Sunday, July 29, 2007

Will Celebrities Looks As Portrayed?

Today I happen to see a shooting of film starring Shambu as hero and his counterpart in this film is SS music compere turned actress, I don't remember the name but she conducts the PCO show in SS Music channel. The shooting was happening all around TIDEL park. While I was waiting in Madya Kailash in morning to come to office today, there itself I saw a film crew shooting some events in the moving bus, that goes around that area. At that time I didn't actually know its film shooting. I thought it was some serial shooting, because the way the shooting was happening. Generally whenever there is shooting, there will always be a ever growing crowd gathers around that place. But today morning there was nothing like that.

But after coming to my office at TIDEL, I realized I was wrong. The so called crowd which I was talking about was here all around. To enter into my office, I have to cut across the crowd. So by the way I saw a short guy with just ordinary look but was getting the attractions of eye balls just because of his weird dressing and makeup was none other than one of Kollywood's young actor.... Mr Shimbu. To be frank his looks are not even upto 10% match compared to the way he was showcased in different media's. Is this true with all??? Mostly I can say yes... Take example Rajini Kanth.. everybody knows how he looks in Movies and real life...

To confirm my point, I have another example too.... I recently got chance to see former Indian Cricketer Krishnamachari Shrikanth in my office. He was here for writing a column in one of the Sify portal Sify Khel exclusively made for Sports enthusiasts. I was bit confused when he crossed me. At first instance I couldn't recognize him. Believe me, he was very very very fair and tall in contrast to his media appearances. After confirming with another person who was with me at that time then only I realized its our former captain Shrikanth. Wow...

So have you got the point of what I'm trying to say???

Looking for Stunning, Amazing, Awesome Story? Check It Out

Is your life boring? Couldn't get anything to read? Don't know what to do now? Looking for something that can kill your time? I have a great idea that can help you in sorting out all the aforementioned problems. Just subscribe to "Mrs.Mary Magda" and her associates mailing list and you will get tons of mails filled with juicy, creamy, emotional, and action filled stories. By rough estimate it will take million years for you to read all of their carefully crafted, well written stories filled with texts that can even beat any kind of SPAM filtering techniques ever made or in making.

Can't believe me? Read the following one which I recently got in my mail Inbox(Yes, I got this in my Inbox, this story has beaten both my Yahoo SPAM filter and Mozilla Thuderbird SPAM filter as well). Kudos to "Mrs.Mary Magda" and their creators.

Here starts the story of Mrs.Mary Magda....

Dear Friend,

My name is Mrs.Mary Magda,a 65yrs old lady. I am a cancer patient and a nationality of Egypt. I am married to Mr. Salama Magda, who worked with Egypt embassy in SWITZERLAND for nine years before he died in an Air crash in September 8, 1998. We were married for eleven years without a child.Before his death we were devoted Christians. When my late husband was alive we protected our assets of $USD38 Million through the purchase of a life insurance policy (Swiss variable annuities) from a Swiss life insurance company. I was irrevocably designates as beneficiaries of the policy.

The purpose of this investment was to safe our principal capital and make use of accrues income from the annuities for our upkeep since the principal fund and the accrued interest are exempt from Swiss taxes under Swiss law.But unfortunately he dies.Recently, my Doctor told me
that I would not last long due to my cancer problem. Though what disturbs me most is my stroke.I developed this sickness as a result of the sudden shock and hearth attack I had when the breaking news came to me on that faithful day that my husband was involved in an Air crash and died in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 in September 8, 1998. Having known my condition I decided to liquidate these assets and donate this fund with all the accrued interests to church or better still a Christian individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct here in. I want an individual that will use this fund to churches,Orphanages,Research centers and widows, propagating the word of God and to ensure that the house of God is maintained.

I took this bold decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband's relatives are of questionable characters and are not Christians. They have been persuasive and inquisitive to know where we have invested our funds but I cannot
reveal this to them.And I don't want our hard earned money to be misused by unbelievers and I would dislike a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner.

