Build Online India (Alumni)

Knowledge Vs Common sense

noreply@blogger.com (By Shivanand) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:25:00 +0000

I have finally dared to write my first blog. Even though I had lot of things in mind to share with the people I know but due to the fact that my English being poor and not so impressive to readers. But I told myself, let whatever be the comments, critics I will write and publish this blog without any hesitation. So I requests you all give me valuable feedback in terms of comments to improve further....

I was listening to one of the Kannada entertainment programme about Knowledge Vs Common sense. It was nicely narrated by presenter. The story goes like....There was person called 'Gundu'. He was considered as useless in class room among all other students. His thinking process was entirely different from others. One fine day teacher gives problem to solve every one. The problem goes like ---The cost of one goat is Rs10. Then calculate how much of 100 goats will cost?. Every body in the class solved the problem correctly except 'Gundu'. The teacher cursed 'Gundu' and told him to stand on the bench. The bold 'Gundu' stood on the bench. The teacher asked him....Why you have not solved such simple problem?. Then 'Gundu' kept quite. The teacher got angry asked him repeatedly. The 'Gundu' said, Sir the problem itself is wrong. Then teacher was surprised and angered at him as usually happens.

Then teacher asked at 'Gundu' , what's wrong with problem?. After repeatedly asking 'Gundu' replied the..Sir,the cost of mutton in market is Rs 250. How come the gaot will cost only Rs10?. This is how 'Gundu' was different from others. The teacher spent time in libraray but 'Gundu' spent time in market. Teacher got only 'Knowledge' but 'Gundu' got 'Common sense'.

With changing competitive world, Knowledge with Common sense have more success. Comments and critics are welcome. Looking forward for your comments

Another 2 wickets down

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Shaikh) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:48:00 +0000

A Team that made miracles... and is now loosing wicket after wicket, no worries we will still manage to play it all and off..... while I pray that we bounce back and win the world cup again... I would say the Sr. members of the Team keep patience....

After all we have to win... and we are playing to win... So what if India looses now... there is another round of matches....this is not a simple game of cricket.... it is the game where the evil of bad quality (game) has to be fought by the team who has worked extremely hard.....

The coaches are watching and the board is going to help.... Dont get disappointed by an innings an 90 run defeat... the stars of the new Team will see difference in the next match....

r u reading too much? boys read between lines.....

Software testing offers big ROI

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:25:00 +0000

Software testing offers big ROI

By Jennette Mullaney, Associate Editor
05 Mar 2008 | SearchSoftwareQuality.com

NEW YORK -- Software testing is an expense that ultimately saves an organization a great deal of money. It has a quantifiable return on investment (ROI) and testers can follow a simple series of steps to calculate it, explained Rex Black during a session at the recent FutureTest 2008 conference.

Black, president and principal consultant of RBCS, emphasized the cost-effectiveness of creating quality software. "The money you spend to build it right the first time is always less than the money it costs to fix it," he said. The amount of money saved can be two times, four times or even 32 times the cost of investment, he continued.

Testers concerned about their budgets can cite a wealth of well-established references to justify upfront costs to management, Black said. He listed four ways testing saves money: Finding bugs that get fixed, finding bugs that don't get fixed, running tests that mitigate risks and guiding the project to success through timely, accurate, credible information for project tracking.

The ROI for finding and fixing bugs
When figuring the ROI for finding bugs that are fixed, Black instructed his audience to measure the cost of quality. The cost of quality combines the costs of conformance and nonconformance, he said. Conformance costs are those accrued when an organization creates and tests quality software and can be broken down into prevention and protection costs.

The cost of nonconformance consists of the cost of internal failure before release and external failure after, including the expense of finding and correcting bugs in released software, handling phone calls from angry customers, and losing business due to a damaged reputation.

Black set up equations for a series of hypothetical case studies. He estimated 1,000 "must-fix" bugs occur in a quarterly release. Bugs cost $1 when found during review, $10 when found through developer testing, $100 when found through tester testing, and $1,000 when found by customers.

If an organization conducted no formal testing, developers might find 250 bugs and customers 750, Black hypothesized. Using his figures, the software vendor spends $2,500 for the bugs found by developers and $750,000 for those found by customers for a total of $752,500 for the cost of quality.

If the vendor hires an inferior testing group for $70,000 and that group finds 350 bugs through manual testing, the total cost of quality is greatly reduced, Black told the audience. After paying for the testers, the vendor spends $2,500 for the bugs found by developers, $35,000 for the bugs found by testers and $400,000 for the bugs found by customers. The cost of quality in this case is $507,500, Black found.

