First Day Welcome in a Software Firm!

Software industry undoubtedly contributes to India's growth more than any other sector of the Indian economy. Year on a year basis the software industry continues to put up a spectacular performance. Despite a slight US slowdown and appreciating Indian rupee software majors like Infosys, Satyam, Wipro and TCS have come out with excellent results. Revenues rise and profits surge. Indian software engineers command amazing salaries in software. Recruiting and retaining skilled software professionals in India is not an easy task for a software company. It is getting costlier and harder for software firms to retain talent. Salaries for top performers have reached dizzying heights. Workers who are sacked from a company usually end up getting better offers. Average salary increases in India are now at around 14 per cent a year, compared with around 8 per cent in China. India’s top software firms plan to add 100,000 new jobs this fiscal year.

In light of the above, now watch this video.

This is a video of the first day in Aditi Technologies a Bangalore software firm. This was the welcome given by the company to the new employees. The CEO, VP, President, Senior Mangers, Board Members are all there welcoming the new staff! Unbelievable! Speaks of the extent to which software firms can go to keep employees happy. The video reminded me of my marriage which was much like this except that there was no elephant. Personally I would be uncomfortable with such a reception and would wonder if I came to the right place on my first day at work! Probably Aditi realizes that it is the employees that make a company. Well, I think it’s a smart move from the software firm.

Use Joost To Watch Streaming TV On The Internet

Joost is a service that allows you to watch TV on the web. Joost created a lot of buzz recently when it went into full business. Joost works using peer to peer technology; similar to song sharing services like Napster, Kazaa etc. Joost is a venture of Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis founders of Skype and Kazaa. These guys received $2.6 billion when they sold Skype to ebay in 2005.

Joost is a new way of watching television. You can flip channels and watch hundreds of channels. Many channels are for worldwide viewing. Some are restricted only to US. The advantage of Joost is that you can watch whenever you want and as often as you like. No more schedules. Joost is supposed to deliver almost TV like resolutions and in some cases DVD like clarity.

Joost is still in beta and currently you need an invite from a user to sign up for the service. If you have friends using Joost you can ask for an invite. Once you sign up you can download the Joost software after which you can watch TV. Over 150 channels are available currently ranging from sports, to documentaries and cartoons. Many of the popular TV channels can be viewed on Joost. To check out the list of available channels click here

The clarity of the TV channels also depends on the number of people using the service. The more the number of people the better the user experience. Needless to say a broadband internet connection is necessary to get the full potential of this service. Also remember that you should not have restrictions on download from your service provider. Joost is a streaming video application, and so uses a relatively high amount of bandwidth per hour. In one hour of viewing, approximately 320Mb data will be downloaded and 105Mb uploaded, which means that it will exhaust a 1Gb cap in 10 hours.

The byword of Joost is “TV anywhere anytime”.

I have heard and read that the quality of the viewing is decent. I have still not tried Joost. Can any one send me an invite? I will sign up and try it out.

French Train TGV Sets World Record For Fastest Train

Last week France set a new world record for the fastest train on rails. The train a TGV V150 achieved a speed of 574.8 kph or 357.2 mph. The previous record was also by a TGV at 515km/h (320mph), set in 1990.

Photo courtesy: BBC, UK

The new record was set in eastern France. This is faster than man has ever traveled in a train on rails. The train had reached similar speeds but this is the first time it was officially monitored. This is something like air travel on ground. At one point the train traveled 150 meters a second. The train was equipped with larger wheels than the regular French TGV trains. The TGV technology was invented in France three decades ago.

However the world record for the fastest train speed is 581 kmh reached in 2003 by a Japanese magnetic levitation, or Maglev, train.

France has had fast electric powered trains operating since 1981, reaching speeds of 320 kmh. The latest line to open in July reduces travel time from Paris to the eastern city of Strasbourg from four hours to two hours and 20 minutes.

South Korea, China and Taiwan are the most important customers for high-speed trains.

You can watch the 2 minute video of the TGV train setting the world record here.



Appreciate the mind boggling speed at which it is cruising.

The Bane of Excessive Television Viewing

Television, the idiot box; is no doubt a thing we cannot do without in the 21^st century. It is so much a part of our lives that life without it is unimaginable – At least to most people. It undoubtedly is a source of a wealth of information, knowledge and entertainment. However; it has the potential to become an addiction and a nuisance if used without discretion. It is not for nothing that it is called an idiot box.