Hence the reasons for taking this bold decision. Because of their selfish threat I have ordered the Swiss insurance company to transfer my fund to the Bank vault in Netherland pending when I will find a good Christian believer whom I shall entrust the fund unto to help me
carried out my wishes. I don't need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health and for the presence of my late Husband relatives around me always. I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible.I have briefed my attorney about this development. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of my attorney in HART ROW, UK to issue you my power of authority and other documents that would enable you to lay claim of the fund from the security company in Netherlands.I want you and the church to always pray for me. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing for other people for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here.

Expecting to hearing from you.

Email; mary_magda02@yahoo.se

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9809/swissair.victims.list/index.html

Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs Mary Magda

WC? Water Closet or Wayside Chapel?

In the days when you couldn't count on a public toilet facility, an Englishwoman was planning a trip to India. She was registered to stay in a small guest house owned by the local schoolmaster.

She was concerned as to whether the guest house contained a WC. In England, a bathroom is commonly called a WC which stands for "Water Closet". She wrote to the schoolmaster inquiring the facilities about the WC.

The school master, not fluent in English, asked the local priest if he knew the meaning of WC. Together they pondered possible meanings of the letters and concluded that the lady wanted to know if there was a "Wayside Chapel" near the house . . a bathroom never entered their minds.

So the schoolmaster, with the help of the priest, got together the following reply:

Dear Madam,

I take great pleasure in informing you that the WC is located 9 miles from the house. It is located in the middle of a grove of pine trees, surrounded by lovely grounds. It is capable of holding 29 people and is open on Sundays and Thursdays. As there are many people expected in the summer months, I suggest you arrive early. There is, however, plenty of standing room. This is an unfortunate situation especially if you are in the habit of going regularly. It may be of some interest to you that my daughter was married in the WC as it was there that she met her husband.

It was a wonderful event. There were 10 people in every seat. It was wonderful to see the expressions on their faces. My wife, sadly, has been ill and unable to go recently. It has been almost a year since she went, which pains her greatly. You will be pleased to last know that many people bring their lunch and make a day of it. Others prefer to wait till the last minute and arrive just in time!

I would recommend your ladyship plan to go on a Thursday as there is an organ accompaniment.

The acoustics are excellent and even the most delicate sounds can be heard everywhere. The newest addition is a bell which rings every time a person enters.

We are holding a bazaar to provide plush seats for all since many feel it is long needed. I look forward to escorting you there myself and seating you in a place where you can be seen by all.

With Deepest Regards,
The Schoolmaster

Is Google Following Microsoft Business Practices?

Recently I read an shocking article about one of my favorite tool, Mozilla Thunderbird mail client. The article is about Mozilla Corporation's decision to drop the further development and promotion of its mail client for the sake of promoting Google's GMail. The more shocking fact is that Google itself has encouraged MoCo (Mozilla Corporation) to do so. This is very much in line with the dreaded policy which Microsoft has practiced and practicing till date. Here is the full text of the article.

"Mozilla Corp.'s CEO Thursday evening answered charges that the company is dropping development of the Thunderbird e-mail client because of its partnership with Google Inc.

Several comments posted to Mitchell Baker's blog put forward conspiracy theories of a link between Mozilla's decision on Thunderbird and Google's push into e-mail with its Gmail Web-based service.

"Since Google is a primary funder of the Mozilla Foundation, and since Google is actively developing and offering their own enterprise-grade e-mail ecosystem via Gmail and Google Apps, maybe they are wanting to kill off or hinder the development of Thunderbird to 'encourage' those wanting to ditch the Outlook/Exchange juggernaut to move to Google," wrote a user identified as Vaughn Reid.

Reid was responding to Baker's disclosure Wednesday that Mozilla Corp., the commercial development arm of the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, would shift Thunderbird to another entity and focus exclusively on Firefox, the open-source browser.

A few others took up Reid's claims. "Maybe my tinfoil hat is just wrapped a bit too tight today, but what's the odds that Google pressured the MoCo [Mozilla Corp.] folks to simply cut ties on the stand-alone Thunderbird mail client, since they (Google) are trying to move the average home user to Web-based Gmail, anyway?" asked Marc Rust in another comment.

