to stay up on the station itself The Mumbai CST Station'. Plan was agreed by everyone n decided to book d tickets d next day. But still dis was an alternative plan n had d tatkal idea as d Prime one. But My mind changed on d very night itself thinking why to make d travel a hectic one n Mom was also not convinced abt d alternate plan. D whole night was very confusing n atlast came over a decision of taking d flight option instead of train. Called d rest 4 and conveyed them 2 of them agreed to go ahead with me n other 2 went ahead with d train plan. N Finally booked d tickets n My first travel in Flight was fixed. The other 2 were lucky enough to get d tatkal tickets n all reached safe n sound. On Reaching d first news we heard was dat Attack on Mumbai .... Shootout At CST Station. My first thought was like What do ya call dis???

Fun Filled Sunday

2009-06-15T01:01:00.000+05:30

It was a nice day 2day. Sundays are always special right from school ... But d situation is completely different nowadays. I'm away from home so d weekends are d most troublesome in terms of food. Obviously i wake up late in d morning but mom's breakfast wont wait at d table as its used to be , i have to search for a quick brunch n head for d day. Had a dilemma of Whether to go to aunts place or to my school frnds place. Finally called upon my school frnds n asked them to fix up a plan for d day n started to move ahead. Came over to their place by afternoon n by d time everyone had decided to go to beach (D only destination where u spend minimum n at times nothin :)) It was too sunny today so decided to move ahead a bit late in d evenin n started off. 20 mins on d bike n destination reached. It was crowded n it ought to be 2 beat d heat of d sun. Not much happening at d place but had a nice chat n a hearty laugh. D strength of our gang was a bit high 2day compared 2 d previous outings. Finally started of to my den by 9 n reached over in an hour. D timing was so perfect d men in blue battle against d englishmen had jus begun. Dis is a must win match for MSD's men n hope india makes it :).

Unpredictable Life

2009-06-14T11:19:00.001+05:30

22 n years and counting still... Life has taught me one aspect. The one aspect is that its unpredictable. Born in Manchester of India ( Guess dats d reason why United seems to b my favourite Club) took a stroll in Trichy in my kindergarden n moved towards d Capital Madras (Sounds better than Chennai) Its wer i learnt what life is n still learning but with a difference. D difference indeed is my family. It was a closely knit family until my second yr in college wen my dad got d news of his transfer to d pearl city. Dad decided to move ahead n wanted us to stay back until i finished my college. Well i'm a software engineer working in a reputed company.College got over n we decided to shift our den to pearl city. It was kinda emotional feeling for me compared to d other two transfers during which i was a small kid.Guess We become emotional only when we grow up. Hope we could have stayed as kids itself. We moved on. New place n a completely different outfit compared to d posche city life. But one gud thing about d place was it was very calm n quiet which was one best thing.

Mind started to think of d ways in which i could stay in touch with my pals. Thanks to new age of mobile phones n internet. So stayin in touch was not of much difficulty but d sense of missin ppl continued to linger in my mind. Missed d hangouts , long hour chats in d streets n many more. Obviously it should be .... D list of buddies was endless in Chennai... How cud i forget d best part of my life (Moi School frnds), College Buddies n d Neighbourhood dudes... Missed them 2 d core... With all these thoughts 6 months went off n finally there was an yet another surprise... D company in which i was placed had scheduled my training at Ahmedabad. Life moved on n it was a wonderful training at Gujarat n den came d news of my posting. Guess where else @ Chennai.I was happy dat my buddies are back n wouldnt miss them anymore. But after settling out here it was den i realised how much i miss my family. Well thats the Difference. Life Never Keeps ya Satisfied WE EXPECT SOMETHING OR THE OTHER

A Transistion

2009-06-14T11:18:00.001+05:30

4 Months since d last post and a sudden spark to continue it. But with a transistion. I have decided to personalize my blog rather than entering the general stuff.
From now on watch out for my day today happenings n d most memorable experiences of my past.
Hoping to make it a regular habit from now on atleast.

WORK HARD TO LOOK BUSY!!!