Children can especially become victims of excessive TV viewing. It is not unusual for a young child to be glued to the TV for anything between 3 and 6 hours every day. This is way too high and can definitely affect their mental and physical health. According to recent findings of the science journal Biologist watching television can harm children much more than previously thought. It can raise the risk of obesity, autism, cancer, sleep disorder among other illnesses. We have long known the risk of excessive TV watching; but this new list of potential risks is cause for concern. The risks of becoming a TV addict are two fold - firstly TV’s tendency to glorify violence and stupidity and secondly the harmful radiation that TV’s emit undoubtedly contributes to the aforementioned health hazards. Analog TV’s (bulky one’s which most of us have) are worse in this regard. The new breed of LCD and plasma TV’s are better equipped to handle the radiation resulting in slightly lesser harm to the body.

It’s nearly an impossible task to stop children from watching TV. TV has become so much an extension of our lives. It puts pressure on parents to minimize the risk of TV addiction. It is a challenge to all parents. Parents must leave no stone unturned in dissuading children from watching excessive TV. It is reality that must be faced and confronted as early as possible. Children’s viewing habits must be controlled. After all it involves the health of children and the future of our society.

Tip for Protecting Your ATM Card Against Fraud

I received this in an email and found it useful. I can't vouch for the authenticity of this piece of information. Readers; please comment if you know the info below is correct...

If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your Pin # in reverse.

For example if your pin number is 1234 then you would put in 4321. The ATM recognizes that your pin number is backwards from the ATM card you placed in the machine. The machine will still give you the money you requested, but unknown to the robber, the police will be immediately dispatched to help you.

This information was recently broadcasted on TV and it states that it is seldom used because most people don't know it exists.

The Future of Computers - Say Goodbye to Laptops

Look Closely and guess what these could be...

Are they Pens with Cameras?

Any Wild Guesses? No clues yet?

You have just looked into the Future...Yes, that's right!
This is something that could replace your laptop in the near future...

Here is how it works...

In the revolution of miniature computers, scientists have made great developments with blue tooth technology.
This is the forthcoming computer that you will carry in your pocket.

This "Pen sort of Instrument" produces both the monitor as well as the Keyboard on any flat surface from where you carry out functions that you normally do with a laptop or a desktop computer.

Now shall we say Goodbye to Laptops?

Disabling a Stolen Mobile Phone

Do you know how to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?

To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone:

*#06# (Without any spaces)

A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset which is your cell phone identification number. Write it down and keep it in a safe place.

Should your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so that even if the thief changes the SIM card your phone will be totally useless.

You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones. Please share this useful link with others...

Apple Announces The iPhone

Last week Apple announced the much awaited iPhone and it created some major news. So much so that Windows Vista is now a dead subject. The blogosphere was swept with iPhone news and what it is likely to deliver. Most of the experts have given a positive review. The first shipment is slated for June 2007.

As expected; Apple has introduced a bunch of features and new concepts that are completely outside the realm of accepted thought in mobile telephony.

So how is the iPhone different from its competitors? Firstly; it’s a lovely looking device that weighs about 135 grams. It’s a 3.5" Pocket PC PDA. It is very sleek, thin and not very wide. Secondly it’s innovative in the sense that it functions completely with multi-touch – It has a touch screen-based input method. It supports WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and Quadband GSM/EDGE communications. It comes with an iPod, a 2 mega pixel camera; the quality of which is supposed to be good. It has a full fledged internet surfing browser, a Visual VoiceMail, a superb SMS, advanced photo management capabilities and Google maps. It comes in two capacities of 4 and 8 GBs and is priced at $499 and $599 respectively.

Here's what it is in a nutshell:
# Specification overview Screen: 3.5-inches, 320 x 480 @ 160 PPI
# Storage: 4GB or 8GB
# GSM: Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
# Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0
# Camera: 2.0 megapixels
# Battery: Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing; Up to 16 hours Audio playback
# Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
# Weight: 4.8 ounces / 135 grams

Will it outdo the Nokia’s and Sony Eriksson’s of this world? It might not; but it is expected to have a 5% market share which is a lot. It surely will find its own niche. Don’t be surprised if it becomes another iPod.

If you wanna check out for more on the iPhone click here. It comes from Apple - It’s gotta be different.