Software testing resources
What's the ROI for a Testing Center of Excellence?

The role of a software test manager

How to evaluate testing software and tools

In another hypothetical case, Black armed the testing team with automated tools costing $150,000 ($12,500 a quarter for 12 quarters). The testers find 500 bugs and the cost of quality is reduced to $385,000, he calculated. Costs can be cut further if bugs are found earlier, added Black. "Suppose the test manager realizes it's cheaper to find bugs in requirement and design reviews," he said. If the testers manage to find 150 bugs this way at a price tag of $1, the cost of quality drops to $235,150.

For these hypothetic cases, Black deliberately picked an unexceptional testing team. "A good team should find 85% or more of defects," he said. "A mediocre job still saves the company a lot of money."

The value of finding bugs that aren't fixed
"The rule of testing is 'find the scary stuff first,'" Black said. Once the "scary stuff" has been fixed, there may be many bugs remaining. However, knowing about these bugs and preparing for them can generate value, he explained. An organization can decide to turn off the feature that contains the bug, warn users of the bug in release notes, or provide technical support staff with a workaround. The workaround provides value by shortening calls to tech support.

Black set up another equation to demonstrate his point. In this case, each software bug initiates five calls, a call for a known bug is 15 minutes shorter than the call for an unknown bug, and each member of technical support is paid $40 an hour. There are 60 minutes in an hour, so put 15 over 60, multiply the fraction by five and by 40. The result is $50 saved.

Convincing management
"The value of information is found in enlightening management and executives," Black said. "We don't do a good job of this." He encouraged the audience to perform their own calculations.

"What gets measured gets done, what gets valued gets funded," said Black. "What we do as testers has value and we can quantify that value."

10 Career-killers To Avoid

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:47:00 +0000

Like other workers, IT pros can unintentionally sabotage their careers

Nov 7 2007

To help IT professionals become more aware of potential career blunders, Computerworld spoke with John M. McKee, president of BusinessSuccessCoac h.net, a Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based career coaching and consulting firm. McKee is the author of author of Career Wisdom: 101 Proven Strategies to Ensure Workplace Success. Here are 10 career-killers, with McKee's advice about how to recognize and avoid them.

1. Failing to have a life plan. "This is the No. 1 biggest mistake that I run into with my clients. I work with a number of clients in IT, many of whom are in C-level roles. A life plan is a business plan, in the same way that a company leader creates an annual business plan for what the future is going to bring from a corporate perspective. Three life aspects to focus on include one's career, personal and family, and financial goals. If someone has a good title and a satisfactory personal and family life but they're struggling to make monthly payments, then they're not going to be satisfied. They should look at those aspects for themselves. They should look at the competitive environment, the job marketplace and whether their skill set is current. If someone can replace them because they're cheaper, faster or better, it's no different than looking at your IT requirements. Most importantly, this plan should be written down. Only 14% of people do that. 86% are putting their futures in the hands of others. It's not a good place to be in."

2. Not keeping your skills current. "The business landscape is ever-changing and there is more demand for jobs than supply. Not staying on par with colleagues and those vying for your job will be a death knell. With individuals able to do the same work that someone is doing anywhere in the world today and the prospect that organizations will chase skill sets around the world, if you're not up to date with your skill sets in IT, you're significantly at risk of being replaced. This includes the need to stay up to date in technical skills, business skills and soft skills."

3. Failing to deliver results. "Winners in business know that it's all about accountability. Those who harbor a sense of entitlement for simply having put forth effort, irrespective of the results of those efforts, are guaranteed to fall by the wayside. It's very easy in a corporation to believe that becoming more efficient will translate into becoming more effective. So becoming preoccupied with creating greater efficiency may be a short-term solution to helping the bottom line, but it doesn't help the organization to grow. I rarely see people get the big bonuses in the organization simply because they understand the policies and procedures of the company. It has to do with delivering the goods. You have to know your customers, know what your marketplace wants. Great leadership is all about asking questions."

