Water Droplets - Karthik Vijayakumar's Weblog

Birth & Growth of Innovation in India

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:20:00 +0000

Innovation does not happen at an instance in time, it's an ongoing activity. Like how an egg is carefully incubated under the warmth extended by the hen's body, innovation needs that initial hand holding. This essentially comes from the innovators themselves. And like how the chicken sees the daylight outside of the egg shell, innovative ideas also see the daylight. Like how the chicken is carefully nurtured by the hen, the idea needs to be nurtured by the innovator.

End of the day, it's all the same - Innovation is not an elusive something. It is something that is bound to happen. It's the law of nature. The chicken or mankind all are good examples of innovation - we are unique with a set of different and unique qualities. Try to look at innovation this way, and you will get rid of that fear inducing question - "Can I innovate? Can I also be an entrepreneur?" clouding your thoughts.

That said, here is the next big mythical question "Is India only an Outsourcing hub? Why aren't there many Indian companies with great products?" I've read many such articles in the internet, especially in the last one year, where authors have expressed this feeling. Lately I also read Sramana Mitra's (@sramana) article on Forbes and her blog post sometime back.

Firstly I'd like to point out that innovation is not necessarily related to creating great products. India has had a high innovation quotient all along - even creating great service outsourcing companies need innovation. I'd rather prefer to call the bunch of body-shopping IT companies as the ones who've given a bad name to outsourcing in India. Unfortunately, these companies do continue to survive even in these testing times!

On the products side, in my opinion, below are some of the critical factors that have affected the birth of product innovation.

Factors affecting the birth of product innovation -

The Indian education system - At large, these continue to teach courses that nourish bookish thinking rather than out-of-the-box thinking
Indian colleges & universities - These continue to advertise as "100% placement"
The Indian upbringing - We still continue to coax our kids to take the safer route. The risk-taking attitude is seldom seen here. I also agree with Sramana Mitra's thoughts on the effects of "colonization" in India - it's very true.
Lack of quality talent - I've faced this - haven't been able to find high quality talent who would work for a early stage startup. They eventually run away when they get an offer from Cognizants and the TCSes of the world
Intellectual Property (IP) rights - Inability to truly protect IP has been a big challenge for those daring entrepreneurs to hire talent. The young and talented ones sign any non-disclosure agreements without consciously abiding by them
Lack of early stage seed fund - Because of the above challenges, early stage entrepreneurs will have to compete with the Cognizants and the TCSes to pay competitive salaries, which warrant sizable capital. Unfortunately, seed fund is still tough in this part of the world

These are larger level issues that we'll need to collectively answer. First realize that you need to start by cleaning the ship deck before becoming the captain of the ship. Stop drooling over fat salaries and start taking risks right from the beginning. Take a baby step, crawl and then start to walk. You will fall, but don't give up. Remember this is the start of your marathon dream!

On Short & Long term Success

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:11:00 +0000

Have you ever seen someone who has forever not been successful? I have not! From the most ill-luck-struck and paupers of the world to the top in class businessmen and women, I've seen success in every one of them. The difference is "How long did the success last?"

I was ruminating over something I saw last evening when driving past a well known street-side food vendor (a hangout for people of all ages, creed and social statuses). After a presumably long wait a mendicant got some sizeable moolah from someone who drove down in his Mercedez Benz. I saw both of them get food from the same hangout (can I say they dined together?!?).

The mendicant went back to his business soon after - to seek alms from the passers by, and Mr.Benz whizzed off in his car. This very sight got me thinking - "How are these two different? How are they doing what they are doing? And, why is one seeking alms while the other riding the fast track?"

Success is a subjective term when used independently. When we start associating this term to appropriate people and activities, we realize that success is more objective.

The mendicant who was spending his life seeking alms indeed saw success when he got moolah to satisfy his hunger. To him that was success all about and he wasn't worried about how he would manage his breakfast next morning. This is the short-term success. We all see short-term successes - almost every other day.

However, Mr.Benz saw success from a different pair of glasses - to him, success was somewhere in the horizon and he was (probably) still searching for it. Or just to put it simple, Mr.Benz's glasses weren't myopic.

And, here comes my point - It's not about long-term or short-term success. It's about how much of control you have over your success. If you do not have control over the success factor, you will end up catching the tiger by it's tail. It's not just about gaining success, it's about how well you sustain success in a way that it doesn't trip you. I'll not want to tie this back to the Benz-mendicant story above as I believe open-ended stories can get us thinking!

Keep a check on your success, long or short term, and make success a journey - not a destination. It's all about Kaizen. Keep an eye on the changing factors around you and believe that it can change the success factor.

Stay on the leading edge, and not the bleeding edge! Keep innovating!

[Image Source: Internet]

Twitter, Trade and Global Economy?

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:53:00 +0000

Having passively observed Twitter grow from a mere status update tool to a buzz, I must admit that the creation of Twitter has been a truly open creation. Twitter has given birth to a whole new set of business models and also tools and platforms.
Having said that, here is something that I'd like to share with you.....something that I've been thinking about for quiet sometime now. With the Twitter-effect being as powerful as an avalanche, how can it really affect world markets? Here is a case - How would it be if a successful stock market trader with thousands of Twitter followers tweeted about him buying a stock?

Could that potentially trigger all his followers to buy loads of the same stock, thereby creating an artificial demand - everything in just a few minutes!?!?!! This can potentially help a lot of people make money while driving the stock market highly volatile. Well, this is just my thought. What say you? Given a chance, would you do something like this? On the other side, do you think something like this can help the world economy grow?

