Tech Watch

Google Chrome review

2008-09-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

A layman's review of Google Chrome. Well after all there are very few of those(laymen) from where i come from and where i currently am, but still read on :)

Its easy to download. Very light weight. Once installed it starts in no time at all. But it wasnt so when i started using it. The loading time of the browser is realy quick, yes quicker than firefox or Opera. But while using it, i found no difference between Mozilla and Chrome. Infact as a user who has high expectations from Google, i have to say i am a bit disappointed.when i open a new tab, it takes much of the process memory.Let me tell u what i ve observed.. i ve opened some 5 tabs each n chrome and firefox now in my task manager, firefox has just 70 mb whie each of chrome uses 30 mb. When i open a new tab in firefox, i can easily work with my current tab.But in chrome it isnt that easy.. having just 512 mb ram, chrome isnt that suited for me.

Google Chrome initially looks cool. With the promise of multi processing instead of multi threading, it is seen as the panacea to the current evils in the existing browsers. The lone advantage that i can see from opening each tab as a seperate process is the fact that browser crashes arent that big a problem anymore. I havent had browser crashes with firfox anytime, so i wouldnt know if thats a big deal. But when further enlightenment dawned, i realised that each tab in Chrome is sandboxed, to "prevent malware from installing itself" or "using what happens in one tab to affect what happens in another".

Eclectic is the word that comes to my mind when i am asked to describe Chrome in one word. The multiprocessing architecture is what Opera used once in 1994 and what the recent implementations of IE 8 uses. The Sad Tab is very similar to Sad Mac . The main UI has back, forward, refresh, bookmark, go and cancel option which is similar to Safari, while the settings location is similar to Internet Explorer 7/8. The new tab page is not as good as that we see in Opera, but still user friendly (though i still like opera better in this regard)

The URL box at the top of each tab is the called the Omnibox. It does have autocomplete features but autocompletes only those links which are manually entered by us. In this regard Firefox 3 is better. Again the main UI has very little to offer, which is typically the basic style of Google. On one hand, the web pages have as much room as possible, but personally I feel that Firefox has struck a balance between necessary elements and still providing decent space for web page . Opera is similar to Firefox in this regard. I dont generally use IE so no comments from that end.

Speed. Almost every browser is equally fast. Except when it comes to the JavaScript Virtual engine. This aspect of Chrome is deemed faster than Firefox 3 and Safari 4. And Google Gears is also included. For those who dont know what it is, check it out here. For the rest, all you need to know is that it allows web pages to run in a more native environment, and have data accessible while offline.

Overall, i can say Google has done a decent job. But it doesnt appeal that much to me as Gmail or Google search did. It is just an effort to conquer the Internet market and this is just one of the many steps being taken and not the final step. Loads need to be done if Google has to emerge as the undisputed leader. A rating of 6 on 10 would be a fair marking.

A Small quiz

2008-08-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

places
1. on the banks of which river is Delhi situated?
a. Yamuna
2.In which state is the Sabarmati Ashram?
a. gujarat
3.which state is the most literate state?
a. kerala
4.What is the capital of Madya pradesh?
a. Bhopal
5. Where was the battle of Mahabharatha fought?
a. kurukshetra
6. Which city is known as the pink city?
a.Jaipur
7. how do we know delhi in the olden days?
a. Indraprastha
8.Where is the famous Sun temple located?
a. Konark
9. In which city did the Jallian wala bAgh massacre take place?
a. Amritsar
10. What is the capital of Uttaranchal?
a.Dhera Dun
11.Where was the seventh IIM opened?
a. Shillong
12. Which city is known as city of pearls? it is also famous for its briyani
a.Hyderabad
13. In which city does ganga meet yamuna?
a.allahabad
14. Which river is known as Tsang Po in china?
a. brahmaputra
15. which lake is partly in tamil nadu and partly in AP?
a.Pulicat lake

Technology meets sports- Beijing Olympics

2008-08-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

This is where technology meets sports. Here's a peek into the Leading technologies that have been used for the Beijing Olympics
1. Beijing purchased one of the fastest supercomputers in the world to help detect weather in and around Beijing. The chinese are also adept at controlling weather, as they plan to inject seeding material into the clouds and drain them before they can do any damage to the games
2.Cyber wars. A lot is being spoken about China strict internet regulations. Now more is coming into the picture with China promising to shut down websites illegally broadcasting the olympics
3.Security. A blanket security has been put up at Beijing for today. Literally, even birds cant fly without escaping the attention of the watchful Chinese
4. Most Olympic races are timed to the thousandth of a second. In track events, the timer is set off by the starter's gun and stopped by a laser at the finish. A high-speed camera at the line takes 2,000 images per second to help determine the winner if the race is close. Swimming events, held in the Water Cube (pictured), are timed by contact plates that determine when a swimmer leaves her mark and when she touches the wall to end the race

Google offers Free music in China Legally

2008-08-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

Baidu is the leading search Engine in China. But Google is catching up. Baidu's presence can be said to be mainly because of the free but illegal music it provides and Goole has now found a way to provide music LEGALLY

The U.S. search engine launched a beta version of a Chinese music service called Music Onebox, which is available only in China at www.google.cn.