2009-02-10T11:23:00.000+05:30

Scene 1 opens in a garment store — shelves neatly stacked and no customers in sight. A salesgirl unfolds the already neatly folded clothes, refolds them and places them back on the shelf. Scene 2 — a woman frowns and stares into a monitor, creating an illusion of being busy. “This is what’s called busywork,” says Georgina Pinto, a corporate trainer with an IT company. “And of late this is what many office-goers are indulging in quite a bit.” Sumathi, the salesgirl in a swanky garment store says, “I prefer to keep myself busy, otherwise I may find myself without a job.” Two of her colleagues were laid off work and a few of them had their work hours and salaries cut in half. “I don’t want the manager to see me doing nothing. He shouldn’t get the idea that I’m dispensable too,” adds Sumathi, “I have to put more energy into my work,” she says, “But most importantly I must stay busy.” The scene is not very different in most IT companies too. During the sunny days, people could joke about wasting hours at work, and even come across as being cool. Not anymore! With businesses slowing down and the possibility of layoffs icily real, the need to stay relevant and indispensable in a team is top priority and looking busy is serious business. In fact, it is the latest art form that many are learning to master in corporate circles. Many are resorting to bizarre techniques to impress their bosses and make their presence felt. Says Suresh Babu, a programmer, “My colleague who sits beside me in office makes it a point to talk loud when he’s on a business call. He probably hopes the boss would hear him and think he is on the job. And, he waylays the boss whenever possible and updates him on the progress of work. He keeps repeating the same old updates and even adds masala to an old story to get some praise.” On another colleague’s antics he says, “This other guy too has become hyperactive. He keeps coming up with weird ideas and barges into the boss’s cabin to talk to him. Many of the ideas are very clearly the stupidest, but he just feels the need to constantly prove that he’s using his gray cells. One person interviewed for this article who wants to remain anonymous reveals some of his secrets. “I have disabled my screensaver so that my monitor always remains on. I keep many files open on my computer which makes one think I’m working on something important. And when I have nothing to do, I chat. The fast typing easily passes off as work. And I’m careful to keep my system on mute so that there isn’t a ‘bing-bong’ every time a new message comes in,” he chuckles. “Cyberloafing is becoming a big problem these days,” says Gautham Shukla, a HR head in an IT firm. For those who don’t know, cyberloafing is the nonwork-related use of computers by employees. This often gives temporary cover to those who want to appear busy. “But this is only for those who can master the furrowed brow, studious squint-at-the-monitor look, while poking friends on facebook or bidding on eBay,” says Georgina. Gautham says that employees waste the most time in office loafing cyberspace. He says, “We have to keep a close watch on the sites visited and constantly block sites that offer unnecessary entertainment.” He offers some advise to people who find themselves free in office. “When businesses are slow it’s the best time to develop skills and build one’s professional repertoire. Take vocational courses, learn new skills or use the time to build your professional network. It’s definitely not a good idea to waste time,” he advises.

Chelsea sack manager Scolari as title bid fades

2009-02-10T11:18:00.000+05:30

Chelsea sacked manager Luiz Felipe Scolari after falling behind in the English Premier League title race, the club announced here on Monday. The Blues are trailing leaders Manchester United by seven points and a statement issued by the London club said: “Unfortunately, the results and performances of the team appeared to be deteriorating at a key time in the season. “In order to maintain a challenge for the trophies we are still competing for we felt the only option was to make the change now.” The former World Cup winning coach of Brazil, in his first season at the club owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, was sacked with immediate effect. Assistant manager Ray Wilkins, a former Chelsea captain, will take charge of Chelsea on a temporary basis.

A Wednesday it will be!

2009-02-10T11:16:00.000+05:30

Kamal Hassan will be producing the Tamil remake of Neeraj Pandey’s highlyacclaimed A Wednesday under the Rajkamal banner. The grapevine has it that some minor changes will be made to the script to make it suitable for Tamil audiences. The film will be directed by Chakri, a USbased filmmaker and a close friend of the actor. The film will be shot in Hyderabad from the end of the month. Kamal Haasan will play the role done by Naseeruddin Shah, while Mohanlal will play the Police commissioners’ role. Talks are on with Nagarjuna to do the cop role in the Telugu version. We also hear that Ganesh Venkatram of Abhiyum Naanum fame will play Jimmy Shergill’s encounter specialist role in the Tamil version.

