Thought Garage

Wouldn't it be good to have a reality check for what is being taught at Schools? Yes, for sure. But it wouldn't happen if Academia doesn't respect people who really work and come back to teach.   If my opinion counted, I'd argue that any academic department worthy of note should include a group of faculty with a long experience of the day-to-day of industrial software development. They would be valued on how they had reflected on this experience and drew from the lessons to inform their teaching and research. I'd like to see a regular rotation of people from the academic to the industrial world, where it's common to see people spend several years in industry, then academia, then industry again, and so on. This problem isn't only in software. A friend of mine had the chief engineer role in one of the most challenging engineering projects in the world. He fancied a stint in academia, but was only able to get a second-class position reserved for people who w...

The days of 'Free' Customer service looks to be over. At least a quality customer service is. This comes to me (and I am sure for most of you) as a big surprise, but I guess we all have to get used to this. Occasionally, "we've heard from customers that it's hard to understand a particular accent and that they couldn't understand the instructions they were getting," said Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman. So, Dell introduced a Support Service called as 'Your Tech Team' Service, that promises that Technical Experts are from North America (instead of Bangalore, India for instance) and average wait time would be less than 2 minutes. Sounds Great, finally Dell heard the Customers. Not quite. This service is not for every Dell customer that purchases a Dell product, but only for those who pay an additional $12.95 a month to receive this 'premium' service. And Dell Spokesman put a PR spin to this 'Pay if You need Good Customer Support' se...

After a freezing couple of days, today looks much better with temp reaching 60s. Little fog early in the morning, but not a problem to cruise.

Placebo effect can be used by drug companies to make you sick. See all those depression ads. See all those advertisements that say 1 in 10 has this cancer or drug, so go for this addtional testing or take this medicine. Placebo effect can work this way too.

Barack obama and Oprah have inspired millions of people, not just in USA but across the world. However, this week they both admitted, they are in need of some motivation to keep their addictions under control. Obama smokes cigarettes, even now. He could win USA presidential elections but he couldn't win over his own addiction of smoking. Oprah couldn't control her own body weight and shape. She is, by her own admission, out of shape. I guess both of them need a little bit of motivation and little change in their mindset that it is not okay to let it loose. The whole world is looking up to them. When some body says, (s)he is not perfect, they really mean it. It's our fault to mean it otherwise.

Changing makeup and costumes is an integral part of Movie actor's life that is hard to leave. Here are few pictures from PRP Praja Ankita Yatra showing Chiranjeevi in different costumes. Reliving the life of an Actor or truly trying to understand the issues by enacting common man's life in costumes? Hard to tell.

It is very surprising these days, why people are turning up so heavily to Political road shows, in most cases, irrespective of the political party. Thought, many people just want to come see their matinee idol's real face when they poured in to Chiranjeevi's meetings. But quite baffled to see similar (but not equal) response to every other political meeting. Political polarization? Want to just watch how it goes? or signs of political action? (Images from Eenadu.net )

In multiple interviews, Peter Schiff, explains that US Economy foundation is weaker and 'the game is over America'.  He also predicted in detail what markets are affected, credit crunch and how it will lead to recession, only to be laughed away by rest of the Pros on TV.  We all should have watched it earlier :-((

This is a very interesting and could be quite valuable TED Talk presentation, if you are currently pitching, to anybody. This presentation is a bad example though, of 'how-to' do it (I had trouble understanding the whole presentation without watching it twice), but offers 'what to' pitch. Thinking startup? David S. Rose's rapid-fire TED U talk on pitching to a venture capitalist tells you the 10 things you need to know about yourself -- and prove to a VC -- before you fire up your slideshow.

Good news for first time home buyers. You may defer tax up to $7,500 in your next year tax filings and you get 15 years to pay that tax amount. First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance The tax credit is available for first-time home buyers only. The maximum credit amount is $7,500. The credit is available for homes purchased on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009. Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. The tax credit works like an interest-free loan and must be repaid over a 15-year period. For more visit http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/index.html .