4. Confusing efficiency with effectiveness. "Those who think that communicating via e-mail replaces the need to actually talk with people around them fail to recognize the importance of personally connecting with others in today's highly automated and technological environment. Communicating in person whenever possible is imperative for success-seekers. "

5. Believing that you are irreplaceable. "There is no room for divas in the workplace. As soon as you convince yourself that you and only you can do the job 'right,' your star will surely start to fall. In any organization, any person can have a good couple of ideas, a good couple of years and a few successes under their belts and they start to think that the company can't do without them. They start to sit on their laurels and find themselves in greater jeopardy of losing their jobs. Comparing notes with others in the organization helps keep people grounded. It helps anyone in the organization to have different trusted advisers' perspective on what's going on and how their performance is being viewed."

6. Knowing all the answers. "This old adage remains true: Knowledge is power. Professing to know it all can readily stagnate a career. Winners remain unceasingly interested in learning new ideas and approaches. Asking a lot of questions is a hallmark of great leaders and great managers. When one stops asking questions and starts believing they've seen it all, they are devaluing the amount of change going on in the world today."

7. Surrounding yourself with "brown-nosers. " "Losers like having people tell them how smart they are, whether or not it's true, while successful managers and other professionals accept and encourage intelligence and creativity in others. If you're constantly being told by your peers that everything you're doing is wonderful, you need a better group of advisers. If your supervisor believes that you're doing a great job, that's terrific -- it's probably reflecting well on him or her."

8. Forgetting to give credit to others. "Losers inappropriately take full credit for positive events despite the help or input received by others, while winners give credit where credit is due. Losers inevitably reap what they sow. If your boss is a real pumpkinhead, you can probably get away with this a few times. But if you keep doing this, chances are your boss is going to catch on that you're a glory hog."

9. Failing to self-promote. "Bragging is one thing, but letting colleagues throughout your industry know of your success through case studies, promotion bulletins, or other such tools is quite another. Losers often fail to recognize the importance of letting others know about their successes, or go about it in entirely the wrong way. In today's disconnected business world, where many people work at a distance from their supervisors, it's important to let your boss and leadership know your contributions and that you are a valuable asset. This could be as simple as providing your supervisor with an e-mail once a week to inform him about what you're working on and your progress. By doing that, when decisions are made for promotions or job transfers, you're more likely to get what's due to you."

10. Losing perspective. "Intuitive businesspeople recognize that, despite their best attempts to do everything right, sometimes they approach roadblocks and seek the advice and perspective of a respected friend, colleague or even a business coach. Those who fail to recognize their shortcomings are destined for the unemployment line. It has everything to do with forgetting the reasons why their business exists, why they're in this business, and what it is they intended to accomplish when they entered this industry. You need to be excited about what it is you're doing, and you need to put more enthusiasm into what it is you're doing. If you're not looking forward to getting out of bed in the morning, you're working on a downward trend -- you just don't know it yet."

Ebay Scammer gets it

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Shaikh) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:21:00 +0000

Just a recent one... where the ebay scammer got it from all sides....

Something to be known ( The big IT Dragon who eats up youth )

noreply@blogger.com (Puneet Garg) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:49:00 +0000

Something All Software Professionals should know

Six software professionals under the age of 33 have died and 2 top executives from renowned software companies have become paralysed because of stress-related heart ailments in the last six months in Chennai, says a study by Mitran Foundation, a Bangalore-based voluntary association of practising doctors.

"All the six who died, and the two who became invalid, had no family history of heart attacks or any pre-history of heart ailments or paralysis. They were all in their prime, between 27 and 33 years, and handled challenging projects at work in their respective companies. They worked long and continuous hours. The end struck them very suddenly, and it looked as if their hearts refused to take any more stress," said Dr Dwarakanath, director of Mitran Foundation, who has studied stress components in 40 software companies in Chennai during the last six months.

The study, conducted at a cost of Rs 45 lakhs, covered more than 4,000 software professionals from 80 companies who were in service for a minimum of three years. The email responses were scientifically tabulated and the findings were ready in 2002. Dr Dwarakanath, who was the late Dhirubhai Ambani's personal stress management consultant, said questionnaires extracting every minute detail were sent to the respondents. The personal background, family history and personal characteristics of these individuals were assessed and it was found that the stress in these professionals was only due to work pressure. All other factors were eliminated.

"Our study confirmed that the number of suicides, divorces, heart ailments, BP and diabetes patients and mental depression are the highest in the software industry. The fancy salaries of software professionals are no longer something to rejoice about," Dr Dwarakanath said.

"We found that the software industry has simply no routine. Deadlines hang before them and every day they chase new problems. During weekends more than 60 per cent of the vehicles are found parked in the office complexes. There is no physical exercise and new food habits favoured by pizza culture fuel the problem. Cervical spondilitis and wrist problems due to uncomfortable handling of the computer mouse, eye problems and discomfort in bowel movements are common.

