Cool Skype Extension

Just discovered cool skype extension for Firefox which is also available for IE. This neat little extension turns phone numbers that appear in your browser into buttons which you can click to call from Skype. Of course, it predicates subscription to SkypeOut. A neat little convenience that helps calling any number a little easier..

Cool iPhone Commercial

What's making news in US.. iPhone
Is iPhone to going to change the landscape as iPod did? Jury is still out but iPhone seems to have all ingredients to make it one.. There is lot of buzz around its launch here in US. Check out this cool add..


In a world where open standards rule, Apple is a good case study on how to be proprietary and still be successful. Steve Jobs sure has reignited the innovation engine which is unmatched.

YouTube Election

What's making news in US.. Some random observations..
If 2004 Presidential election was about online fund raising and blogging, 2008 Presidential elections seems to be dominated by YouTube. Consider this:

1. Every Presidential nominee worth their salt releases their campaign video on YouTube.
2. In fact, Hillary Clinton announced her intent to run through a online video which made its way to YouTube immediately.
3. CNN is inviting questions for Presidential debate via YouTube
   

Chennai Marathon 2007 in December?

Chennai Marathon 2007 in December?
According SDAT, Chennai Marathon will be held in the first fortnight of December. I hope it doesn't clash with Singapore Marathon which happens on December 2, 2007.

Even otherwise, if both happens in close proximity then I would pick Singapore Marathon over Chennai Marathon. I would love to be able to run a marathon in home turf but I must say, Singapore Marathon is organized far better than Chennai Marathon, which is generally a organized chaos. I have participated in two previous Chennai Marathons and on both occassions, I found the organization to be very poor and I was stopped in the tracks after 3+ hours.

Travelog # 38 - Wooden Sphere

I am in Dallas, TX now where it has been incessantly raining causing traffic delays everywhere. I am schedule to go to NYC tomorrow.. but not sure now if I would be able to get out DFW. In the meanwhile.. here is that has been in my draft box for a while..

An interesting piece of work seen in Grand Hyatt, Taipei..


Wooden sphere made of logs.. Hotel folks told me that it is about 10 feet in diameter and is supposedly 'one of the kind'..

Couple of more shots..




All of my recent Taipei pictures can be seen here..

Sun Sports

Sun Sports..
When did Sun launch a sports channel?

I was channel surfing and saw Sun Sports broadcasting India Vs Ireland cricket match, with Tamil Commentary. Is it just a trial broadcast as haven't seen any announcements about this new channel and no information available in their site as well.

Switching Machines

Switching laptops.. Is there a easy way?

I am in the process of switching laptops and find the whole process too tedious and painful. No, I am not talking just about the data but all the sundry applications and the data associated with it.

I do maintain all my core data in one place and migration of that was the easy part. But now I have to contend with bunch of smaller applications and their data. For example, I am have Blackberry and Garmin applications and loading them in my new machine was the easy part.. However, I find the moving the relevant data from the individual folders of the old machine to the new time consuming.

Is there a easy way to 'replicate' machines? I am not talking about 'ghost images' as they will work only on similar hardware. I am talking about the ability to move 'everything' across machines.

Mini-Marathon Tomorrow

Bunch of us from ChennaiRunnes will be participating in the 'Mini-Marathon' organized by TNEB tomorrow. There is still time to register.. So, if you are interested, Pl. refer to my previous post on this subject or contact Mr.Ramamoorthy, TNEB Sports Secretary at +91-44-2852 2783.

The 12k run starts 7:00 AM and the bib and stuff could be collected at the starting point (Elliots Beach) before the event.

See you there..

Why Run?

Why Run?
If you are still wondering.. here is a testimonial from one of the young ChennaiRunners (who will anonymous)

"Since I started running I get up up early morning everyday and have almost given up beer."

Isn't this good enough reason for you to start running?