Immediately following Barack Obama's historic win in the US, leader of Praja Rajyam party announced that he will do in Andhra Pradesh, India what Obama did in the USA and win in the elections. Now Chandra Babu Naidu, the chief of TDP Party, once hailed as the CEO of Andhra Pradesh across the world, goes one step ahead in his own style. He wanted to follow the grass roots movement that Obama managed to setup in the USA. Chandra Babu Naide started teaching the basics of Grassroots movement to TDP party men and energizing party youth to follow the steps. This is nothing new to people that know how Chandra Babu governed the state of Andhra Pradesh for about 9 years. He drew his inspiration from all over the world and initiated many programs that involve the very grass roots engagement. 'Prajala Vaddaku Palana', Janma Bhumi, Sramadanam are just a few to name. Eenadu, the news paper that provide unconditional (totally biased) support to TDP, even forged an image of Chandra ...

Motorola may be loosing its charm. But it's Home and Network Mobility business gives Satyam, one of the India's top Software Services companies a new image in the flat world. So as they say, the shopping by Indian behemoths continue to marvel. And what is a better environment than the weak economy to close the deal. Satyam has acquired Motorola's software development centre in Malaysia for an undisclosed amount. The deal will bring human capital into Satyam's fold besides a running contract with the US telecom giant. The centre which employs 128 people at Kuala Lumpur is part of Motorola's Home and Networks Mobility business focusing on network management system development. The deal is expected to be complete by the end of this calendar year post mandatory regulatory nod. Post the transaction Motorola will contract directly with Satyam for development services for its network management software. Source: Satyam Acquires Motorola's Software Devel...

There is a silver lining to the economic turbulence in Indian markets. Net effect of the economic turbulence is that top 10 firms in fact notched up their market valuations. Breaking its six-week long losing trend, country's top 10 club added over Rs. 20,000 crores to the combined market valuation in the past week, even as Reliance Industries and Infosys suffered losses. The top 10 companies together gained Rs. 23,273 crores in market cap last week, while country's most valued firm Reliance Industries alone lost Rs. 24,063 crores from its valuation. Also IT bellwether Infosys' valuation declined to Rs. 6,371 crores in the past week. At the end of Friday's trade, the total market value of the 10 most valued firms, comprising six from public sector and four private sector entities, stood at Rs. 10,15,150 crores, up from Rs. 9,91,877 crores a week ago. ... As per the elite list of top 10 firms, RIL is followed by ONGC (Rs. 1,58,619 crores), NTPC (Rs. 1...

Paul Graham argues that economy doesn't matter for your startup if you have right founders. More over, bad economies are good opportunities as many cases startups bring new products and services at a much cheaper rate. Your product or service could be readily accepted by your customers.  The economic situation is apparently so grim that some experts fear we may be in for a stretch as bad as the mid seventies. When Microsoft and Apple were founded. As those examples suggest, a recession may not be such a bad time to start a startup. I'm not claiming it's a particularly good time either. The truth is more boring: the state of the economy doesn't matter much either way. Source: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy Couldn't agree more on the aspect of, bad economy is indeed a better opportunity for startups.

Politics often come in the way of Development. Some times, for no reason. In the name of stopping Political corruption, this time, major political parties are blocking a huge Infrastructure project that will eventually benefit Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Will it be a missed opportunity? Because, we are already running out of time in building our infrastructure. Coastal Corridor is a part of monumental infrastructure development project that will build or extend : 5 SEZs Ports Roads Airports and Rail If political parties are really interested in the welfare of people and are afraid of injustice done to those land/property owners, then they must fight to arrange for proper and fair displacement and fair market value for the property involved. Not block the project itself, that will alter the lives of the very people. The following snapshots taken from a presentation by AP PCPIR depict that this monumental project aiming to achieve. It doesn't look li...