The stress for couples where both are employed in the IT industry is the worst. The simple step of taking time off from work for three months allowed an IT couple wanting a child for years to conceive one," Dr Dwarakanath said.

M.T.R. Venukopalan, senior training coordinator, Covansys India, acknowledged that IT professionals were the most stressed individuals. "Even if the company sponsors a movie or self-care lecture, not many attend them," he said. Jyothsana, a travel coordinator for Temenos India Pvt Ltd, expressed concern for the young employees who complain of back and knee pains. She acknowledged that IT professionals require a specific eating and physical exercise routine to ease their stress. "Our lives are becoming mechanical, guided only by deadlines," she said.

So think again if you are staying late in the office regularly. Think again about your family. Think again about your social life and health.

Please forward it to your friends too... Work is essential. Your contribution to the goal should be great. But, please don't make it a habit to stay late.

Don't skip your Break Fast /Lunch/Dinner. None of these are equated by Pizza, Biscuits / Wafers / Chat items Please pass this to all you care for!!!

For Any Aamir Khan fan followers

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Shaikh) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:00:00 +0000

The promos and clips of Tare Zameen Par ... the latest production from Aamir Khan is getting released on 12th october.... unlike Lagaan it is not expected to have a seasoned promotional campaign... so the first few promos will be more tattoed than the later ;)

Reflection changes with passage of time!

noreply@blogger.com (Vatts) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 10:18:00 +0000

Outcome of hair straightening done last week :)

something someone will like

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Shaikh) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:48:00 +0000

Web OS again... www.ajaxwindows.com

regards
Sameer Shaikh
http://pm-better-than-sex.blogspot.com

Monitor connectivity with SmokePing, part 1 (http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=328&tag=nl.e101)

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:50:00 +0000

If you are supporting multiple networks on geographically dispersed sites, then it’s pretty much essential to have some type of quick reference in place to display the basic status of network connectivity between each one. This becomes even more important when those sites are distributed globally — as the potential for disruption due to unforeseen circumstances is greatly increased.

At the beginning of this year, I ran into problems when an earthquake in Taiwan disturbed undersea transport cables. This bizarrely threw our Korean office into a total Internet blackout (and Korea is quite a way from Taiwan), which later proved to be due to packet loss caused by the rerouting of traffic in an attempt to work around the broken channels. Hong Kong experienced intermittent losses of connectivity for the same reasons. This is obviously something that can’t be avoided, but with a simple and straightforward platform to display statistics on your interoffice connectivity, it’s much easier to get a high-level view of network status.

In situations in which network response becomes erratic, being able to view a historical chart of TTL and packet loss statistics can be a great aid in understanding how changes in routing paths outside of your networks have affected your WAN links and, therefore, the services that run across them.

SmokePing is a simple Web-based package that produces easy to read graphical representations of network latency and link quality. By recording TTL and packet loss statistics for multiple network links, it allows administrators to go back and see when an issue started to show itself, whether or not it’s specific to one site or region and it also helps to show any patterns which may be developing. Diagnosis is the first step towards cure!
Prerequisites for Smoke Ping
In order to install Smokeping, there are a few prerequisites that must be met. The following must be installed:

Apache (1 or 2)
Perl
RRDtool
SpeedyCGI
FPing

If you’re using Debian, Ubuntu, or Red Hat then you can install these via apt-get or yum. If you prefer, you can compile and install each of them manually, which is what I’m going to do here. I’ll skip the Apache install as I already have Apache (2) installed and running on this particular server.

Install RRDtool
http://oss.oetiker.ch/rrdtool/

Download the latest stable release of RRDtool. Unpack it to your build directory and take a look at doc/rrdbuild.txt for full installation instructions; I decided to install in /usr. During the configuration step, I found that I needed to install two libraries with apt-get in order for RRDtool to compile:

# apt-get install cgilib libart-2.0-dev# mkdir /usr/share/rrdtool# ./configure --prefix=/usrAfter a successful configuration (no errors), build and install with:

# make && make installCheck for a successful installation:

# which rrdtool/usr/bin/rrdtoolInstall the SpeedyCGI module
http://daemoninc.com/SpeedyCGI

Moving on, we now need to install SpeedyCGI and afterwards configure Apache to load it. This is actually pretty simple if all of the installation scripts work properly. I’m using Apache 2 and I needed to install the apache2-threaded-dev package with apt-get before continuing:

# apt-get install apache2-threaded-devUnpack the SpeedyCGI archive in your build directory and then change to that directory. Now start the configuration with:

# perl Makefile.PLYou will be asked whether or not to build the Apache mod_speedycgi module; I said no, as I have had problems with this and Apache 2.