"We are launching Music Onebox to give users an easy and legal way to find the music they're looking for, and to give music labels and publishers a new channel to distribute, promote and make money off of their valuable music content," a Google spokesperson said.
When visitors to Google's home page search for artists or bands, they are directed to www.top100.cn, a music site, to download or stream music. The site has financial backing from basketball wonder Yao Ming. Google said it would not share in the money made off of ads on the music service. Instead, the ad money would be split between Top100.cn and the music labels and publishers.

The new service is a direct challenge to Baidu.com Inc., at a time when the company is under increasing pressure to pay up for facilitating music piracy, according to technology blog Ars Technica. So far, the selection at Top100 is limited.

google Insights

2008-08-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

With Google Insights for Search, you can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames.
Choosing advertising messages
Insights can help you determine which messages resonate best. For example, an automobile manufacturer may be unsure of whether it should highlight fuel efficiency, safety, or engine performance to market a new car model.

Examining seasonality
Insights can be used to determine seasonality. For example, a ski resort may want to find out when people search for ski-related terms most often. The results are fairly consistent throughout the years: interest picks up in August and peaks in December and January. With this information, the ski resort can anticipate demand and make informed decisions about the appropriate allocation of everything from its advertising budget to staffing to resort resources.

Creating brand associations
Insights can be a helpful tool in creating brand associations. Take, for example, an advertising agency that needs to build a compelling advertising campaign for its client, a computer hardware company. The agency needs to know what competing brands are doing: how should they position their client’s product against them?

Entering new markets
Insights can be useful in determining a new market. A wine distributor may be looking to expand into new markets. By entering in wine + vino, and comparing the data across multiple countries, such as Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela, the distributor can get a sense of where interest is more prevalent.

Why the Mojave Experiment fails

2008-08-05T00:24:00.000-07:00

The "Mojave Experiment" is conceptually a fresh marketing effort—at least for such a lame marketer as Microsoft. But after looking more closely at Mojave and reviewing Microsoft Watch reader comments, I have to call the experiment perhaps the worst kind of marketing.

I apologize to readers. I got caught up in the Microsoft glow after so many months of marketing darkness. Did I drink Microsoft Kool-Aid? Sadly, yes. The reasons why the Mojave Experiment fails should have been obvious. They are:

1. Microsoft treats its customers like they're stupid. I've had this complaint for a decade. Wizards perhaps best personify the attitude. Microsoft compels customers to go through long and unnecessary step-by-step processes to set up something. It's click, click, click, click, click, click, click, where one or two clicks should be enough. The iPod model is an example of the right approach. The end user plugs in the device and it begins loading music.

Microsoft takes an infantile approach, of holding the end user's hands, like a parent with a child learning to walk. But Microsoft doesn't let go—doesn't let Windows users grow up. Microsoft's handholding holds them down.

The marketing campaign presumes that people are too stupid to see how great is Windows Vista.

"Telling the customer that they have been stupid is a great way to get business," wrote commenter Ken Houghton. "Especially the customer who then goes to her Corporate IT department and says, 'Gee, I see people saying Vista is a great OS?' and is then told that there are no plans to roll it out this decade." Or maybe if that person works in the IT, they're fired for seeming to be so stupid or having given out bad advice.

2. Microsoft embarrasses Mojave participates. Continuing on the stupid theme is how Microsoft finally gets that "ah-ha" or "wow" reaction to Windows Vista. As I said yesterday, "I am wrong" isn't the best emotion to elicit about a product. Nobody likes being shown they're wrong or for it to be insinuated that they're stupid. "Wow, I feel like an idiot" is light years removed from "Wow, this is a great product."

Good marketing campaigns tout product benefits, show how the product will make the buyer's life easier. There's nothing aspirational or good feeling about making someone look foolish or stupid.

Last night, I watched Monday's "Saving Grace" from a DVR recording. To my surprise, Apple had two separate iPhone ads in the program. Right now, iPhone 3G is one of the hottest products on the planet. The hype alone, propagated by blogs, mainstream media and word of mouth, is like billions of dollars in free advertising. Yet Apple chooses to advertise on TV, to spend hundreds of millions more to tell its story.

What story does Microsoft choose to tell about Vista after about 15 months of silence: You the customer are too stupid to see how great is Windows Vista. Wow, that's brilliant marketing, guys.

3. The marketing campaign blames customers for Vista's problems. It's easy for Microsoft to say that bloggers, reviewers, forum posts and even Apple advertising are major reasons for negative perceptions about Windows Vista. But the blogs and reviews are negative for a reason. Many advanced users don't like Windows Vista. Problem: Mojave doesn't really blame them directly but the people in the videos. Everybody else is the problem with Vista but Vista.

There's presumption here that there's nothing wrong with the operating system. This was a consistent theme coming from Microsoft executives during last week's Financial Analyst Meeting and the Worldwide Partner Conference two weeks ago: Vista is OK now; Service Pack 1 has come to the rescue.

Oh? Then why are so many customers still asking for Windows XP? And why are so many OEM partners aggressively pushing XP over Vista when that means, after June 30, shipping two Windows licenses on new PCs? Something's wrong here that is much bigger than negative perceptions.

"The first step in fixing a problem is admitting that you have one. The only way to read this campaign is that Microsoft considers Vista's failure to be due to customer ignorance rather than failings of the product itself," wrote commenter Phil. "Either fix the product, or lower the cost to make it a justifiable purchase."