During the much hyped Yuva Gharjana, the Youth meet of Telugu Desam Party held on 5th of Nov,  Congress Party has broadcast an Ad featuring Nagarjuna praising Congress created welfare programs, "100 Days Guaranteed Work for workers and Indira Pension plan". Watch the ad. So Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi going separate ways? Many Chiranjeevi fans were predicting that Nagarjuna will officially promote and back Chiranjeevi's party, given the fact that both are very close and have business relationships. This looks like a shock to many. With flood of Movie Stars joining Politics, does stardom matter? TDP got Nandamuri family actors. Praja Rajyam got Chiranjeevi's family of film actors. Congress breaks away family ties and got Nagarjuna and Mahesh babu, the two actors that are much more popular and loved by lot more people than both (above) families together. And Jayasudha and Raja Sekhar too. That may definitely gives Congress one notch up, the film stars tally....

Few more recipes for building Elegant software, from 37 Signals that has been reinventing the way software is built by 'getting real '. I always love the way 37Signals team present their ideas. Key take away for me from the presentation : build and keep up the momentum and out share lessons you learnt. Of course,  the essence of 37Signals and its products remains intact, to build the least set of features to get things done with an intuitive interface. Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away…. — Antoine de St. Exupery, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939 Few more videos from Business of Software 2008 here .

It was very sad to know that my favorite Science Teacher, Michael Crichton, died on 4th Nov, 2008 (reportedly due to cancer).  I am a great fan of his novels. Before I read any of his wonderful creations of Science fiction, I watched the famous movie built based on his novel, Jurassic Park. Little I thought when I picked Rising Sun, first ever novel I read by Michael Crichton. The novel was so fascinating I finished entire novel in one sitting. Then I rushed to the library and got The Great Train Robbery. I was so impressed, I bought the rest of those favorites. His novels teach a lot about the Science, some of them are look so complex they can be taught only in fiction (on how those ideas can be realized) through those worst case scenarios. Wrong Novel in The Wrong Place in The Wrong Time Not by plan, but it happened (some time in 2002) that I was reading Air Frame on board a Northwest airlines flight, that returned to Minneapolis after an hour and half flight, due to suspe...

Congratulations Barack Obama, on winning this historic presidential race. Barack Obama has inspired millions of people not just in US but all across the world, with a hope for a better world and relentless team work to achieve those dreams. If what he had demonstrated in running the race offers a glimpse of what to expect in his presidency, entire world is up for a dramatic change in every way we see things and do things.  Overall, a much more understanding and prosperous America and a better world.   Source: Hulu - MSNBC Decision 08: Obama Presidential Acceptance Speech There are lots of key lessons to take away from this election and how he ran the race without drama and consistent and engaging message. Most importantly those historic speeches and courageous positions he took on issues much larger than life of any individual. Outstanding leadership. Once again, Congratulations Barack Obama.

McCain speaks of few last minute strategies before the election. Well, they would have worked if he had tried little seriously, and without wavering.   Source: Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Update: Sen. McCain

Changing makeup and costumes is an integral part of Movie actor's life that is hard to leave. Here are few pictures from PRP Praja Ankita Yatra showing Chiranjeevi in different costumes. Reliving the life of an Actor or truly trying to understand the issues by enacting common man's life in costumes? Hard to tell.

Thanks to Movie stars entering into Politics, particularly Thanks to Chiranjeevi, we are witnessing a filmy variety of new and innovative ways in promoting a party. Here is a fresh new way to promote TDP , Telugu Desam Party to win in elections. (Image Linked from Eenadu.com )

Chiranjeevi today (finally) spoke his mind and ignited the 'CASTE' spark. Without naming any specific caste, he said, people in lower population are ruling the people in higher population and the higher population should fight back for Power and PRP will support them in their fight. There is no hiding in his message. Everybody in Andhra Pradesh know who are those people in lower population. They are so low, one caste is just 5% and the other about 8% but have been ruling all these years. Caste Will Work. Principles May Not Comparatively, Chiranjeevi's caste now has about 30% of population. So I guess you can see the equation. May be, PRP realized ideology doesn't work, so going down the Politically correct but morally corrupt path. Isn't Movie Industry The Same? I guess the same thing happens in Movies too? Only few lower population people lead and earn all the money in movies too. Often the money spent by those higher population. Why Chiranjeevi that spent all...