Baker said that simply wasn't true. "I want to be as clear as possible about the complete lack of Google involvement," Baker said in a rebuttal posted last night. "Google and Google products had nothing to do with this decision, we did not ask Google about Thunderbird product planning, Thunderbird revenue, Gmail product planning or Gmail revenue, and we did not ask Google's opinion.

"Google's plans for Gmail -- whatever they are, and they are unknown to me -- are irrelevant to this decision," she said.

As Reid noted, Google is the major source of Mozilla Corp.'s revenues. A partnership that sets Google's search site as both the default home page and search engine in Firefox pays Mozilla Corp. millions annually. The last time the numbers were made public, Google paid Mozilla approximately $52 million in 2005. (Mozilla has not released its 2006 tax return.)

The move to clip Thunderbird -- Mozilla's considering three options, including releasing the software to its own community, ala SeaMonkey -- has been met with both dismay and understanding by other users commenting on Baker's various blogs. The two lead Thunderbird developers, Scott MacGregor and David Bienvenu, have put their support behind the idea of a small, independent company that would continue work on the e-mailer with lots of help from the unpaid developers who now contribute to the coding.

In an e-mail today, MacGregor said that he and Bienvenu wanted to keep Thunderbird alive. "We and our community are not going away." He also promised that whatever organization is formed to support the software, work on the next update, Version 3.0, will continue. "There will be a next major version of Thunderbird," he said.

No timetable has been set to decide how Thunderbird will be separated from Mozilla Corp., MacGregor added."

Thanks to Computer World for publishing this article.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Chennai Marina Beach

Marina Beach is among the longest beaches in the world and it comprises of sun, sand and surf. Counted among one of the longest beaches in Asia, it is stretched across a 12-km long area. This beach was given a makeover by Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff in the early 1880's, and is Chennai's major tourist attraction today.

Adjacent to the Bay of Bengal, Chennai has one of the loveliest beaches in India. A walk along the Marina, whether in the morning or evening, re-energizes one. The old buildings dotting the other side of Kamarajar Salai, a main road along the Marina, bring back memories of good old British Raj. The Senate House of the University of Madras and the old buildings now housing government offices, such as Ezhilagam and the Director General of Police office. They wear a mysterious look in the morning when the Sun rises.

Marina Beach, Chennai Walk along the beach bordered with a green lawn will entice you to go on a leisurely stroll. At the intersections of this promenade stand beautiful statues of Tamil scholars, patriots, and noted personalities. The Statue of Labour is a beautiful sculpture depicting the efforts of a team of laborers who are at strenuous, manual work.

The beach begins near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south, a distance of about 12km.

A famous characteristic of the beach is the set of stone statues that adorn the roadside area of the beach. Most statues are of Indian/local legends like Mahatma Gandhi, Kannagi, Thiruvalluvar, while others have symbolic significance like the Statue of Labour. Also memorials for M. G. Ramachandran and C. N. Annadurai, former Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Periyar are present on the beach. Recently, a statue of actor Sivaji Ganesan was installed.

The Marina used to be famed for its pristine beauty, jolly ambiance, and rich ecosystems. However, since the middle of the 20th century, the beach and water has become polluted. A proliferation of plastic bags, human waste and other pollutants have rendered many parts of the beach unusable. In recent years, many voluntary organizations have taken up the task of cleaning up the Marina and protecting the ecosystem. Particular efforts include protection of Olive Ridley turtle nests along the Neelangarai section of the beach. Despite these problems however, a visit to the Marina is a sine qua non for any tourist coming to Chennai.

Activities At Marina Beach

Located on the eastern side of Chennai, adjoining the Bay of Bengal is the mesmerizing Marina beach. Watching the sun set and rise from the beach is a fascinating experience. Bathing and swimming can be dangerous here, as the undercurrent is very strong. But still people come for swimming here. The beach also offers a lot of water sports opportunities, like, para-sailing, gliding, windsurfing, cruising, etc.

In the evenings, the beach turns into a fair ground with various kinds of entertainment and food stalls lining the beach. One can even shop around the beach, buying shell and glass baubles to kites and fruit juices. The Marina, is also the venue for important state functions, accommodate a good number of visitors. There are also facilities of pony rides at the beach site, which attract the children's interest the most.