Microsoft isn't good at fixing some of its problems. On the one hand, the company's corporate culture is self-deprecating, in a fairly positive way. Company execs can laugh at themselves. But this "It's not my fault," blame the customer or partner attitude is pervasive. Microsoft treats many customers and partners with contempt. Licensing polices are great example, but that's topic for another blog.

4. Microsoft denies there is a real problem. Contempt and blaming relate to corporate cultural denial. Microsoft's way of deflecting fault is to look ahead. Microsoft messaging consistently is that the next version will be better. It's "Let's look to the future," when the problem is now.

The company will spend billions of dollars on research and development for future products but barely a fraction of that promoting its existing stuff. It's the same "tomorrow will be better thinking" that denies problems now and arrogantly presumes research is the only way to make things better.

When it comes to advertising, Microsoft is the worst kind of cheapskate. Microsoft should spend a whole lot less on R&D for the future and lots more now selling its products' benefits. Microsoft does advertise. Its TV commercials are about corporate vision, about how people will achieve their dreams. They're arrogant commercials. They're feel good for Microsoft, rather than feel good for customers, by showing them how the company's products could make life better.

5. Mojave seethes with arrogance. Microsoft's stated Mojave Experiment hypothesis: "If people could see Windows Vista firsthand, they would like it." The real hypothesis: If we trick people, they will see just how stupid they are.

From conception to execution, Mojave carries a strong undercurrent of arrogance: We're smart. You're stupid. The mechanism of tricking customers, who were specifically chosen because they had strong negative attitudes about Vista, is hugely arrogant. Microsoft says that "Hardy har har har, we're better than you."

There's already a perception of arrogance about Microsoft, and now company marketing executives want to reinforce it? Who's really being dumb and dumber here?

If the Mojave Experiment is example of what Microsoft spent $300 million on to promote Vista, bad is going to get much worse.

Kindle

2008-08-04T00:24:00.000-07:00

Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader, an embedded system for reading electronic books (e-books) launched in the United States by prominent online bookseller Amazon.com in November 2007. It uses an electronic paper display, reads the proprietary Kindle (AZW) format, and downloads content over Amazon Whispernet, which uses the Sprint EVDO network. The Kindle can be used stand alone without a computer. Whispernet is accessible through Kindle without any fee. Amazon does not sell the Kindle outside the United States as Whispernet only works in the U.S. On the release day, the Kindle Store had more than 88,000 digital titles available for download, but that number has steadily increased. Amazon's first offering of the Kindle sold out in five and a half hours and the device remained out of stock until late April 2008. At launch, the device retailed for $399; Amazon subsequently lowered the price to $359.

Mojave Facts

2008-08-03T00:24:00.000-07:00

Lovely quote

2008-08-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

Experience is what you get when you didnt get what you wanted- Randy Pausch

The Mojave Experiment

2008-07-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

The Mojave Experiment is an advertising campaign by Microsoft for the Windows Vista operating system. The participants in the experiment were asked about their perceptions of Windows Vista (having never used it) and then were shown a ten minute demo of Microsoft's "next OS", codenamed "Mojave". After the experiment was over, it was revealed that "Mojave" was actually Windows Vista. Before the session, the average rating of Vista was 4.4 out of 10; after the session the average rating was 8.5 out of 10

Check out http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/

Cloud Computing

2008-07-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

Cloud computing means Internet ('Cloud') based development and use of computer technology ('Computing'). It is a style of computing where IT-related capabilities are provided “as a service”, allowing users to access technology-enabled services without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them. It is a general concept that incorporates software as a service, Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, where the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.

Cloud computing is often confused with grid computing (a form of distributed computing whereby a "super and virtual computer" is composed of a cluster of networked, loosely-coupled computers, acting in concert to perform very large tasks), utility computing (the packaging of computing resources, such as computation and storage, as a metered service similar to a traditional public utility such as electricity) and autonomic computing (computer systems capable of self-management). Indeed many cloud computing deployments are today powered by grids, have autonomic characteristics and are billed like utilities, but cloud computing is rather a natural next step from the grid-utility model. Some successful cloud architectures have little or no centralised infrastructure or billing systems whatsoever including Peer to peer networks like BitTorrent and Skype and Volunteer computing like SETI.

The majority of cloud computing infrastructure currently consists of reliable services delivered through next-generation data centers that are built on compute and storage virtualization technologies. The services are accessible anywhere in the world, with The Cloud appearing as a single point of access for all the computing needs of consumers. Commercial offerings need to meet the quality of service requirements of customers and typically offer service level agreements. Open standards and open source software are also critical to the growth of cloud computing.

As customers generally do not own the infrastructure, they are merely accessing or renting, they can forego capital expenditure and consume resources as a service, paying instead for what they use. Many cloud computing offerings have adopted the utility computing model which is analogous to how traditional utilities like electricity are consumed, while others are billed on a subscription basis. By sharing "perishable and intangible" computing power between multiple tenants, utilization rates can be improved (as servers are not left idle) which can reduce costs significantly while increasing the speed of application development. A side effect of this approach is that "computer capacity rises dramatically" as customers do not have to engineer for peak loads. Adoption has been enabled by "increased high-speed bandwidth" which makes it possible to receive the same response times from centralized infrastructure at other sites.