Flintoff and Pietersen most expensive buys!! Chennai Bags Flintoff

2009-02-06T14:26:00.003+05:30

Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, the England stars, were sold for US$ 1.55 million each at the IPL auction on Friday, making them the highest-paid cricketers in the Twenty20 league. However, it was Mashrafe Mortaza, the 25-year-old fast bowler from Bangladesh, who stole the show in Goa after attracting a winning bid of US$ 600,000 from the Kolkata Knight Riders that was exactly 12 times his base price of US$ 50,000.
The other stars of the auction were JP Duminy, the South African batsman, who was bagged by Mumbai Indians for US$ 950,000 (base price: US$ 300,000), and most unexpectedly, Tyron Henderson, the Middlesex allrounder, was bought by Rajasthan Royals for US$ 650,000, which was over six times his base price of US$ 100,000.
The auction also threw up some shocks as international players such as Ramnaresh Sarwan, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Shakib Al Hasan and Samit Patel remained unsold. In fact, it was a bad outing for cricketers from Australia who were on top of the franchises' wishlist last year. Only two Australians - Shaun Tait ($375,000) and Tasmania batsman George Bailey ($50,000) - drew winning bids from a list of 18 Australians.
As expected, however, Pietersen and Flintoff took home a combined purse of US$ 3.1 million to mark England's debut in the IPL. Pietersen was bought by Bangalore Royal Challengers and Flintoff by Chennai Super Kings. The other England players who were picked up at the auction were Ravi Bopara, bought by Kings XI Punjab for US$ 450,000, and Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood, who were bought by Delhi Daredevils for US$ 275,000 each. "They [England players] are big stars and we are looking forward to their participation in the IPL," Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, said.
In the end though, it was Mortaza's purchase, after a bidding war between Kolkata and Punjab, which sparked a buzz in the auction room. The bidding, initially in segments of US$ 10,000 each, lasted nearly half-an-hour before Punjab threw up their hands. "It makes great sense for Kolkata," Modi said. "Bangladesh falls under the Kolkata's catchment area as per a new proposal we are discussing on letting franchises stage matches overseas. This could work well for the KKR later."
All the 17 slots that were available at the auction were filled from a list of 50.

City Traffic cops gear up for high technology

2009-02-05T12:45:00.003+05:30

Time out for pen n papers and its time for blackberrys for Chennai city traffic cops. The government is all set to intorduce Cyber Traffic Enforcement Drives (CTED) which operates on the BlackBerry format and will be able to trace details relating to a vehicle involved in a traffic violation or accident.The CTED is not just a device that enables spot-fine collection and issuance of a receipt without using pen on paper. It also helps store cases booked in a CCTP server and, thus, repeat offenders can be easily caught.
For the system to become operational, though, details pertaining to all vehicles registered in the various regional transport offices (RTOs) in Chennai have to be collated and stored in a central database. Only then will the police be able to use the CTED effectively to trace details of drivers and vehicles involved in traffic violations and accidents.
Though its a hectic process and it may take time to implement We're happy that Its Goin Techie everywhere. !!!

Team India On a Dream Run!!

2009-02-05T12:24:00.002+05:30

With the downfall of d Oz and Supremacy gainded by the Proteas, The Men in Blue are all set to gain places. Indians currently in an unbeaten streak of 8 matches is all set for a series white wash against SriLanka in Srilanka. This Would gain points for Team India and Would Move them to the top spot in ODI Rankings. And It wud be a downfall for the Oz as they wud slip to the 3rd spot (their worst place in over a Deacade). Lets Pray tat Ms Dhoni and Men achieve it and make us proud). All The Best India.