Mini-Marathon in Chennai

According today's The Hindu, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) is organizing a mini-marathon this Sunday and the organizers are expecting over 500 people to participate. The Hindu article says the run would start from Elliots Beach, cover a distance of 12 kms and end near Munro Statue. Unfortunately, the article doesn't give information on starting time, how to register etc.,

I tried to find more information on the web and even tried calling TNEB, but to no avail. ChennaiRunners are very much interested in participating but need to know how to register and when to go. Please help us if you know..

Update #1
Just heard from Giri, one of the fellow ChennaiRunners

1. There is NO LIMIT, to the number of participants taking part in therace.
2. There is No entry fee
3. The race is scheduled to be held on June 24th, Sunday and T-shirts, caps, chest numbers will provided only on 24th Morning at 06:00.
   
4. The race will be flagged off at 07:00.
5. The route: Elliots Beach-Adyar-Santhome-Marina - TNEB Headquarters(opp to LIC Building).
6. For registration details, pl. contact Mr.Ramamoorthy, TNEB Sports Secretary at +91-44-2852 2783

I just tried contacting him and he wasn't available. I was asked to try again Saturday morning after 10:00 AM.

Travelog # 37 - Snake Alley

Snake Alley in Taipei
I have heard of snake alley before, so I readily agreed to go there when my colleagues offered to take us there. I was thinking that place would be seedy and practically the other side of Taipei. But, but I was wrong.. the place was brightly lit with well organized row of shops and resembled like few other markets I have visited in this part of the world. But with a small twist.. though the specialty is here is snake delicacies. Read on..



Snake Alley? Where are the snakes? We had to look hard to find the restaurants serving snake stuff..


Which snake do you like? After some search, we found this shop selling snake food. There was demo of skinning a live snake and the store guy drank snake blood. I wanted to take some pictures but we were prohibited with a stern warning 'No Taking Pictures'.


See the python besides the lady.. Is she promoting python food? not sure..


Want to relax after snake food? Foot massage was available right next door..

If you were wondering what a vegetarian was doing in the snake alley.. I am there right with you.. I went to see something new. My Chinese colleagues had to search hard to find a restaurant that would serve something vegetarian. I just took their word for it and ate whatever was served as 'vegetarian'.. !!!

Ms. President?

It is unclear if US will have its first woman president in 2009, But India is all set to have the first woman president in a couple of months. I haven't it heard of Ms. Prathiba Patil until today, nevertheless I welcome her nomination.

I would have preferred to see Dr. Abdul Kalam renominated for one more term but with that not happening, Ms. Patil seems to be a better choice over few others like Shivraj Patil, Pranab Mukherjee, Sushilkumar Shinde or Karan Singh who were in the fray.

Who Needs Running Class?

Not me.. that's what I thought..

Like most of us, I also just went out and started running.. But then, very soon realized that got to learn some tricks to prevent injuries. Thats where being part of ChennaiRunners really really helped. I was able to exchange notes and learn a few trick from some veterans in the group.

Now this article just reinforces need to have some training to prevent some of the common injuries while running. In fact I learnt about this article through a fellow Chennai Runner.. Thanks Kanakapriya.

Travelog # 36 - Taipei 101

Talk about location.. I can see the world's tallest building from my hotel room window.. and that is quite a site. But let me admit, I have to bend and twist to see the building, nevertheless get that thrill of seeing the building.

I am in Taipei and this time, I got to stay right next to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world as of date. There are buildings coming up in middle east that is supposed to over take Taipei 101 but that is still a couple of years away. Till then, Taipei 101 has the distinction.

My stay has been the usual traveler triangulation.. that is airport, hotel and office. However, I did get an opportunity to take a few snaps in and around Taipei 101 and here they come..



Taipei 101 is the tallest structure world today. It was pleasant experience to walk around and snap pictures.

There is pretty huge mall inside Taipei 101. I found most of the shops having little or no traffic, which was little surprising. One of the reason could be they are all high end shops and are designed for fewer crowd anyways.....?



Photo op just outside Taipei 101.. I found several places like this..



Say 'I Do' in style.. Make Taipei 101 say it for you..


Taipei has had metro for a while.. but now I guess it is coming closer to Taipei 101.