Aquarium

Aquarium is located close to the Marina beach, which has some of the most exotic collection of tropical sea fishes and fresh water fishes. The aquarium offers a chance to have a closer look at the aquatic life. The Ice House, which was used to store ice brought from Great Lakes in North America, is south to the Aquarium.

Attractions Around Marina Beach

Beautiful buildings in Chennai such as the University of Madras, Senate-House, Chepauk Palace, Presidency College, P.W.D office and Ice House are located on the beach drive. At the other end of the beach is the new lighthouse. In between, sentinels on the promenade, are several statues of Tamil scholars and two splendid bits of sculpture- the Victory of Labour and the Mahatma Gandhi.


Although many locals claim the Marina to be the world's longest (or second longest) beach, there exist in fact several longer beaches, including Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, Ninety Mile Beach in Australia and Ninety Mile Beach in New Zealand and Praia do Cassino in Brazil, which is 240km long. However, unlike the other beaches, it is an urban beach similar to the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Being Good Manager in IT

It's easy for IT managers to get bogged down in day-to-day activities and lose sight of the bigger picture of leading their staff. Whether you're a seasoned pro, or new to the game, the following tips will help you effectively manage your team.

1. Spend time (and money) developing your people
IT is a constantly changing field, and many IT workers love to learn about new and improving technologies. For many, learning is not just enjoyable, but is necessary to do the best job possible. IT Managers should budget for training and development and encourage staff to participate in events whenever possible.

If your budget is tight, explore free regional presentations and workshops, set up in-house training, and get creative with your development dollars. Don't forget about cross-training exercises as well. Even in a large IT group, there are jobs that only one person does routinely. Make sure others know what to do if that person is suddenly gone for an extended period.

2. Get to know what your staff really does
Although you don't need to master every task your staff handles (see the next item), you should understand your staff's normal work routine. Familiarize yourself with each person's responsibilities, if you aren't already. Ask team members to explain and demonstrate important tasks -- such as data backups.

For example, "An existing IT employee transferred to my sub-group. Immediately after the transfer, his manager began working with the individual to learn his job role. One month after the transfer, during a key production period, the employee suffered simultaneous tragedies -- a parent died and the employee developed pneumonia. With no direct backup, manager jump in and accomplished the job with the knowledge manager had learned during the first month and a great deal of help from others.

As a result, Manager gained a great deal of respect from the employee, who had previously suffered negative experiences with management."

Understanding what your staff does not only increases their level of respect for you, but it also makes you more credible as a manager when faced with difficult situations or decisions.

3. Don't do it for them
If you move from an "in the trenches" IT worker to a management role, avoid the tendency to take the reins too quickly. Your knowledge and skill level may exceed your employees', but you must help your staff learn and grow. There is a fine line between coaching and doing. A good manager will know the difference.

While there may be an initial training period where you are more involved in doing the day-to-day work, use appropriate delegation and training strategies to move the work into your staff's capable hands.

4. Know the business and make sure they know you
It is almost a cliché, but all IT managers must understand the business they support and use this understanding to build services and infrastructure that support business goals. You should also show your direct reports how their work affects overall business goals and ensure that business administrators understand what IT does for them. Showcase your department's activities through annual reports, regular communications, and frequent project updates.

5. Treat communication as a busy, fast-moving, two-way street
Information is not a limited commodity to hold. It should flow freely and easily between management and workers. If you sense that you are not getting important information, consider ways to increase communication. Likewise, don't hoard information, unless it is confidential. What seems irrelevant to you may be highly relevant for someone else. Reward information sharing between your direct reports.

6. Encourage everyone to work as a team
The whole really is greater than the sum of its parts. Encouraging collaboration and teamwork helps remove silo-like isolation that often occurs in technical organisations. Cross-functional teams are extremely important because small changes in one area can have significant ripple impact across other IT units. Reward efforts that allow for collaboration and develop an environment where workers can feel comfortable asking for and giving assistance to one another. Frustrations often result when one team member knows something that others spend hours working to resolve. Teamwork will fuel your communication vehicle.