The cloud computing "revolution" is being driven by companies like Amazon, Google, Salesforce and Yahoo! as well as traditional vendors including Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel and Microsoft and adopted by individuals through large enterprises including General Electric, D&B, L'Oréal, Procter & Gamble and Valeo.

Warren Buffet Quotes

2008-07-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

A collection of some of my favorite quotes from the famous Omaha Investor. I like to think about them as a way of peeking into how he sees things:

1. "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." (To his son Howard)

2. "Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you should look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence , and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it's true. If you hire somebody without the first, you really want them to be dumb and lazy"

3. "I gave a talk last year; some student at Harvard asked me, 'Who should I go to work for?' I said go to work for whoever you admire the most. I got a call from the dean about two weeks later. He said, 'What are you telling these kids? They're all becoming self-employed.'"

4. "I want to be able to explain my mistakes. This means I do only the things I completely understand." (On Investing)

5. "Do a lot of reading" (On how to determine the value of a business)

6. "If they need my help to manage the enterprise, we're probably both in trouble." (On how he expects his managers to run the show)

7. "Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule. No. 1" (Investment Philosophy)

8. "The fact that people will be full of greed, fear, or folly is predictable. The sequence is not predictable."

9. "Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway."

10. "It has always been a fantasy of mine that a boatload of 25 brokers would be shipwrecked and struggle to an island from which there could be no rescue. Faced with developing an economy that would maximize their consumption and pleasure, would they, I wonder, assign 20 of their number to produce food, clothing, shelter, etc., while setting five to trading endlessly on the future output of the 20?" (Poking Fun at Option Traders)

Best of Steve Jobs

2008-07-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

"It's rare that you see an artist in his 30s or 40s able to really contribute something amazing."
-- At age 29, in Playboy, February 1985

"I've always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do."
-- BusinessWeek Online, Oct. 12, 2004

"Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it."
-- Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998
"It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much."
-- BusinessWeek Online, Oct. 12, 2004

"(Miele) really thought the process through. They did such a great job designing these washers and dryers. I got more thrill out of them than I have out of any piece of high tech in years."
-- Wired magazine, February 1996
On Fixing Apple:

"The products suck! There's no sex in them anymore!"
-- On Gil Amelio's lackluster reign, in BusinessWeek, July 1997

"The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament."
-- Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company, by Owen W. Linzmayer

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth -- and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."
-- Fortune, Feb. 19, 1996

"You know, I've got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can't say any more than that it's the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody there will listen to me."
-- Fortune, Sept. 18, 1995

"Apple has some tremendous assets, but I believe without some attention, the company could, could, could -- I'm searching for the right word -- could, could die."
-- On his return as interim CEO, in Time, Aug. 18, 1997

Kamal Nath

2008-07-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

Mr. Kamal Nath is the Minister for Commerce and Industry with Cabinet Rank. He is a member of the Congress Party, which leads the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Mr. Kamal Nath took over as the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry on May 24, 2004. His tenure as the Commerce & Industry Minister has witnessed major trade policy initiatives. For the first time, a comprehensive Foreign Trade Policy (2004-09) has been announced laying out a coherent roadmap with a twin focus on exports as well as employment. India’s merchandise exports rose to around US $ 80 billion registering over 24% growth in 2004-05 over the previous year. Major bilateral trade initiatives have been taken with countries like China and Pakistan and there has been significant progress in the area of regional trade agreements. On the multilateral trade front, India has played an active and constructive role in the finalisation of the WTO Framework Agreement of July 2004 and hosted the G-20 meeting in New Delhi consolidating the G-20 alliance. India has entered the full product patent regime with effect from 1/1/2005 with the passage of the Patents (Amendment) Bill 2005, while major FDI policy initiatives have been taken such as allowing 100% FDI under the automatic route in the construction-development sector.

He joined the Indian National Congress in 1968 as a Youth Worker, and was elected to Parliament from the Chhindwara constituency for the first time in 1980. He has subsequently won Parliamentary elections from the same constituency again in 1985, 1989, 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2004. Chhindwara, situated in India's largest state of Madhya Pradesh, is predominantly a tribal district having large tracts of lush tropical forests. He was also the General Secretary of the Indian National Congress and a Member of the Congress Working Party, the highest decision making body of the Congress Party, during September 2002 to July 2004.

As a Member of Parliament Mr. Kamal Nath represented India in the United Nations General Assembly in 1982 and 1983. He also attended the International Parliamentary Union Conferences held in Nicaragua (1987), Guatemala (1988) and Cyprus (1990). For sometime he served on the Board of Directors of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), a Government of India Undertaking.

Mr. Kamal Nath was first inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as Minister of Environment & Forests in June 1991. During his tenure Mr. Nath made a remarkable contribution to the enunciation and development of the National Policy on Ecological Conservation and the Abatement of Pollution. His policy initiatives include establishment of Environment Tribunals, the concept of Environment Audit, special measures for the further protection and conservation of wildlife - fauna as well as flora, and the establishment of Environment Brigades and Afforestation Brigades so as to enthuse the youth in the country, and involve them, as well as many Non-Governmental Organizations, in active participation in the conservation of the environment. The afforestation and development of degraded wastelands in India was taken up on a massive scale under his stewardship. He enunciated global concepts on Environmental Tariffs and conceptualized Global Emission Quotas.