Recession hits IPL, teams turn stingy

2009-02-05T12:00:00.000+05:30

The sequel to a blockbuster is always a hard act but in the case of the Indian Premier League, it could be a major problem courtesy the global recessionary conditions. With less than three months to go for the second season of the IPL, the only hype is around David Warner and the next auction on February 6 in Goa. Perhaps everybody is in the mood for some cost-cutting.In the inaugural edition, all franchises had some film stars as their brand ambassadors. But the second season could may be all about cricket. While some stars like Katrina Kaif are set to retain their job, others are facing the pink slip because entertainment is the easiest place to begin cost-cutting. So there will be no daredevil acts from Akshay Kumar or 'superhero' Hrithik Roshan to share the stage with Sachin Tendulkar."I think we are going to be more realistic and practical. We will do whatever is essential to generate interest and excitement. Entertainment is a package of IPL and I do not know whether you can do away with the roads, at the same time we have to be realistic with expenses we incur. Ultimately cricket is a powerful product and it sells. But it has to be spiced up," Amrit Mathur, COO, Delhi Daredevils said.Even the cheerleaders, who only cost a fraction of the big Bollywood stars, could be dispensed.According to reports, the franchisees are planning to offer TV channels the chance to use the stadium to promote their own shows making it a no-cost-to-us situation. So while some franchisees say "we don't need the entertainment anyway because the cricket is so good", the fact is that the cost-cutting is becoming a big factor.All eight IPL teams were already hit before the recession because the rupee has devalued from 40 at the time of the last player auction to about 48 to the dollar now which means an outflow of 20 percent more on the player salaries. For instance, MS Dhoni wages will go from approximately Rs 6 crore to Rs 7.2 crore a year.The IPL transfer window that closed on Thursday saw seven transfers and one trade. The teams adopted a cost-effective measure of player-swapping. Delhi Daredevils got Ashish Nehra for releasing Shikhar Dhawan to Mumbai Indians, while Mumbai Indians got Zaheer Khan for releasing Robin Uthappa for Bangalore Royal Challengers for no additional cost.The next auction of the IPL on February 6 could provide a further indication of how stingy each team will be this season. With England stars released to play, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are likely to be the most expensive players but their availability of 3 weeks for this season may dent their selling price. After spending about 5 million dollars each on acquiring players, the teams are now looking for what they call utility players. So while Delhi Daredevils signed up David Warner for 87.5 Lakh rupees even before he played for Australia, Rajasthan Royals are looking to sign on Raiphi Vincent Gomez of Kerala, a batsman who hasn't even played Ranji cricket, for Rs 20 Lakh. Kolkata Knightriders have opted for Shatrunjay Gaikwad at a reported price tag of 20 Lakh rupees.KKR, however, don't seem to be cutting back too much on entertainment since their owner Shah Rukh Khan provides it anyway. King Khan is all set to launch Knights and Angels, a reality show to pick cheerleaders for his team. And guess what, Sourav Ganguly will be one of the judges!"Fortunately we do not have to pay Shah Rukh Khan to appear at the stadium, so that is a major plus for us. I think a lot of what was done last year was out of his goodwill. The goodwill is still there so needless to say that the non-cricket part will be taken care of by SRK," said Joy Bhattacharya, Team Director of Kolkata Knightriders.That may not be the view of each of the teams, especially with reports that some were considering IPO's or off loading some of their stake to raise money. But so far nobody seems to have hit on the panic button.The quality of cricket may only get better in Season II with teams opting for utility players. Most of the big players were signed on for three years and will turn up for their respective teams. So the viewers still have lots to look forward to even if the teams have to keep a very close eye on their balance sheets.

In Japan, you are what your blood type is

2009-02-03T10:52:00.001+05:30

In Japan, “What’s your type?” is much more than small talk; it can be a paramount question in everything from matchmaking to getting a job. By type, the Japanese mean blood type, and no amount of scientific debunking can kill a widely held notion that blood tells all. In the year just ended, four of Japan’s top 10 best-sellers were about how blood type determines personality, according to Japan’s largest book distributor, Tohan Co. The publisher, Bungeisha, says the series — one each for types B, O, A, and AB — has combined sales of well over 5 million copies. As defined by the books, type As are sensitive perfectionists but overanxious; Type Bs are cheerful but eccentric and selfish; Os are curious, generous but stubborn; and ABs are arty but mysterious and unpredictable. Even PM Taro Aso seems to consider it important enough to reveal in his web profile. He’s an A. His rival, opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, is a B. It doesn’t stop there. Matchmaking agencies provide bloodtype compatibility tests, and some firms decide about assignments based on employees’ blood types. Not all see the craze as harmless, and the Japanese now have a term, “bura-hara”, meaning bloodtype harassment. And, despite warnings, many employers continue to ask blood types at job interviews, said an official at the Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry.