7. Provide feedback regularly and let employees know what you want
Some IT jobs make people feel like islands. They work on a project or assignment independently and may not regularly interact with their manager or co-workers. Be sure your staff knows what they are doing well and what needs improvement. These can be casual conversations, formal performance reviews, or public praise events.

If someone isn't living up to expectations, be sure that person knows what those expectations are. Staff members may not realise that the assignment you gave them last week was a priority item for a high profile project. Be clear and direct when making assignments. When employees finish a job, make sure they know how pleased you are with the work they did. Geeks need love too!

8. Hire well
If you have never hired before, ask for assistance and do your homework. Hiring poorly can be more costly than not hiring at all. Technical skills are only a small piece of the puzzle. You should know if a person will integrate well with the team. It may also help to get your team involved in the hiring process, when it's appropriate and allowed. Your staff can help you determine whether the applicant relates well to others and has the appropriate soft skills.

9. Understand best IT practices but don't just make them buzz words
Learn and understand the best practices that apply to your environment and measure yourself and your department against them. Explore ITIL and determine whether you should implement at least portions of it in your department. Ensure your disaster recovery plan is up to date and ready for action. Perform regular security assessments. Proceed with caution, however; throwing around buzzwords won't gain you any clout. You must truly understand the ideas and their application to your environment. Then, plan and implement appropriate related changes.

10. Be a good project manager
Did your last project suffer scope creep? Most projects, particularly IT ones, don't fail because the project itself was bad. Most failures are a result of weak project management. If you haven't had any formal project management training, find and invest in a good program.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that simply by having regular meetings, you are managing the project. And since IT usually has more projects than people, be sure to train lead workers with basic project management skills so you can delegate specific aspects of the project or even entire projects to their control.

Laughing Out Loud(lol)

A new lady teacher came to teach 8th standard students. As it was the first day, she gave her intro, and asked all the students to introduce themselves with name and hobby.

She said, Lets start with the boys first.

Boys start giving their intro...

First boy: My name is John, and my hobby is to see "bubble" in the bathtub.

Teacher was confused to listen but said, Interesting. Well, Ok. Infact, we must be honest in telling the hobby. And after all there is essentially a child in each of us. So its ok John.
Yes next.

Second boy: Myself Peter and my hobby is to see "bubble" in the bathtub.

Teacher now got surprised and said, Good. I like the spirit of supporting a friend. Ok next.

Third boy: Im Smith and my hobby is to see "bubble" in the bathtub.

Teacher: Guys are you joking or what? Please be sincere. Ok next.

This continues...

and the last boy stands up Im Harry and my hobby is to see "bubble" in the bathtub.

Exhausted, the teacher said, I dont think I will be able to teach un-grown boys for long.
Anyway, now the girls please.

First girl: Im Julie and my hobby is to see birds.

Teacher: Good. At last I got something different.
Ok next.

Second girl: Im Ruby and I like to collect perfumes.

Teacher Now its like educated grown up girls. Ok next.

You sweet girl; Yes you...

Most beautiful girl of the class:
Mam, my name is BUBBLE , and my hobby is to take bath three times a day.

My Sify Friends

After a long time I got time to make a blog entry. And that too with good memorable pictures. One of my friend Arun, who works with me at Sify got releived and moving out to pursue different opportunity at Wipro. On that we got a chance to snap up the final moments with him in the cam. Here are those....

L to R: Karthikeyan R(Yes its Me), Abdul Hakkim, and person who was in limelight on that day Mr. Arun

L to R: Suresh Kumar, Hari, Arun and Me(Karthikeyan R)

L to R: Me(Karthikeyan R), Senthil(Back), Jaycee(Front), Arun, Mahesh, Suresh and Vasanth

L to R: Vasanth and Arun
(Back to them is TN's most famous masterpiece to showcase its power in field of IT, yes its none other than TIDEL Park, Taramani)
My working place is in the building right in-front of the TIDEL.

L to R: Vasanth, (will update the name soon - Info: I'm new to Sify), Arun and Hari

And more,