With almost all political parties singing the 'Separate Telangana' tune, I have been wondering for a while, whether Separate Telangana really help the region and people of Telangana? It was surprising to see that every political party, says the same thing: Telangana was neglected and only the other regions were getting all the development. Who to Blame? Aren't the same Politicians ? When they were in Power, when they represented the People, why didn't they say a word so far? Why didn't they ever propose a bill that would help the region grow? Or oppose a bill that would unfairly help other regions and neglect Telangana. Was there in the history that any thing like that happen? As far as I could recollect and research, there were just 1 or 2 instances, but nothing major. So how does it help to give power to the same politicians that neglected the region (if that is true) all the while? The Greed For Power I believe, the greed for power by select politicians an...

Being a president is all about being an Effective Executive Leader, that understand the strengths and limitations of its own union and work towards the goals of the union effectively and successfully. Look at how Political campaigns have been run so far by each leader to get a glimpse of what kind of leader they could become, if they won. OBAMA, The Only Choice Looking at how the Presidential Campaigns have been run so far, Obama is the only candidate that demonstrated clear and inspiring leadership skills all the while. All other campaigns have failed to even manage their finances, directed the strategies as reactions and used fire fighting skills and 'do any thing to get those votes' kind of low strategies. The vision, planning, organization and execution of Obama's whole game plan was so disciplined and bound by the same principles as indicated on day 1. No other political campaign has really stuck to anything at all. He talked straight. He reminded individual respo...

"I owe my success to Andhra People and I am here to Serve them". That is what Chiranjeevi said as motivation behind entering into politics. While he hasn't spent any money at Grand level so far to serve People, he spent crores to arrange the movie style high octane Inaugural meeting at Tirupathi. Lakhs of movie star fans from all around the state attended the function. The 'Praja Ankita' yatra follows the stint with equal vigor and cost. PRP Already Began Couting Votes.. PRP and Chiranjeevi pretend for some time that the amount of people attending to the meetings as their support to his politically certain agenda and count them as real votes that could win him the election. Predictions of Godavari districts with 20,000 majority was plain stupid, but explain whats going on in PRP leaders' minds. Time to Show TDP's Stardom, Money and Muscle Now its the time for the other parties to show their so called political strength to the people of Andhra Prade...

Watch this internal meeting broadcast, reportedly recorded and leaked (believed to be quite deliberately) out to public, where Chiranjeevi explain the political strategy of Spying on other political leaders to win in the elections. So finally, this is what Praja Rajyam is all about? This is the inspiration Chiranjeevi got from Abdul Kalam, Gandhiji and Mother Theresa? How cheap politicians can go? leaving the ideology aside, to win in the elections? May be, we are too naive to expect anything different from politicians. We thought, Politics will change fro good with the introduction of Chiranjeevi, but Chiranjeevi is changing himself to fit into politics instead.

Actor turned Politician Chiranjeevi says he really doesn't know what people are hoping him to do in Politics (as per a news report on Times of India ) quoting a video. Really? But do you remember, Chiranjeevi saying the reason he was coming into politics was that 'People are calling' and he is replying to their call. So did he not understand why they are calling? or what they are calling for? I think neither, as Chiranjeevi did not discuss with PEOPLE before entering into politics. He is doing that exercise now, as part of ELECTION campaign. It was a real life drama, saying I am coming as a reply to people's call and never did have a clue about why and what they are calling for.  Is there a hidden meaning for all this? Better people ask the people who wrote his script. Because, that is what a movie actor is used to. recite and act, probably without even understanding anything about it. To  a certain extent, the opinion on this blog, Harivillu is correct. Chiranjeevi...

For all my life so far, I heard people move to Mumbai to live their dreams. And its quite intriguing to know that people are actually moving to Hyderabad , right from Maharastra itself, to live their dreams. In the last couple of years, a number of young professionals have crossed over to Andhra Pradesh from Maharashtra to pursue their dreams in one of the biggest IT hubs of the country, Hyderabad. In fact, some are even investing in real estate with long term plans of settling down in the city. Source: Hyderabad's cool quotient

Came across this wonderful and elegant image editor while browsing 37Signals blog, that runs right in the browser. The interface is so elegant and loads faster than my most desktop applications.   Source: PHOTO: introduction.jpg

These days, every thing is coming up with a touch screen, with all those zippy gestures. iPhone may have inspired a few, but these giant screens are demonstrating a different dimension. SNL use touch screen to explain some pretty complex .....!!! You better Watch it.