Comparing CES - Las Vegas and GITEX - Dubai

Las Vegas in Nevada; USA was all abuzz with CES (Consumer Electronics Show) the last few days. CES is the world’s # 1 consumer electronics show. It attracts about 150,000 people for the show. Las Vegas is transformed during this period. The town was awash with chatter of all new technologies about to hit the market.

Although I have not been to Vegas and America; I was just trying to draw parallels between Las Vegas’ CES and Dubai’s GITEX (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition). The GITEX is among the world’s top 3 exhibitions for information technology related products and technologies. GITEX has 1,200 exhibitors and more than 2200 companies from 61 countries. It had around 127,000 trade visitors.

Both Dubai & Las Vegas are modern cities rising out of desert sand. Both have spectacular hotels and great architecture. Both are futuristic. Dubai has GITEX, Cityscape, and Arabian Travel Market (ATM). Vegas has CES, AHEM and the Adult Entertainment Expo. Both cities have choking traffic during such shows. During the last GITEX you could not find a parking place. The hotels were full and there are long queues for taxis.

Honestly, Las Vegas must have an advantage in terms of infrastructure with a monorail of its own. Dubai has also started its multi billion construction it’s own metro and is it is expected to be operational by mid 2009. Dubai certainly has plans to get bigger and better. Will it out pace Vegas' CES in the next few years? I doubt if it will in the near future; simply because America is the land of IT development. Moreover CES has completed it's 40th anniversary; so CES has to be bigger and better than GITEX. Dubai is just a great exhibition centre and a good organizer of such shows. The fact is newest of tech offerings first hit America and then the world. For example Apples to-be-launched iphone was showcased in CES. Advantage CES and Vegas!

The All New Windows Vista

When Microsoft first started speaking about ‘Longhorn’ -a codename for its successor to Windows XP, it got everyone’s attention. Today, a bit more than five years after XP’s official summer launch, its successor, now renamed Windows Vista, is finally here.

Initially, priority will go to its volume licence customers such as Dell, HP-Compaq and Lenovo, followed by an ‘on-the-stands’ availability by January 30, 2007.

We have been keeping tab of Vista’s development thanks to Microsoft’s generous strategy of making a pre-release version of the OS freely available for a limited period of time to anyone interested in having a look at it.

Vista is available in eight iterations: Starter, Home Basic, Home Basic N, Home Premium, Business, Business N, Enterprise and Ultimate. We installed Vista Ultimate, as it is a superset of all the others.

Pre-requisites:
Microsoft classifies machines into two categories for running Vista: ‘Vista-capable’ machines and ‘premium-ready’ machines. The former represent the lowest recommended configuration (1 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, a DirectX 9 class graphics card, and 20 GB hard drive).

However to run Vista without a hitch, you’ll need a premium-ready machine (1.5 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, a DirectX 9 graphics card with its own 128 MB RAM, and 40 GB hard drive). We suggest running Vista on a premium-ready machine, as this OS is a resource hog!

What’s new?
The most eye-catching aspect is Vista’ graphical interface, called ‘Aero’. The most demanding theme, Aero Glass, requires a moderately powerful configuration to run efficiently, and is stunning. Everything from the taskbar, the start panel to individual window borders is translucent. You can adjust the level of translucency from the control panel.

Minimising or maximising a window doesn’t result in it just disappearing or reappearing on the screen. Instead, you’ll see cool visual effects as the window moves either to the taskbar or to the screen. Switching through windows has been stylised as well. Now if you press the keyboard shortcut Alt + Tab to move through different windows in the taskbar, you’ll see a thumbnail image of each-this makes selection a whole lot easier. But it gets better: press the Windows key in combination with Tab and you’ll see separate windows organise themselves in 3D, allowing you to scroll through each in a cyclic order!

Windows Explorer looks and behaves quite differently too. Vista also redefines the idea of the desktop. Conventionally, the desktop was a place where you could place either files or folders.

But now there is a new sidebar where you can place customised Desktop Gadgets-small applets designed for a specific function. For instance you can place a clock, a calculator, an RSS feed viewer and so on. Vista ships with 13 gadgets but connecting to Microsoft online will allow you to download more or customise your own.

Even searching for a file is easier. After you install Vista, the OS will spend a few minutes indexing the files on your hard drives. So the next time you search for a particular file, you’ll get an instant result. The search can be accessed either from the start panel or directly from Windows Explorer.