100% helmet compliance.. both men & women included..


Taxis were plenty and they all ply by meter..

A short clip near Taipei 101


Previous post on Taipei

Donkey.bas

Is a gaming program Bill Gates wrote for IBM in 1980s..
Yes it is indeed true. Way back in 1981, the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates along with Neil Thompson wrote a computer game called DONKEY.BAS for IBM.

When IBM was developing the PC in the late 1970s and early 1980s it contracted Microsoft to develop an operating system and a version of the BASIC programming language to release with
the new computer. The operating system was released as PC-DOS when included with IBM PCs. Bill and Neil co-wrote the Donkey.Bas to demonstrate the capabilities of IBM PC and BASIC programming language.

While extremely simple compared to later PC games, and to games available for other systems at the time of its release, DONKEY.BAS is arguably a predecessor of all IBM PC games. The game continues to generate interest in part because of the involvement of Gates at a time when Microsoft was relatively small and only six years old. According to a speech delivered by Gates in 2001:

"Actually, it was myself and Neil at four in the morning with this prototype IBM PC sitting in this small room. IBM insisted that we had to have a lock on the door and we only had this closet that had a lock on it, so we had to do all our development in there and it was always over 100 degrees, but we wrote late at night a little application to show what the Basic built into the IBM PC could do. And so that was Donkey.bas. It was at the time very thrilling."

When I First Ran

An Hour and a half..

A confession from Vidyuth Sreenivasan, one of the early ChennaiRunners. Though his mail is dated September 2005, he sent this mail to our mailing list this past week. Since then, Vidyuth has come a long way and has run at least couple of marathons. His mail makes an interesing read.. reproduced here with his permission.. Read on..

September 4, 2005.

Sunday morning. The alarm goes off. Its 4:30 am. I decide to snooze for 5 more minutes and next thing I know it is 5:10 am. f***. I wake up already behind schedule. I tell myself off. Hurriedly I brush my teeth, put on my shoes, take 100 bucks and get out. Its 5:20. Its still dark.

I can't start running cold. So I decide to walk to my starting point. A pillar that resembles the ashoka pillar on 5th trust cross street. I reach and I start running. Its 5:30.

I start with a slow jog, go past Alphonso playground and turn left to hit santhome high road. As I turn left, I notice that all the street lights have been turned off. I feel this place is the crack of dawn. It difficult to describe this place. It is not dark. It is not light. The air is fresh and the heart is light. Nature's own mood lighting. The birds are just stirring and there is a nip in the breeze. I remember thinking chennai is at its best this time of the day.

The smell from the stagnant back waters on foreshore estate wake me up. I tell myself to concentrate on my breathing. Inhale for 3 strides, exhale one stride. Its hard at first but I get into a rhythm with every stride.

I pass quibble island cemetery and wonder about its name. How did it get its name? Maybe the buried have some stories to tell. I settle into a nice rhythm and find my stride length increasing automatically. I focus on my breathing.

I am now at Elliot's beach running towards the vailankkani church thinking I should reach there by 6:00. I push a little harder. As I approach the church, I am faced with hordes of people jay walking. I can't help feeling under dressed amidst church goers dressed in their sunday best. The crowd slows me down a bit. I get past vanandurai, my mind starts to think about stopping. I tell myself I should decide after getting to the LB Road signal. At this point I can see the signal, so it was no problem.

I run past the signal into Indra Nagar, happy with myself for not giving up. My pace has come down. I chastise myself. I try to run faster but I can't. I spot two tea shops. I went to the one that looked cleaner from the outside. I ask for a bottle of water. He takes about a minute to get me the bottle. A minute that felt like forever. I yell at the man for taking so much time. He looks at me strangely. I don't know whether he was amazed or amused. He advices me not to gulp the water but to sip it. I nod, drink down several gulps, pay him and leave. I had been running for 45 mins. I decide to walk for 5 minutes to resume at 6:20 am. I walk past the foot bridge across the buckingham canal on to the IT corridor.