As Minister, Mr. Kamal Nath led the Indian Delegation to the World Forestry Conference in Paris (1991), the UNEP Governing Council meeting in Nairobi, the PREPCOM IV discussions in New York and the Kuala Lumpur Conference, all in 1992. He hosted the SAARC Environment Ministers Conference in New Delhi and emerged as one of the chief spokesmen for developing countries at the UNCED in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Mr. Nath has also led national delegations to Finland, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Dubai and UK as also to UNCTAD and UNEP.

Following this, he was Textile Minister. During his tenure the country touched new heights in production & export of Cotton. The New Textile policy was successfully launched to achieve an all time high exports of garments & fabrics.

Mr. Nath was educated at the prestigious Doon School in Dehra Dun, and subsequently obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Commerce from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta. Mr. Kamal Nath is interested in a variety of sports.

Mr. Kamal Nath has a keen interest in welfare issues, particularly tribal uplift and rural development. He is also President of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad; Chairman, Madhya Pradesh Child Development Council; and Patron, Bharat Yuvak Samaj (Youth Wing of All India Bharat Seva Samaj).

Pascal Lamy

2008-07-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

Mr. Lamy holds degrees from the Paris based Ecole des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC), from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (IEP) and from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA). He began his career in the French civil service at the Inspection Générale des finances and at the Treasury. He then became an advisor to the Finance Minister Jacques Delors, and subsequently to Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy.

In Brussels from 1985 to 1994, Pascal Lamy was Chief of staff for the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, and his representative as Sherpa in the G7.

In November 1994, he joined the team in charge of rescuing Credit Lyonnais, and later became CEO of the bank until its privatisation in 1999.

Between 1999 and 2004, Pascal Lamy was Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission under Romano Prodi.

After his tenure in Brussels, Pascal Lamy spent a short sabbatical period as President of “Notre Europe”, a think tank working on European integration, as associate Professor at the l’Institut d’études politiques in Paris and as advisor to Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (President of the European Socialist Party).

Sunil Mittal

2008-06-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

Sunil Bharti Mittal, born October 23, 1957 is an Indian businessman. He is the chairman and managing director of the Bharti group. The US$5 billion turnover company runs India's largest GSM-based mobile phone service.

The son of a politician, Sunil Mittal is from the town of Ludhiana in Punjab. He has built the Bharti group, along with two siblings, into India's largest mobile phone operator in just ten years. The UK based telecommunication giant, Vodafone and Singapore's SingTel both own stakes in the recently renamed flagship company Bharti Airtel. The group also has partnerships with Axa for insurance and with the Rothschild family for exporting fruits and vegetables.

He has been Chairman & Managing Director of Bharti Group since October 2001.

He established the first company to manufacture push button telephones in India.

Achievement: Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group, India's largest GSM-based mobile phone service provider; IT Man of the Year Award 2002 from Dataquest and CEO Of the Year, 2002 Award from World HRD Congress.

In 1986, Sunil Bharti Mittal incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. Gradually he expanded his business and by early 1990s, Sunil Mittal was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear.

In 1992, when the Indian government was awarding licenses for mobile phone services for the first time, Sunil Mittal clinched Delhi cellular license in collaboration with French telecom group Vivendi. In 1995, Sunil Mittal founded Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) to offer cellular services under the brand name AirTel. Soon, Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2-million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti Cellular Limited also rolled out India's first private national as well as international long-distance service under the brand name IndiaOne. In 2001, BCL entered into a joint venture with Singapore Telecom International for a $650-million submarine cable project, India's first ever undersea cable link connecting Chennai in India and Singapore.

Today, Sunil Mittal runs a successful empire with a market capitalization of approximately $ 2 billion and employing over 5,000 people. He has been honored with several awards. Sunil Bharti Mittal was chosen as one of the top entrepreneurs in the world for the year 2000 and amongst 'Stars Of Asia', by 'Business Week'. He also received IT Man of the Year Award 2002 from Dataquest and CEO Of the Year, 2002 Award (World HRD Congress).

College Dropouts who made it big - Subash Chandra Goel

2008-05-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here's something not many people know about

Subhash Chandra Goel : The Zee chairman dropped out after standard 12.

Subhash Chandra started his own vegetable oils unit at 19. It was, in a manner of speaking, his first job. Years later, a casual visit to a friend at Doordarshan gave him the idea of starting his own broadcasting company. We all know how that story ran.

Chandra knew nothing about programming, distribution or film rights. What he did understand quite well was the Indian sensibility though. Funded by UK businessmen, Zee came into being as India's first satellite TV network.

Today, it reaches 320 lakhs homes, connecting with 20 crores people in South Asia alone. The network also covers Asians in America, the Middle East, Europe, Australia and Africa, making this dropout a very rich one.

College Dropouts Who Made It Big - Larry Ellison

2008-05-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

Lawrence Joseph Ellison (1944-) , co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, founded his company in 1977 with a sum of $2,000. Once a school dropout, he is now, according to Forbes, one of the richest people in America with a net worth of around $184 crores. The figure also makes him the ninth richest in the world.

As a young man, Ellison worked for the Ampex Corporation, where one of his projects was a database for the CIA. He called it Oracle, a name he was to reuse years later for the company that made him famous.

Interestingly, the organisation' s initial release was Oracle 2. The number supposedly implied that all bugs had been eliminated from an earlier version.