Unfortunately, there’s a downside to this indexing service: sometimes the PC will run slower after you’ve added new files, as the system is busy indexing them.

The overall security and robustness of the OS has been increased. There’s a new element called the ‘User Account Control’. Any action requiring more than the default privileges explicitly asks the user, even if he is an administrator, for permissions. This, coupled with Windows Defender, an anti-spy ware program, will ensure that the machine isn’t overrun with viruses and malware.

Finally, you’ll find plenty of new and upgraded programs in Vista. There’s Windows Mail which replaces Outlook Express , Windows Calendar, Windows Photo Gallery (a photo management tool), and Windows DVD Maker among others. Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11 and DirectX 10 come installed by default as well.

Is it for you?
To put it simply, you only need two things going for you if you decide to upgrade to Windows Vista. One, if you pick up the Ultimate edition, be prepared to shell out $400 on the OS itself. We suggest you pick an edition that’s suitable for you. This way you will save money and unnecessary features won’t take up your hard disk space either. Two, you can’t afford to skimp on the computer’s configuration. We recommend you go for a ‘premium ready’ PC.

Or else, be prepared for Vista taking terribly long to do even the smallest of things. That said, Vista is definitely a much-required breath of fresh air. Hardware installations are quick and easy. Even the overall way you interact with the computer is intuitive and refined. If you can look past the hole it’ll burn in your pocket, there won’t be much to dislike about it.

Carry Hard Disk In A Pen Drive!

BANGALORE, INDIA: His first tryst with programming was in a computer class at St Paul’s English School, Bangalore . That very moment he knew he was made for the world of programming.

From then on, Anil Gulecha has been on an aggressive learning mode. The internet and books have been his tutors. He is still learning . But he has already accomplished a unique feat — that of putting a whole operating system (OS) on a thumb/pen drive and enabling it to run live on any computer without having to install it on the computer’s hard disk.

In other words, you can now carry your hard disk or your entire operating system in your pocket. This effort takes computing to a whole new level.

Moinak Ghosh, an engineer at Sun Microsystems, Bangalore, recently took the lead on Solaris 10, the flagship operating system of Sun Microsystems , and came up with the version called BeleniX. As TOI reported in July, Moinak took the whole OS and put it together as an abridged LiveCD version. Thanks to the 20-year-old Anil Gulecha, BeleniX can now “boot from a USB thumb drive.’’ The challenge for Anil was to take the existing LiveCD programme and modify it in a way that it identifies USB drives when these are inserted.

“You can now buy a thumb drive, visit the BeleniX website and mount the whole OS on to it. You can then carry this with you and use it. We’ll now work on enhancements for future versions,’’ he said.

Anil is a third year computer science student at JSS Academy, Bangalore. He worked on BeleniX during his spare time and happened to cross paths with the BeleniX team at a college tech fest, where Sun was organising a contest for hackers.

Moinak helped Anil identify the need for BeleniX to be mounted on a thumb drive and then helped him through the project. “This is my first open source project and my first experience with Unix. I’m happy with the outcome and encouraged by Moinak’s support,’’ he said.

Anil looks forward to the days when new variants of the OS would make computing more simple and effective.
Meanwhile, plenty of accolades have piled up. “Anil has received huge appreciation from the top management at Sun. He has been nominated as one of our technology ambassadors — to talk about Sun technologies in colleges. We equip these ambassadors with tools and information to work on new technologies and applications,’’ K P Unnikrishnan, director in Sun Microsystems India, said.

Playstation 3 has landed

The much anticipated and tardy PlayStation 3 (PS3) was a sell-out hit yesterday as Sony finally launched the new console to long queues across Japan’s capital in a much-needed boost to its faltering recovery. From boys in baggy pants to teenage girls, suited businessmen and even some grey-haired seniors, thousands of bleary eyed game fans braved the cold Tokyo night in the hope of getting their hands on one of the prized new machines.

With, what for some was a paltry, 100,000 PS3s available on day one in Japan due to production problems with the high-definition DVD player, many people were left disappointed. Akihiro Okawa, 25, was first in a very long line outside the capital’s mammoth Yodobashi Camera store in the discount electronics district of Akihabara when the store opened at 7am. “I came right before the doors closed last night. When Sony announced the PS3 for the first time I immediately thought I wanted to buy it,” he said. “Now that it’s fully sinking in that I bought the PS3, I’m very happy. I don’t quite know what’s going on in my head right now. Once I get back home I’m going to play it immediately for a little while, then go back to sleep.”