I start to run but the bottle of water feels like it weighs a ton. Every few strides, I keep switching hands. I am no longer focussed on my breathing but on the bottle. I am unable to run with the bottle in my hand. I hand it over to a passing stranger who accepted it with a smile. NOw my hands are free and so is my mind. I am fresh and feel confident that I can run all the way home. I turn left at Madhya Kailas temple, cross the road and turn right into Kotturpuram. I think about second wind and thought that I was now on my second burst of energy. I feel light. My stride has returned and so has my breathing rhythm.

As I approach the bridge, I am battling myself. I begin to doubt if I had taken on more than I could do. What was I trying to prove by running this distance. I could stop now, hail an auto and go home. I don't have to run. No one is looking. I could still brag to my friends that evening that I had run for an hour. It would still be more than any of them could imagine doing. Better still I could tell them, I had run all the way home. But could I respect myself if I did that?

I press on. I had long since stopped focussing on my breathing. My lungs are unable to follow my instructions.

I am faced with an uphill climb on kotturpuram bridge. I pull myself over the bridge one stride at a time urging myself to c'mon. As I reach the other side of the bridge, I notice that the chennai corporation was constructing a park in that corner just before the turnbulls road - ABM avenue fork. For a minute I thought it would be nice to go there in the evening. Then I realise that it would be patronised by people from the slums nearby. I remember thinking that the city needs public spaces for middle class people to patronise without having to compete with the have-nots. A wholly impractical thought.

I run into turnbulls road pondering the merits of taking ABM avenue. I decided I had made the right choice and proceeded. I turn right, go past park sheraton and onto chamiers road. There are viehicles standing at the signal. I want to stop. I tell myself that I should run to the next signal and then take a call.

I run to the next signal. I tell myself "C'mon to the next signal at chennai kaliappa hospital". By now I have lost all my rhythm and the only thing keeping me going is the constant chatter from my mind. My mind tells me that I'll lose self respect and I press on.

I run past the bridge that takes me across the buckingham canal again. I 'm almost home. I reach the junction near kovai pazhamudhir nilayam and my mind begins to celebrate. I tell myself, don't celebrate too soon you still have a few hundred yards left. I run past the mandaveli bus terminus. I remmber thinking I should finish quickly or might not last till the end. My stride lengthens and my pace quickens to what I felt was a sprint but to observers nothing more than jogging. I reach the turning to First trust link street, see a mark painted on the road in white - 100m. This is my mark. This is the end. I stop. I walk. Some passersby smile at me. They have no idea what I have just accomplished. I smile to myself and walk home. It is 7:00 am.

ChennaiRunners in The Hindu Today..

Check us out in The Hindu today. Hindu met the ChennaiRunners yesterday and here are couple of photos Ravi took during the occassion

Jagannathan, Ram, Anbu, Ravi, Sunder, Shahid, Karthik, Senthil, Hari & KK


ChennaiRunners in action. We generally don't run long distance in a single file like this one.. but ran for the press.

R2I # 13 - Negotiating Your Indian Salary

One of the challenging tasks in R2I is finding the right job and understanding the salary package you get. During negotiation, employers quote salary in terms of CTC which would be rather confusing. CTC stands for Cost To Company and that includes all kinds of benefits including employer contribution to Gratuity and 401k.

For folks coming back from US, this CTC business is bound to cause confusion. So, it is important to ask for the break up of CTC and understand clearly what will be your take home salary. This is also important to compare what you are making in US Vs what you will be making in India.

I came across this article, which explains the CTC business in detail and might be beneficial.

There is another aspect to this CTC business and that is tax liability. I will try to cover that tomorrow.

ChennaiRunners Interviewed by The Hindu

Look for coverage in The Hindu about ChennaiRunners. Hindu met us after our regular Sunday run and even took a few pictures. So, look out for the coverage in page-2 either coming Monday or Tuesday.

Travelog # 35 - SouthIndies

If you are in Bangalore, do check this place out, it's on Indira Nagar 100ft road. The ambiance was good and the food was great.