Electricity has become a major issue for almost all parts of the state, even after State Government buying Electricity from the grid spending crores of rupees every day. This is the month of October and still official power cuts run into 10-12 hours in certain districts. If you talk to people that are living particularly in rural and urban areas, these power cuts run so much higher, that they only talk about number hours they may see Electricity. Agriculture, the backbone of India , gets electricity for just around 4-7 hours a day. Can you really grow any crop with 4-5 hours a day? (Source : News Article at Eenadu.com )

CPI, CPI(M) and TRS came to an understanding today to fight together in the upcoming elections. (Picture: by Eenadu, http://eenadu.net/25pan6a.jpg ) TRS chief KCR confirmed the alliance after meeting with the CPI party secretary AB Bardhan in New Delhi. Who Joins This Alliance? TDP? or PRP? The big question on whether This alliance will work with TDP or PRP remains undecided. It appears that they want to wait for some more time to evaluate PRP influence in the coming elections before making a decision. TDP having declared its new stand to support 'seperate Telangana' leaving its traditional stand for Samaikhyandra (one Andhra Pradesh) opened its gates for alliance with TRS. However PRP hasn't declared a YES or NO yet. Going by the insider reports from PRP, PRP may declare a YES very soon and may join the alliance. If PRP joins this alliance, TDP will have to face elections on its own, ALONE. Same goes with PRP if TDP joins the alliance. PRP Leaders trying to ...

  To create awareness among the people on the rights of pedestrians, a city-based NGO ‘Right to Walk Foundation’ launched a ‘20k Signature Campaign’ on Friday. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to create a pedestrian-friendly city Source: Right to Walk Foundation launches signature campaign You can read more about the NGO and its activities at its website ,  and stay updated with its blog .

If you are following Hyderabad Metro Rail works, here is an update on the project: Six consortia were shortlisted for selection of independent engineer to oversee the Hyderabad Metro Rail works by the state government on Friday. The consortia are: AECOM (Hong Kong), Aarvee Associates (India) and Lahmayer International (Germany); DB International (Germany) and SMEC International (Australia); Louis Berger (USA) and RITES (India); Mott MacDonald (UK) and Tecnica (Italy); Net Engineering (Italy); and Scott Wilson Railways (UK) and EPC consultants (USA). Source: Six consortia to bid for overseeing metro rail

Hyderabad US Consulate opened today at Paigah Palace.  The beautiful and historic Paigah Palace, built in the 1880’s will be the temporary home of the new U.S. Consulate in Hyderabad.  US ambassador to India David C Mulford on Friday declared open the new consulate at Paigah Palace in the city by hoisting the Stars and Stripes in the presence of chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and other officials. Addressing the gathering, Mulford said the new US consulate would begin issuing visas from mid-December. To being with, the consulate will issue about 100 visas a day which will be gradually increased to 300 by January next year. Source: US consulate opens in city

Its quite difficult to say who is real Palin, unless you watched real Palin more than one time.Isn't hurting GOP real bad?   Source: Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Governor Palin Cold Open

So, are we saying 'Capaitalism' as the world knows doesn't work for India?  What happens if the business loose its revenue. Will government pay the dues? With the sacking of nearly 1900 of its staff by Jet Airways turning into a political sensitive issue ahead of elections, a worried Congress today disapproved of the hire-and-fire policy and bluntly told the industry that "India is not America". "Hire and fire is not a proper labour policy... Hiring them recklessly and then firing them recklessly is not proper. We do not approve this," Congress media department chief M Veerappa Moily told reporters in New Delhi Source: No hire and fire, India is not America: Congress Global Recession : Is It The Fall of Capitalism? When I was discussing this quote by senior Congress leader with a journalist from Hyderabad, he did resonate with the thought. He questioned, the US Government bailing out is not different than what we normally see in a Commun...