Pakistan bars players from this year’s IPL

2009-02-03T10:43:00.000+05:30

After the Indian government called off the cricket team’s tour of Pakistan in the wake of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, it was Pakistan’s turn to reciprocate. On Monday, Pakistan barred its cricketers from playing in the coming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi confirmed at a press conference that no Pakistani player would take part in the upcoming edition and none of them — five were shortlisted — would figure in the auction list. Eleven Pakistani players took part in the first edition of the league. Of them, four were with Kolkata Knight Riders and three with Team Jaipur, while Delhi Daredevils had Shoaib Malik and Mohd Asif. Both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Team Hyderabad had one Pakistani player each. “Pakistan’s foreign office has advised national cricketers not to travel to India. This is something which is beyond our control,” Modi said. The withdrawal of Pakistani cricketers means that the franchisees will not have to pay them this year. “Teams can save the money which they would have paid to the Pakistani players and use it to buy more foreign players in the second auction. Plus, they can spend another $2 million for buying players for the next two years,” Modi explained. As for the impact on the teams, Jaipur will certainly miss the services of paceman Sohail Tanvir — who was the highest wicket-taker in last year’s IPL with 21 scalps — and wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal. The defending champions have already lost their star player, Australia’s Shane Watson, to injury.

Adam's Love

2009-01-28T14:07:00.002+05:30

It was a cheerful day in the college campus. Red roses, hearty balloons and greeting cards were seen everywhere. Every face had a smile and every hand had a hand to clasp. Amidst this lovely environment sat Susanna, wondering if anything was wrong with her. A new kind of loneliness filled her heart in spite of her being a cheerful bubbly girl with lots of friends. "Am I not worth it?" was the question running in her mind. She looked up and saw all her friends with their own partners happily exchanging presents."Susanna", came a voice, which disturbed her thinking. It was Abi, her best pal in class. He had his own trademark smile on his face as he sat near her. "Why are you sitting alone?" he asked her, with an all-knowing glitter in his eyes. She felt that he could really read her mind. "Can I ask you a question?" asked Abi. She nodded with affirmation. "Whom do you think Adam would have selected as his life-partner before Eve came into his life?". Susanna looked all puzzled because this thought had never crossed her mind before.Abi said, "Well, I have a story to read to you Susanna, are you in a mood to listen?" Susanna nodded again."As he looked up and saw all the animals and all of the earth, he felt very proud to be the ruler of all. Adam was very happy in his kingdom "The Garden of Eden". As he walked past the animals, he saw that every animal had a pair. A sudden loneliness filled his heart.Now, if he had decided to search for his partner on his own, he would have searched all of his Garden of Eden and would have got dejected. He would have consoled himself and would have settled for the cutest of the cutest Chimpanzee. He would have showered it with all his love. He would have clasped its hands. He would have told the Chimpanzee how much it means to him. Probably he would have even tried to kiss it and show his love.But all his actions would have gone in vain. Though he consciously would have decided to accompany the Chimpanzee wherever it went,he would not have experienced true happiness or true love. Neither the Chimpanzee nor Adam would have understood each other's language.Instead you know what Adam did? He knew God would give him his life-partner. He waited. And sure enough, God gave him Eve, a beautiful young woman whom Adam wouldn't even have imagined. They understood each other so well. They lived together expressing and exchanging true love and bliss."Susanna's eyes lit up. She understood what Abi was ablout to tell her.Dear friends, if you feel you are single and lonely, you have two options...One - you can go and search of your life-partner yourself. But remember, all you'll get is just the cutest of the cutest Chimpanzee.Two - You can decide to wait and depend on God to give you your soul mate, your Adam/Eve.If you think you've already found your sweetheart and that your sweetheart does not understand your feelings and is always being indifferent to you, please understand that Chimpanzee do not understand Human's language and emotions.