The difference starts from the menu card and goes all the way. The menu card is done very differently and based on the specialties from 4 southern states. Another first for me in India was the way our order was taken. Our waiter took order in his PDA which was transmitted wireless to the kitchen.

We had Keera Vadai, Vazhathandu cutlet, Bisebelabath, poondu vathakohambu and a few other stuff. I must say, all of them were very tasty and authentic. All of us, including our friend of Egyptian origin thoroughly enjoyed the food.

The atmosphere was relaxing, though little noisy at times. We ended our dinner with a strong 'degree' coffee which was served in the traditional Davara / Tumbler.

The real surprise was when we saw the check. The tab came to less than INR 900 which we thought was very nominal.

So, If you are in Bangalore, do check this place out.. You will like it.

Barriers to Mobility

There is lot of noise about the world becoming flat and jobs and opportunities moving to where the talent / value is at the best possible price. That premise is valid, if and only if we humans allow the world to become flat. More walls have come up since Berlin wall came down in 1989. Israel has walled large sections of West Bank virtually creating Palestinian ghettos. US and India have been building walls with its neighbors too. But this article is not about international politics or about people mobility across the borders.. It is about people mobility within India. So let me get back to the subject on hand..

Indian IT companies are rejoicing the fact that hordes of jobs are moving to India from other parts of the world. But the IT companies themselves are raising exit barriers to stem the attrition. InfoSys is asking its employees to sign non-compete agreement with this years annual raise. Interestingly, this non-compete document specifically names certain SI companies (IBM, TCS, Accenture, Wipro & CTS) that the employees cannot join for six months from the exit date.

According to the reports, the non-compete agreement specifies Infosys' competitors as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Accenture, IBM Global Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Wipro.

The agreement letter also mentions that the employees cannot accept job offers even from its clients (which they have serviced in the last 12 months) for a period of six months.

The clause will make it difficult, if not impossible, for employees to find employment with its customers and some of its competition.

I know that most of the freshers are asked sign bond for a couple of years to stick with a company, but this exit barrier for everyone is new. Will this stand in the court of law? Is this enforceable?

IT companies in India are having a great time with the jobs moving from all over. But they don't want their employees to have the same kind of mobility. The bottom line seems to be, I want to protect my turf and I want everyone else (read other countries) to lower their barriers so more jobs can move freely. !!!

What's your Carbon Footprint?

Today is world environment day and the hot topic is that the place we call home is getting hotter by the day. All of us contribute to global warming to various degrees based on our consumption habits. Would you like to know about your carbon footprint and want to reduce it? Then go here.

I am as guilty as most of us in contributing to global warming, but off late, we have started to take baby steps towards reducing consumption and thus our footprint. Here are some of the things we do..

1. Food - Cook only what we need.
2. Coffee mug - I use a coffee mug at work instead of disposable paper cups
3. Shaving - Use a mug instead of running water
4. Drive - Drive a two wheeler to work instead of my car
5. Car - Consciously bought a smaller car, controlling my itch to buy a gas guzzler.
6. Walk - Walk to, wherever possible
7. Plastic Bags - Reuse grocery store plastic bags as garbage bin liner as much as possible
8. Recycle - Recycle whatever feasible. In fact it is easier in India than US. However, I am not sure if recycling really helps as studies have shown that it actually takes more energy to produce something useful out of the recycled goods.

I am sure I can do hundred other things to reduce our carbon emission but then haven't figured out yet and possibly doesn't have the will power.

Now, what about you? What's your carbon foot print? What are you doing to reduce it?

ChennaiRunners Have a New Home

ChennaiRunners is gaining momentum. We have more interaction and participation.. Check out our cool logo and

poster we want plaster the city with.. and


we have a new home... do check us out..

Caste Cauldron

BJP Government in Rajasthan may have arrived at a temporary truce with the Gujjar community ending their agitation which costed over 2o lives and brought life to a standstill in many of the northern states. So, what did Gujjar community achieve after all this violence? A promise and a committee to look in to the their demand to be classified down as Scheduled Tribe (ST). This reclassification will supposedly bring them even more benefits than its current Other Backward Class (OBC) status.