So, are we saying 'Capaitalism' as the world knows doesn't work for India?  What happens if the business loose its revenue. Will government pay the dues? With the sacking of nearly 1900 of its staff by Jet Airways turning into a political sensitive issue ahead of elections, a worried Congress today disapproved of the hire-and-fire policy and bluntly told the industry that "India is not America". "Hire and fire is not a proper labour policy... Hiring them recklessly and then firing them recklessly is not proper. We do not approve this," Congress media department chief M Veerappa Moily told reporters in New Delhi Source: No hire and fire, India is not America: Congress

Energy is vital to Andhra Pradesh. Land has become much more important, thanks to Real estate bubble all over the state. Then its not surprising people of Andhra Pradesh are fighting against allocation of land to setting up Power plants. Costal Corridor has been a prime example. It will be interesting to see how people of Krishna district will react? Even as the allotment of land in the coastal corridor to three private companies for starting thermal power plants is mired in controversy, the state government has directed the Krishna district collector to study the feasibility of allotment of 1,800 acres of land at Kona village near Machilipatnam to a Chennai-based company for setting up a power plant. Chennai-based Falcon Projects Development wants to set up a power plant with a capacity of 1000 MW. The company wants 1,800 acres at Kona village, and the project will be completed by 2011-12. Source: Land Allotment For Power Plant Under Govt Consideration

We all have so heavily depend on Calculators and Computers to do all calculations, including the most simplest ones. Its quite tough to beat the habit of looking for a nearby computer or calculator on the cell phone and start waking up those gray cells. So, its worth noting that kids of this generation actually beat those calculators instead of relying on them. Kudos. The proficiency and speed for calculating faster than calculator has been achieved by 18 out of 8,000 kids from Andhra Pradesh enrolled for Abacus and Braindemy SDN BHD, Malaysia. Source: 18 Andhra kids beat calculator (Indian Express)

Its great to see funding for R&D flows in from Foreign Universities to our Universities. The amount of R&D spent in local markets is quite bleak, this is such a wonderful news for universities. Many universities in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh have become hubs for international collaboration in infrastructure development and research. The universities from abroad have invested in universities in the state to develop academic research. At universities including Osmania University, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Maulana Azad National Urdu University and some Central government institutes including National Institute of Technology (NIT), Warangal, the investments are for development of fundamental and applied research. Source: AP, now, R&D hub for foreign varsities

Fantastic breakthrough. The abundant energy in the form of Gravity can be tapped for transportation? wow ! An Indian breakthrough will help road-rail travel ride on gravity power alone that can potentially save the world 70 percent of fossil fuels required for the purpose every year. Rajaram Bojji, a product of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, who holds 17 international patents and has helped script an engineering marvel like the Konkan Railway, has explored and developed the knowhow to tap gravity Source: Indian breakthrough taps gravity to help road rail travel

Isn't it the essence of whole outsourcing game, that work moves where it can be done at the cheapest place? English speaking work force and Knowledge workers are no longer confined to Indian borders. In fact, with huge local government sops, many world destinations may beat Indian centers. Its almost like India 10 years ago. Cebu City and Bacolod City (the Philippines), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Krakow (Poland), Tianjin (China), Amman (Jordan), Nizhniy Novgorod (Russia) and Cork (Republic of Ireland) are some of the fastest growing destinations for IT and ITeS outsourcing, according to a study by investment advisory firm Tholons. While, some of the high-end work continues to be doled out to time-tested destinations such as Bangalore, contracts for less complex services are increasingly going to companies operating out of newer locations. As the global slowdown has something to do with this, the cost advantages and sops offered by respective governments is an added attraction. ...

Quite a remarkable journey for a Cell, from a heavy brick luxury device to an integral part of our daily lives. Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the first commercial cellphone call in history. On October 13th 1983, Ameritech executive Bob Barnett called the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell using the now legendary and bricktastic Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. Here's Gizmodo modified cellphone timeline highlighting this historic event.  Source: 25 Anniversary of the First Commercial Cellphone Call Timeline