Once that’s done, continue with the compiling and installation:

# make# make test# make installNow to build the mod_speedycgi module, navigate to the mod_speedycgi2 directory. Before kicking off the script, create a sym-link called apxs:

# ln -s /usr/bin/apxs2 /usr/bin/apxsI found this was necessary due to running Apache 2; if using Apache 1, the file is called apxs anyway. Now execute the Makefile:

# perl Makefile.PLThat should finish without any errors; continue by compiling and installing the module.

# make && make installI didn’t have any trouble building this on my system. I checked the /etc/apache2/httpd.conf:

LoadModule speedycgi_module modules/mod_speedycgi.soAnd found that it had correctly inserted. The module mod_speedycgi.so had also been copied to the correct location. If you come across any errors at this point, I would suggest searching through the SpeedyCGI mailing list as it’s more than likely others have seen the same error before.

To complete the installation, restart Apache and check the logs for any errors related to the mod_speedycgi module.

Install FPing
The last tool to install is FPing. FPing is very similar to the standard ping command, but it extends the feature set making it much easier to ping multiple hosts from one command. Unfortunately the FPing Web site and SourceForge project seem to be very poorly maintained. I would recommend installing via apt-get if you can otherwise get the source from the Debian packages repository (right hand bar). No configuration should be required so it will be simple:

# ./configure && make && make installTest the installation with:

# which fping/usr/bin/fpingNow we have all of the underlying components installed and configured. Later in the week, I’ll tackle the installation and configuration of SmokePing itself.

Social Networking and Spams that can Kill

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Shaikh) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 07:11:00 +0000

Vijay Showed me a Orkut Phishing website and Kari spoke about another that asks for the Yahoo Id and once you pull in all the details it vanishes off. Just because the flood of social networking web 2.0 websites and hitting the internet world with a flow and lack of understanding and alertness from the general internet users may lead to a disaster or gimic profiles or even misuse of accounts to an extent that you might get banned as some recent internet users were. Please make sure that before you accept invitations and send invitations you do some basic checks...

1. Check over Google, Yahoo and MSN about the search and page rankings of such sites.
2. Do a blog search and read feedbacks about the networking product you are to subscribe.
3. Please never plug in your yahoo, gmail and other details to send invitition to your friends list... no matter how close you are to the website or your friends you want to invite
4. Use the website on your own before you bother Me or anyone else.
5. Never use your Yahoo/Gmail/or any other accounts with the same passwords or user ids.
6. Avoid clicking on links that says "You can Talk Frre to Me on XXXX - Blah Blah" .... btw this was just an example fo some invitations I recently saw.
7. If there are no Image Checks on regsitration it means that the websites are not secure enough and prone to spams... avoid registering...

And the Last thing... If you really wish to be in touch with Me do use my blogs...

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 04:31:00 +0000

It’s all about loving their families

ORGANISATIONS RECOGNISE THAT IF THEY’RE NOT FAMILY-FRIENDLY, THEY WILL HAVE A HARDER TIME RETAINING TALENT. YASMIN TAJ FINDS OUT HOW ORGANISATIONS ARE USING THEIR GOODWILL AS A POWERFUL RETENTION TOOL

Employees today are asking for a workplace that helps them balance the demands of their work and family lives, rather than forcing them to choose one over the other. Organisations have also accepted that among the many other aspirations of employees, the most important is one that seeks to be able to ‘provide well’ for their families. Amongst the many schemes that organisations have introduced for their employees, having special schemes for their children is the latest addition. While some are offering various schemes like scholarships, medical benefits, and training, some allow young kids to accompany their mothers to work. Many organisations boast of instances where they have gone out of their way to extend special help to the child of a particular employee.