Ellison is quite a colourful man, and has long dabbled in all kinds of things. Want to learn more? Try his biography, The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison.

Interesting Facts About eBay

2008-05-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

The online auction Web site was founded in San Jose, California, on September 3, 1995, by French-born Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb, part of a larger personal site that included, among other things, Omidyar's own tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Ebola virus

The very first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. Astonished, Omidyar contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood that the laser pointer was broken. In his responding email, the buyer explained: "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers."

Chris Agarpao was hired as eBay's first employee and Jeffrey Skoll was hired as the first president of the company in 1996

eBay went public on September 21, 1998, and both Omidyar and Skoll became instant billionaires. The company purchased PayPal on October 14, 2002.

Interesting Facts About Dell

2008-05-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

While a student at the University of Texas at Austin in 1984, Michael Dell founded the company as PC's Limited with capital of $1000.

The company changed its name to "Dell Computer Corporation" in 1988

In 1999, Dell overtook Compaq to become the largest seller of personal computers in the United States of America with $25 billion in revenue reported in January 2000.

In 2006, Dell purchased the computer hardware manufacturer Alienware. Dell Inc.'s plan anticipated Alienware continuing to operate independently under its existing management. Alienware expected to benefit from Dell's efficient manufacturing system

In 1998, Ralph Nader asked Dell (and five other major OEMs) to offer alternate operating systems to Microsoft Windows, specifically including Linux, for which "there is clearly a growing interest" Dell started offering Linux notebook systems which "cost no more than their Windows 98 counterparts" in 2000, and soon expanded, with Dell becoming "the first major manufacturer to offer Linux across its full product line" But by early 2001 Dell had "disbanded its Linux business unit"

On April 18, 2007 a report appeared suggesting that Michael Dell used Ubuntu on one of his home systems.

Dell Inc has invested an estimated 60 million US Dollars in a new manufacturing unit in Chennai, India, to support the sales of its products in the Indian subcontinent.

On June 5, 2007, Dell set a goal of becoming the greenest technology company on Earth for the long term. The company launched a zero-carbon initiative that includes:

1. reducing Dell's carbon intensity by 15 percent by 2012
2. requiring primary suppliers to report carbon emissions data during quarterly business reviews
3. partnering with customers to build the "greenest PC on the planet"
4. expanding the company's carbon-offsetting program, "Plant a Tree for Me".

College dropouts who made it big - steve jobs

2008-05-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Steven Paul Jobs (1955-) and Apple Computer are names that have long gone together.

Born in the United States to an unknown Egyptian-Arab father, Jobs was adopted soon after birth. After graduating high school, he enrolled in Reed College, dropping out after one semester.

In 1976, 21-year-old Jobs and 26-year old Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer Co. in the family garage. Jobs revolutionised the industry by popularising the concept of home computers.

By 1984, the Macintosh was introduced. He had an influential role in the building of the World-Wide Web, and also happens to be Chairman and CEO of Pixar Animation Studios.

Today, with the iPod, Apple is bigger than ever. Incidentally, Jobs worked for several years at an annual salary of $1. It got him a listing in the Guinness Book as `Lowest Paid Chief Executive Officer.' He was once gifted a $9 crores jet by the company though. And his net worth? More than $3 billion

College Dropouts who made it big - Dhirubai Ambani

2008-05-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani (1932-2002) was born into the family of a schoolteacher. It was a family of modest means. When he turned 16, Dhirubhai moved to Aden, working first as a gas-station attendant, then as a clerk in an oil company.

He returned to India at 26, starting a business with a meagre capital of $375. By the time of his demise, his company - Reliance Industries Ltd - had grown to become an empire, with an estimated annual turnover of $120 crores!

Dhirubhai was, in his lifetime, conferred the Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century Award
by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. A Times of India poll in the year 2000 also voted him one of the biggest creators of wealth in this century.

Dhirubhai's is not just the usual rags-to-riches story. He will be remembered as the one who rewrote Indian corporate history and built a truly global corporate group. He is also credited with having single-handedly breathed life into the Indian stock markets and bringing in thousands of investors to the bourses.

College dropouts who made it big - Bill Gates

2008-05-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

Are college dropouts more successful than people with good education? It would seem so if you consider that many billionaires are people who dumped college. However, what this hides is the fact that although millions quit studies before completing them, very few of them go on to become rich. What the list of the super-rich dropouts signifies is that in business, a top degree is not as important as having the right aptitude, attitude, determination and vision.

Here are some dropouts who went on to become billionaires:

William Henry Gates III (1955-), along with Paul Allen, co-founded Microsoft Corporation, the world's largest software maker. Bill Gates, the wealthiest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $480 crores (Rs 211,200 crore!), is probably the best-known college dropout.

Gates attended an exclusive prep school in Seattle, went on to study at Harvard University, then dropped out to pursue software development. As students in the mid-70s, he and Paul Allen wrote the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800, the first commercially successful PC.

In 1975, Micro-Soft - later Microsoft Corporation - was born. Three decades on, Gates has been Number One on the Forbes 400 for over a dozen years. And here's something you probably didn't know: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation currently provides 90 per cent of the world budget for the attempted eradication of polio

The Art of Goal Setting

2008-05-16T05:28:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of every new academic year in school, teachers would make us write down a list of five goals we were planning on achieving by the end of that year.