BJP made a promise it can't keep during the election time and Rajasthan and the country is paying the price for it. BJP promised to move Gujjar community down to the ST list from OBC to get to power. But then they over looked a small detail that only federal government can do that. But then BJP in its eagerness to grab power glossed over this and is now caught in a no-win situation.

Now, they not only have to deal with Gujjars but also with Meenas who are opposing Gujjars demand. Meenas have been enjoying ST benefits for a while and doesn't want to be crowded with possible entry to Gujjars in to their gravy train.

Quota based on caste is both sensitive and an ugly issue in most of India. It is sensitive because no politician wants to touch this gravy train. What was introduced as a temporary measure in 1950 continues to grow bigger with more and more communities clamoring to be classified as backward.

It is ugly because it divides India based on narrow religion / caste lines. Mahatma Gandhi wanted to eradicate caste system out of the Indian psyche. But since independence, communities across India wants to be classified backward to move forward. And, now, some states including Tamil Nadu are considering quota based on religion.

This quota gravy train will continue to divide India as long as it is done based on caste or religion. As the ugly incidents in Rajasthan proves yet again, caste based reservation is a failure and will only divide India pitching communities against each other with deadly consequences. But then, who is to bell the ugly and ferocious cat? Definitely not the current crop of politicians.

Flip Flop

Is there anything left to enforce?

First, Tamil Nadu comes up with a strict rule following the high court directive and forces people to comply on the first day of implementation.

Then the very next day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister chides the cops and asks them to go easy enforcing the rule.

Now, Tamil Nadu has for all practical purpose exempted women and children from the purview of the rule as though their lives don't matter.

I am talking about the new helmet rule in Tamil Nadu. I am not sure what is left to enforce? It boils down to enforcing the rule only on men.. Isn't it some kind of discrimination? Why not scrap the entire rule.. I know, they can't because of the high court directive. what a farce..

Going Soft on Helmet Rule

Just when, people were starting to comply with the helmet rule, Tamil Nadu Government has buckled under pressure and practically reversed its own helmet rule in just 30 hours. They didn't even wait for any studies to get scientific data on impact of helmet rule in in making the roads safer and fatal two wheeler accidents. In a hurry, Mr. Karunanidhi instructed police not to harass public over the helmet rule, giving a quick burial to the helmet rule for all practical purpose.

This sends a wrong message to the public and to the cops. Now it is neither voluntary nor mandatory and leaves lot of room for selective enforcement. This is exactly what cops would desire and as it gives them the wiggle room to target vulnerable people and extract a personal fee.

Now Big B is What?

Big B is a farmer..

Now did I hear that right? That's what he claimed to be buy some lands in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Now, why in the world would Amitabh Bacchan claim to be farmer when his entire family is in entertainment business. Apparently to get some lands at heavily subsidized price. Now that's exactly what he needs.. he is poor and need Government subsidies to eke his living. His family may be making billions from the entertainment industry but as a farmer they are poor. Now, that's a concept..

How About Auto Meter Rule Enforcement?

It is good to see that over 90% in Chennai complied with the new helmet rule. There were also reports that cops getting tough on the violators and that is heartening as well. However, why isn't the cops showing the same vigor with enforcing the Auto Meter rule? Autos continue flout the rule and in some case they don't even bother to have a meter.

Why are the Autos allowed to continue their anarchy? If the Govt. wants to enforce they can like the Helmet rule, but it lacks the will and that may due to the alleged collusion between politicians, cops and Auto drivers.

Previous posts on Autos

Seems to be working..

Tamil Nadu decision to crack the whip on helmet usage seems to be working. I trek about 2 kms to my work and may have seen over 100+ two wheelers on the road today. I counted only about 8 8 - 10 guys without the helmet.

Agreed this is random and unscientific. Yet the scene would have been just the opposite just 24 hours back. I hope the initial heat stays on till it becomes a habit. What neurosurgeons long advised and is common sense seem to have finally found some traction thanks to the stick policy of the Government.