WE CARE

At NIIT, one would witness various examples of how these commitments have been actually put into practice. ‘Little NIITian’ is a special name given to the kids of NIITians (read: employees), who are a special part of NIIT. The company’s ‘calendar’ is dotted with many fun activities which encourage active participation from these little ones. “No matter what the occasion, if it touches and concerns a NIITian or his/her family, the company tries to be a part of it,” expresses Asim Kumar Talukdar, Senior VP and Head, Human Resources Department, NIIT. Ashish Nanda, from the Finance and Accounts team of NIIT adds, “Amongst the many schemes which the company offers towards employee welfare, the one which I found most special was the one wherein on the birth of a little NIITian, the company contributes a sum as investment in the name of the new born.” NIIT also has schemes like ‘Little NIITian Care Leave (LNCL)’ under which, the NIITians can avail half time working hours on half-pay, to take care of a child at home. The leave can be utilised for maximum of six month period for half-days till the child is one year old.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

“High expectation levels, increasing attrition rates and increasing demand for work-life balance has forced organisations to look beyond run of the mill HR interventions,” informs Monika Bajpai, Head HR, Cellebrum. At Cellebrum, the objective is to create ‘Home away from Home’, an atmosphere where the basic needs of employees are met and they don’t have to be bothered about the daily routine tasks. Under the ‘Child Care Support’ scheme that the company offers, crèches, workplace nurseries, out-ofschool care, holiday play schemes and after-school clubs are included. Similarly, Cellebrum proposes to have scholarship programmes, wherein the child of a meritorious and tenured employee with good academic records will be given scholarship fees based on the company’s policy. “Cellebrum has already initiated tie-ups with various schools/institutes to take care of the child’s admission at the time of relocation,” adds Bajpai. There is also a ‘Career Counselling Cell’ which provides in-house career counselling options for children of employees.

YOUR FAMILY, OUR PRIDE

“Amongst the various schemes that 24/7 Customer has initiated for the families of its employees, some of the most prominent ones include ‘Family Insurance Scheme’, ‘Employee Welfare Fund’, ‘Family Oriented Reward Program’, ‘Rewards & Recognition’, ‘Parents Day’ and ‘Day Care Centre’. 24/7 Customer is the only BPO in India to provide extended insurance to the employee and their families (employee plus four dependents). Under the ‘Employee Welfare Fund’, employees in any kind of medical emergency or need can avail it as a loan. We have had instances when one of the family members of our employee had to undergo a major surgery and the amount from this scheme proved to be very helpful,” informs S Nagarajan, Cofounder and Chief People Officer, 24/7 Customer. Every month, on Parents Day, the family members of employees are invited to spend a day with their children/ spouse/sibling. So, if you thought that the age old adage, “Family comes first” doesn’t ring true in today’s corporate scenario, think again! Several companies are putting this adage into practice.

A Technical Interview I took yesterday! (real one)

noreply@blogger.com (Vatts) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:29:00 +0000

Yesterday I got a CV from my HR. The profile is of a seven year old Java Technical Lead looking out for a change and currently in working for a company in Pondichery. I took some extra preparation for taking this interview to make sure that I will not run out of questions, as the guy is very experienced. This was the first round of interview arranged for him by my company and if sounds OK he has to come over to Trivandrum to attend the next round.

Here are some of the excerpts of it.

Me: You are now working in your hometown and why you want to come all the way to Trivandrum.
Candidate: Actually you know, I can work anywhere in the world.
Me: good.. That is the spirit. Tel me about your recent project
Candidate: doing a forex application.. bla bla bla...
Me: what is your role in this?
Candidate: Coding
Me: what you do other than coding? You are a technical Lead no?
Candidate: I try to solve the problems of my team
Me: What kind of problems mostly you have to resolve – technical or design related?
Candidate: Normally most of tem are their personal problems, which I collate and pass it on to my PM.
Me: What is your role in designing the application?
Candidate: I don’t do any design. It is all done by my PM
Me: So not done any design work so far?
Candidate: Designaaa? Ya.. some table creation, attribute creation etc
Me: Which database you use in your project ?
Candidate: Java
Me: OK cool! What all classes have you used from Util package?
Candidate: I used only Collection
Me: How you create an instance of Collection?
Candidate: Don’t remember now how I have created it.
Me: Ok Don’t bother .. How you get a connection from the database?
Candidate: I normally use a Hashtable
Me: wow.. great .. What other framework are you using in your project?
Candidate: Struts and Hibernate
Me: what is Struts?
Candidate: It is a MVC framework
Me: Which component in Struts act as the Controller
Candidate: The config file
Me: Ok.. So how good are you in JSPs?
Candidate: I know JSP well
Me: What is the difference between redirect and forward?
Candidate: Differenceaa… Actaully both are same.. Just they kept two names.
Me: hmm… So what all patterns you have used?
Candidate: Could you please repeat the question?
Me: What all Java patterns you have used in your project?
Candidate: Patternsaa…Could you please elaborate what is meant by Pattern?
Me: OK don’t worry.. Is it the first interview from RM or do my HR called you ?
Candidate: This is the first interview
Me: Ok thanks a lot for your time. My HR will get in touch with you. Any queries from your side?
Candidate: Could you please rate my interview?
Me: I am not supposed to do that… but my HR will definitely help you in that..
Me: Thanks, Have a nice day, Bye
Candidate: Thank you, bye