As children we tend to have the habit of doing what our parents and teachers ask us to do but as we grow older and more responsible, no one is around to help us with the same. There is no spoon-feeding, no one to ask us to follow rules or set goals. In such situations, if we have it in us then we go about making our own goals and objectives and trying to achieve those; more often we do not!

The art of goal setting is not a difficult task but the ability to work toward accomplishing those goals is where the trouble lies. If I ask you to take a paper and write down where you want to be in five years time, I am sure most of us would write down big aspirations and dreams. Now if you were asked to look at the list and practically and sensibly think which one of these goals you will definitely work toward achieving, then I am sure the list will shorten automatically.

Goal setting can be done based on only one thing and that is your perseverance. The reason you should have behind goal setting is to be better prepared to face the challenges life will throw at you, and to handle current problems and tasks at hand in a proper, planned manner.

There is no particular way or method of goal setting but a few steps can be followed. Goal setting should be done keeping in mind your comfort levels. Goal setting includes these basic steps:

Deciding your goal and goal statement
Defining the path to your goal
Motivating yourself
Tracking work done
Review of work done
Feedback from peers or superiors
Setting higher / next goals

Here is a brief on each of these steps and how to go about implementing them

1. Deciding your goal and goal statement

According to Paul Christenbury in his article Steps for Successful Goal Setting and Achievement, “A good way to remember how a goal statement should be defined is the old S.M.A.R.T. acronym used by many experts in goal setting. SMART stands for

Specific
Measurable
Action-Oriented
Realistic
Time and Resource Constrained

Taking this forward, I feel that every goal or goal statement that you define should be something that is closely associated with you, your day-to-day activities, or work. Define goals that make sense to you. This basically means that you should sit down and clearly write down practical and achievable goals for the near future before defining goals that you want to achieve five years down the road.

2. Defining the path to your goal

Once you know your goal it is very important to define the path you will follow to reach it. you have to make sure that you have written down how you want to get to where you want to be in the near future. The path has to be measurable and practical. It could be that your goal is to improve your command over the English language, so basically your path will be: read more books, look up meanings of new words, talk to people who are good with the language, take online tests.

3. Motivating yourself

Keeping yourself motivated throughout is not easy but you have to look at the bigger picture. If you want to succeed in photography then you have to practice. You cannot become a world renowned photographer just because you want to; you have to work towards it. reading motivational quotes always helps. Some of the examples include taking prints of favorite quotes and have them pasted over office desk, at work, on your mirror at home. Whenever one feels low and feel like giving up read these to help get a jump-start. Talking to peers, seniors at work, and parents is another way to get motivation.

4. Tracking work done

If you want to reach somewhere you have to keep track of your work so that if you have to go back and redo it, you will find it easy. If we do not have any accountability of what we are doing and how we are doing it, we are likely to lose sight of the real thing and fail.

5. Review of work done

Once you have finished your tasks to reach your goal, it is important to do a review of what you have completed. This helps you better prepare for your next set of goals and to see if you have achieved everything and in the way you had planned. If something was easier than others, etc.

6. Feedback from peers and superiors

Always make sure that you have enough feedback from your peers and superiors. They could be your family, close friends, college professors, etc. who can help you decide if you have been on the right path to achieve you goals. It always helps to have someone on the outside review your work and give you advice on the same. Whether you accept it or not will be up to your discretion.

7. Setting higher / next goals

Once you have reached your goal, it is time to move on to bigger goals. These could be related to your last goal or they could be different ones. Sometimes though your goal is such that it requires constant attention, like if you are planning on having better written English, then you need to keep practicing the language in various ways. So this goal is such that it needs to be practiced constantly.

Goal setting is a good habit but only if you create a way or path of achieving these goals. Saying that you want to climb a mountain and doing nothing about it is not goal setting. Goal setting is when you decide to take rock climbing classes, learn the mechanisms of mountaineering, meet people who have done so, learn from them and then chalk out your plan as to when you want to do the same.

So go out there and get cracking…there are many goals to be set and many to be achieved!

Interesting Facts About Cognizant

2008-05-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

Cognizant has been named to the 2007 Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies List for the fifth consecutive year, making it the only company receiving the “Five-year all-stars” distinction in 2007’s list.

Cognizant started in 1994, as Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software (by Sushant Gupta) - the in-house technology development center for the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation (D&B) and its operating units

It became the first company in the world to be certified for CMMI-Level5 per the latest model

On March 5th 2007 Cognizant became first American company to ring the NASDAQ opening bell remotely, from the Company's Chennai, India techno-complex.