He was joined in his excitement and lack of sleep by Tomohiro Shimokawa, a 24-year-old company worker who waited for about ten hours for his PS3. “I’m very excited at this moment. I didn’t sleep at all so I read magazines and talked with other people,” he said, his long wait finally over. Sony has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the PS3 and its success is considered vital to the iconic company’s future following a series of setbacks including recalls of millions of faulty computer batteries.

“There’s lot riding on it for Sony right now,” said Standard and Poor’s equity analyst John Yang. “If the PS3 fails, I think markets are going to start questioning Sony’s credibility in the next few years,” he added. However, although the sell-out launch in Japan will provide some much-needed cheer for Sony investors analysts say the electronics giant still faces a bumpy path to profitability in its games division amid fierce competition from rivals.

Not that it mattered for the thousands more would-be buyers who were turned away empty handed even before stores opened, as clerks with loud hailers and uniformed police shepherded people into long snaking queues. “We started turning people away at three in the morning,” said Yodobashi Camera store manager Shinichi Adachi. “They went away with disappointed faces because they braved the cold and spent time waiting in line,” he added.

His store sold 1,980 PS3 consoles as stocks quickly ran out. “The PS3 is an extremely popular product. Even if we had over 4,000 consoles, they would have been snapped up today,” he said, adding, “I don’t know when the next delivery date is.” It was a similar scene in the skyscraper district of Shinjuku where by midnight about one thousand anxious PlayStation fans were already camped out in the chilly autumn night.

First in line there was 22-year-old hair designer Todoroki Hirotaka and his friend Xu Minrui, a 23-year-old student, who both arrived at 6pm on Friday. “I love the PlayStation,” said Xu. “It’s a bit expensive but I’m going to buy it anyway. The games are the best,” he said. Meanwhile, Sony Gulf said that the UAE was gearing up for the March 2007 launch date of the PS3. “Anticipation is building ahead of the official arrival of PS3 in the region,” said Tim Stokes, sales and marketing director, PlayStation Division – Sony Gulf,

“And rightly so. The lucky few people who have managed to try it first hand are raving about its features and the quality of graphics making it one of the most eagerly awaited consumer product launches of all time,” he added. However, if the PS3 is to be a success, either here or elsewhere, it is going to have to flight off the competition provided by the likes of Nintendo and Microsoft. Below 7DAYS takes a look at the PS3 and its two rivals.

SONY’S ‘PLAYSTATION 3’

The sleek, black PS3 is described by Sony as a ‘super computer’ for entertainment. At its heart is the ‘Cell’ processor developed jointly with IBM and Toshiba which Sony says is 40 times faster than the chip that runs PlayStation 2.

The PS3 comes with a 20-gigabyte or 60-gigabyte hard disc and incorporates Sony’s Blu-ray high-definition new DVD player. Users can browse the Internet, chat to friends, listen to music and store photos as well as download content and access online games.

Five games will be available at the launch but more are coming soon. Games for the PlayStation and PS2 will also be compatible.

NINTENDO’S ‘WII’

The video game pioneer is on a quest for market dominance again with the Wii which launches in the US on November 19 for $249.99, almost half the price of the PS3. Nintendo caused a stir last year when it unveiled a one-handed wireless controller similar to a television remote and equipped with motion sensors.

By waving or swinging the controller, it can serve as a tennis racket, car steering wheel or weapon. It also includes a speaker and rumble feature. Nintendo is promoting the Wii as a family-friendly machine, allowing users to view news and weather information, look at digital photos, browse the internet and to post messages to other family members.

MICROSOFT’S ‘XBOX 360’

The US computer software giant launched the Xbox 360 in November last year, a whole year ahead of the PS3, seeking revenge for the mediocre debut of the original XBox which flopped in Japan.

In October Microsoft said it had sold six million Xbox 360s worldwide.

The new version is equipped with a DVD player capable of handling CDs and digital photographs through a built-in Windows Media Center – the same bundle of applications found in Microsoft’s Windows XP PC operating system.

The console has an Ethernet port to enable high-speed internet connections for the popular ‘Xbox Live’ subscription service, and other ports to hook up digital cameras or MP3 players.

Microsoft will soon launch a service that allows users to download movies.