Web Designers Scholarship

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Shaikh) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:34:00 +0000

CollegeScholarships.org recently launched a web design scholarship, offering students interested in web design a chance to win $5,000 for designing a Wordpress template for a scholarship site. The contest only has about a week left to go and so far there are only 2 entries.

REF: SEOBOK

Try out your luck if you are good at this... there are only 2 entries and a chance for anyone to win...

Excellence is a drive from "Inside" not "Outside".

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:43:00 +0000

A gentleman was once visiting a temple under construction. In the temple premises, he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he saw, just a few meters away, another identical idol was lying. Surprised he asked the sculptor, Do you need two statutes of the same idol. No said the sculptor. We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage. The gentleman examined the sculptor. No apparent damage was visible. Where is the damage asked the gentleman. There is a scratch on the nose of the idol.

Where are you going to keep the idol. The sculptor replied that it will be installed on a pillor 20 feet high.

When the idol will be 20 feet away from the eyes of the beholder, who is going to know that there is scratch on the nose? The gentleman asked. The sculptor looked at the gentleman, smiled and said"

"The God knows it and I know it ".

The desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not. Excellence is a drive from "Inside "not "Outside".

No more GMail in Germany?

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Shaikh) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:27:00 +0000

Google recently lost a legal battle filed by a german compnay that had patented G-Mail in 2000 a few years before google launched its GMail.. So GMail is not going to be Google in Germany atleast...

Whoa.. why didnt they buy the other company?

-
Sameer Shaikh

MORAL OF THE STORY

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:52:00 +0000

A young executive was leaving the office at 6 PM when He found The CEOstanding in front of a shredder with a piece Of paper In his hand.
"Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and Important Document and my secretary has left. Can you make this Thing Work?"
"Certainly, Sir" said the young executive.
He turned The machine On, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button."Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO as his paper Disappeared inside The machine."I just need one copy."

____________ _________ _________ _ MORAL OF THE STORY:____________ _________ _________ _Never, never assume that your BOSS knows everything.

Save Global energy: Even u can contribute !!!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Puneet Garg) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:05:00 +0000

Hi All ,
Came across a nice article, could not resist forwarding it to all of you.

A few months ago, TreeHugger Mark Ontkush wrote a post on his blog EcoIron titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year .. The post lays out the following train of thought. "An all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts." Google, which has a white background and gets about " 200 million queries a day " could reduce global energy use by 750 Megawatt-hours a year by simply changing the color of its homepage to black. (For more detailed calculations and assumptions check out the original post here ..)

In response to this post a black version of Google emerged called Blackle.com .. According to Blackle's homepage at publication time, 4,408.917 Watt hours have been saved by. The site encourages users to "make a difference today [by] ... Blackling "energy saving tips" or visit[ing] treehugger.com a great blog dedicated to environmental awareness." Nice ideas. But how does the search measure up? Very well indeed. Give it a whirl yourself and start saving energy one search at a time. :: Blackle.com

I recommend/request you all to use this GUI as a Search Engine for Web,

The Pride of India - Taj

noreply@blogger.com (Sameer Shaikh) — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 11:07:00 +0000

Selection of New Seven Wonders is in final stages and TAJ is behind in vote counts.
Your Vote is required to place TAJ on List of 7 wonders after 2200 years.

The official voting site

http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php

You can also SMS

SMS TAJ to 4567

*Note: Type spacespacespacespace

Please forward this mail to your friends, mailing list and every body you know,

Vote before its too late…..

Place the Taj for next thousand years at right place, its your chance....

I remember there were several spams on Taj for voting but this one also came in ON Aaj Tak yesterday.. and a related link is on taj.indiainfo.com

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Wed, 30 May 2007 07:30:00 +0000

A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the best way to understand the detailed work of the project when you have to build a schedule from scratch. It's used to break the project down into the major phases, deliverables, and work components that will be built by the project.