Interesting Facts about Cisco

2008-05-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

Cisco was founded by Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner and Richard Troiano
Like apple, the two main founders bosack and Lerner were fired in 1990
The name "Cisco" was derived from the city name, San Francisco
In late March 2000, at the height of the dot-com boom, Cisco was the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of more than US$500 billion.
According to author Ethan Gutmann, Cisco and other telecommunications equipment providers supplied the Chinese government with surveillance and Internet infrastructure equipment that is used to block Internet websites and track Chinese on-line activities. Cisco says that it does not customize or develop specialized or unique filtering capabilities to enable governments or regimes to block access to information and that it sells the same equipment in China as it sells worldwide
Cisco has extended its networking technology expertise in the enterprise and service provider markets into the high-growth consumer networking market with the addition of its Linksys Division in June 2003.
In February 2006, Cisco completed the acquisition of Scientific Atlanta of Lawrenceville, Ga., a leading global provider of set-top boxes, end-to-end video distribution networks and video systems integration. The acquisition allows Cisco to offer a world class, end-to-end data, voice, video, and mobility solution for carrier networks and the digital home

Yahoo.. Microsoft bid ends

2008-05-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

Software great Microsoft said on Saturday that it had pulled its offer for Yahoo after a higher offer failed to move the internet company . This is a big blow for Microsoft as this is one time in that they have been so publicly rebuked. Microsoft had raised its bid for Yahoo to $33 per share as negotiations between the firms intensified over the weekend, but the increase had failed to win over those who hoped for an even higher bid. Yahoo had consistently rejected and earlier $31-a-share offer, with many shareholders indicating they will sell only for $35 a share. A deadline set by Microsoft for Yahoo to accept its $41.9-dollar passed April 26 with no further comment from Yahoo, had originally dismissed the bid as undervaluing the company, even though it represented a premium of 62 percent on the company's pre-offer share price.

so what are the effects that this incident have on Microsoft?
Firstly Microsoft had thought that by merging with yahoo, they could take on the Google challenge head on. but now they have to rely on their own expertise. this can actually be a blessing in disguise. haven't we read lots of stories where mergers have done nothing but bring the company down? with the different work cultures at both yahoo and MS, it would've presented a nightmarish situation for MS. Now they have to prove their supremacy with their own might. Let us wait and see how the Giant does this

iPhone - hackers target

2008-04-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

There are so many things one can do with the iPhone. You can surf the web, read your email, send text messages, etc etc. Unfortunately, all these things make the iPhone a perfect candidate for a mobile virus.

There are hundreds of mobile phone viruses out there and these can be spread through Internet downloads, MMS attachments, and Bluetooth. Security experts have warned that phones running Symbian, Windows and Palm software are the most vulnerable, but as soon as the iPhone hit the market, it became a new target for hackers.

A team of security researchers at Independent Security Evaluators lead by Charlie Miller discovered a vulnerability in Safari that allowed them to take control of the iPhone two weeks after its release. According to Exploiting the iPhone, a web page containing malicious code accessed through Safari is what ultimately compromised the iPhone. Apple was notified of the vulnerability, and has offered several patches since then via iPhone software updates.
Does this mean your iPhone is now safe? Not really. Hackers will continue to look for vulnerabilities, so you should protect your iPhone the same way you would protect your computer at home.

So be on guard for your iphone is too precious to lose

information Security

2008-04-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

info sec- a brief intro. this is a snapshot of what my last semester subject was about
Information security is the ongoing process of exercising due care and due diligence to protect information, and information systems, from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, destruction, modification, or disruption or distribution. The never ending process of information security involves ongoing training, assessment, protection, monitoring & detection, incident response & repair, documentation, and review.

Ways to secure data

Confidentiality- symmetric key encryption
authentication- asymmetric key encryption
integrity- hashing

Pirates of Silicon valley

2008-04-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

I just watched the movie "pirates of silicon valley". A lovely movie that traced steve jobs and bill gates's history. and it did portray steve in the better light, with bill gates literally being portrayed as the big brother.
Bill was a genius. everyone forgets that.. even if he had passed some else's software as his own, he saw to it that it worked the way it has to. But steve was an artist. and great artists steal.
no one ever sees Bill as a philanthropist. or atleast very rarely. He spends his fortune on good causes with the same fervor he spends acquiring it. what abt steve? I havent heard much of his philanthropic nature, nor heard him speak a word for nature (except ofcourse the Apple)
Maybe Steve gets the adulation for all the stuff he pioneered, but thats just half the cake. In this world, everyone sees only the cream of the cake, and never below it. To be frank, his credits are also based on stolen stuff. stolen from Xerox. and he has no right to accuse Bill of theft.
a very beautiful link i found that says more abt this is here. It gives an almost unbiased description of bill vs steve. read and ensoi

Moto Rola - the split

2008-03-27T01:33:00.000-07:00

With its mobile unit, becoming unprofitable, Motorola has decided to split into two. this action, is reportedly taken after a two-month strategic review of the business. Carl C Icahn is reportedly behind pressurizing the company to make such a move. Gregory Q. Brown, Motorola’s chief executive, accepted that the main problem facing the company was its inability to come up with new products to replace the highly successful Razr, which was once a must-have phone but has faded from the scene. with competition in the arena increasing and with iphone adding to Motorola's troubles, it is high time they start innovating at a more consistent and a faster rate. This split shall also help Motorola to diversify its port folio.
Rivals aside, Motorola is also facing pressure from investors — in particular Mr. Icahn — who are dissatisfied with Motorola’s weak stock performance; the shares have dropped 44 percent in the last year. Cellphone production is the largest division of the company, with $18.99 billion in net sales in 2007, a 33 percent decline from a year earlier. Last year, the division lost $1.2 billion. Motorola’s other two units are smaller but profitable.
thus splitting the company seems a clear strategy for Motorola.

My first post

2008-03-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

hi.. this is where i shall be reviewing and updating u about the latest in the world of technology, along with loads of tips and tricks as i learn them...
do keep checking this site for further updates, news, views and reviews..