These work components can then be broken down into the activities that are required to build them. The WBS is not the same as the final schedule (which requires sequencing, resources, estimated effort, estimated duration, etc.)

The following five things should be considered when building your work breakdown structure.

Create a WBS dictionary for large projects *(
Normally you wouldn't need a WBS dictionary, but if your WBS has hundreds (or thousands) of detailed activities, there may just be too much to keep track of by hand. In this case, it might make sense to place all of the important information in a WBS dictionary. The dictionary helps keep track of all of the summary and detailed activities, including a short description, the WBS numeric identifier (1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc.) and the estimated effort. If you enter your WBS dictionary into a specialized tool, the tool can also help to keep track of changes to the WBS as well.

Use the summary activities as milestones

Your WBS should contain both detail and summary activities. (A summary activity is one that is broken down further. A detailed activity is one that is not broken down further.) Although a schedule usually includes only detailed activities, it makes sense to include the summary activities as milestones (markers signifying that a deliverable or set of deliverables is complete). A summary activity can be used as a milestone since it would indicate that all of the underlying detailed work has been completed.

Break activities into two or more detailed activities.

I've seen teams that break one activity in the WBS into only one activity at the next level. In my opinion, this doesn't make sense because then the detailed activity represents the same work as the prior summary activity. This doesn't buy you anything.

Make the final detailed activities action oriented

The detailed activities on your WBS (the ones that are not broken down further) are ultimately moved to your schedule. For that reason, it's easier if the detailed activities in your WBS are action oriented – just as activities in your schedule would be. For example instead of describing a detailed WBS activity as ""meeting," you should state it as "schedule a weekly meeting." Instead of having a WBS detailed activity for "Testing Plan," you should state it instead as "Create Testing Plan." In this way, the detailed activities can be moved to the schedule with a minimum of wording changes.

Don't place requirements on the WBS

If you place a deliverable on your WBS, you can break this deliverable down into the activities that are required to create it. You don't break a deliverable down into the requirements that describe it. Requirements do not belong on a WBS. Only deliverables and activities belong on the WBS.

Using these techniques will save you time and rework on your next WBS

Just Read

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Tue, 22 May 2007 13:18:00 +0000

Five cannibals (Man eaters) get appointed as programmers in an IT company.
During the welcoming ceremony the boss says: "You're all part of our team now. You can earn good money here, and you can go to the company canteen for something to eat. So don't trouble the other employees". The cannibals promise not to trouble the other employees.

Four weeks later the boss returns and says: "You're all working very hard, and I'm very satisfied with all of you. One of our developers has disappeared however. Do any of you know what happened to her?" The cannibals disown all knowledge of the missing developer.

After the boss has left, the leader of the cannibals says to the others: "Which of you idiots ate the developer?" One of the cannibals raises his hand hesitantly, to which the leader of the cannibals says: "You FOOL! For four weeks we've been eating team leaders, managers, and project managers and no-one has noticed anything, and now YOU ate one developer and it got noticed. So here after please don't eat a person who is working."

Little Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:55:00 +0000

A six-year-old boy told his father he wanted to marry the little girl across the street.
The father, being modern and well-schooled in handling children, hid his smile behind his hand. "That's a serious step," he said. "Have you thought it out completely?"
"Yes," his young son answered. "We can spend one week in my room and the next in hers. It's right across the street, so I can run home if I get scared of the dark."
"How about transportation?" the father asked."I have my wagon, and we both have our tricycles," the little boy answered.
The boy had an answer to every question the father raised.
Finally, in exasperation, his dad asked, "What about babies? When you're married, you're liable to have babies, you know."
"We've thought about that, too," the little boy replied. "We're not going to have babies. Every time she lays an egg, I'm going to step on it!"

Breaking news DON is Ghayal..........

noreply@blogger.com (Puneet Garg) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:21:00 +0000

FAQ

When :14th April 2007

Where: Cricket ground, Khadki

Why: Playing for company match

How: Disastrous collision with tamil
tiger Vedamoorthi vairam ( web services man ) while saving four

Was that four saved ? – Yes!!

How long will it be plastered ?- 21Days.

Vacency : for the post of sholey’s Ramlal who has well served Mr. Thakur in that movie!!

15 short ads - Mac Vs. PC

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 08:46:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ReS_ur4Kc

Cost to Men (CTM)

noreply@blogger.com (Saket Singh) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 09:51:00 +0000

What is the costliest Vehicle man buys in his lifetime? (Can anyone dare to estimate the maintiance for the same?)