New Year Resolutions and me

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:49:00 +0000

I guess it's time to make some resolutions for the year 2010. Should I really do this?...is what I asked myself. Quiet contradictory to my belief, the answer of was -

People give their 100% when they put their skin in the game. Commit to the world on what you plan to do. That's like putting your skin (ego) in the game, and you would strive hard to keep up your commitments. You would never want to lose to your ego....would you?

Sometimes I've wondered "Isn't it good enough if I'm truthful to my conscience?" But only later did I always realize that the conscience' guilt can always be convinced. I can always tell my conscience "Ah Ah...I did not do it and I understand it is not right. I will do it tomorrow" and he will get pretty complacent.

It's sometimes good to catch the tiger by its tail - It Makes You Run!

And now, let me come back to My New Year Resolutions. Here is how they go - Really short list to begin with -

Run at least 35kms a week
Realize my Biggest dream
Quit the rat race. Join the real race
Cross-train with the 18 gear cycle I bought two years back
Get back into regular blogging - I've almost missed this for a good year now.

Wow...I've got 5 points on my New Year Resolution list! I know two of them are a little unclear - I assure you clarity very soon!

Stay Tuned, and wish you all a Happy New Year!

Snake Robots

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:16:00 +0000

Yes, you read it right - It's about Snake Robots.

Howie Choset is an associate professor and the director of the BioRobotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. For more such interesting news and videos on Robots, go here.

For my readers who are viewing this by email, do visit my blog link as this is a video

3D Models from WebCams

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:59:00 +0000

Here is something really interesting - A software that builds a 3D model of an object as you rotate that object in front of a webcam!

Check out ProFORMA from University of Cambridge's Engineering Department.

For my readers who are viewing this by email, do visit my blog link as this is a video.

How to Keep Sales Strong in a Tough Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:46:00 +0000

Here is a video from All Business, on How to Keep Sales Strong in a Tough Economy

For my readers who are viewing this by email, do visit my blog link as this is a video.

How Do You Shift to a Sales 2.0 Culture?

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:44:00 +0000

Here is a video from All Business, on How Do You Shift to a Sales 2.0 Culture?

For my readers who are viewing this by email, do visit my blog link as this is a video.

Partnerships, Incorporation, and Employee Stock Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:38:00 +0000

Here is a video from All Business, on Partnerships, Incorporation, and Employee Stock Plans.

For my readers who are viewing this by email, do visit my blog link as this is a video.

The Secrets of Growing a Successful Business

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:36:00 +0000

Here is a video from All Business, on the Secrets of Growing a Successful Business.

For my readers who are viewing this by email, do visit my blog link as this is a YouTube video.

How to Cut Through the Hype

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Here is a video from All Business, on how to cut through the hype.

For my readers who are viewing this by email, do visit my blog link as this is a video.

Plug Innovation - Unplugged!

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:22:00 +0000

I recently bumped into this cool innovation - World's Thinnest and Flattest Plug!

Though designed for UK Standards, this is well extensible to other worldwide standards. I'm loving it!

For my readers who are viewing this by email, do visit my blog link as this is a YouTube video.

IBM Global Truck Study - Insighful One..

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:24:00 +0000

10,000 hybrid trucks would reduce diesel fuel use by 7.2 million gallons per year

In an attempt to help the world turn Greener and help Truck Manufacturers transform their businesses, this study revealed three stunning findings as external forces to the Truck industry -

Technology - 71% of respondents feel so. Telematics will play a key role here.
Globalization - 54% of the executives feel so. This once happened to the light vehicle manufacturing industry - It's going to be a tough battle!
Sustainability - 48% of respondents feel so. With environmental and human safety regulatory bodies working hard to to bring in safety norms, this is going to be an area for the Truck industry to seriously look at.

A total of 91 executives across 13 countries were interviewed to complete this study. More information can be sought here.

Human Habits - A Survey

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:26:00 +0000

Dear Readers,

Here is a request to you - Need Your help in completing this very small survey on Human Habits. It will be great if you could complete the 12 questions in the survey and also forward this link to your friends and Tweet this article!

Here is a link to the survey - http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/194165/what-do-you-do

Thanks and I really appreciate your help here!

Identifying Hidden Talents

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:19:00 +0000

Here is an interesting read I came across on Harvard Business. Pasting it below as I may want to revisit this article sometime in the future..

In today's economy, finding external talent to fill your company's needs isn't always possible. Nor is it always necessary. By paying attention and asking the right questions, you will likely discover myriad hidden talents among your existing employees:

Turn a compliment into an interview. When congratulating an employee on a job well done, ask exactly what helped her succeed. By better understanding her process, you may uncover an unseen strength.
Ask why employees prefer certain tasks or projects. Preferences can be a view into someone's talents. An employee might enjoy a project because it involves a product she cares about or because it gave her a chance to design surveys. Knowing which will possibly uncover talents.
Inquire about dreams. Ask your employees what they would do if they had their career to do over again. Peoples' dreams often include an aspect of themselves they don't regularly share.

Cloud Computing - Ubuntu Linux - IBM

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:05:00 +0000

Cloud Computing has been such a hot topic in the market today. Open Source software has been a major role player in today's technology world that is steadily marching towards a more standards-based model. And, Linux has (for long) been a strong contender to bring in open source into the users' personal computers.

IBM's Smart and timely move could very well be one of the first major steps in the creation of a truly open personal computer platform. On the 23rd of September, IBM announced the partnership with Canonical and other Partners to offer Cloud and Linux-based Netbook Software in Africa.

More on my thoughts on this move, and the potential of this partnership would come later. But for now, here is the video where Mark Shuttleworth, Founder, Canonical, shares his thoughts on this partnership.

Here is a link to the official Press release by IBM.

Back after a Six Month Holiday..

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:12:00 +0000

It's been six months since I last updated my web log, and a lot has changed since then....except the Chennai heat! I was a bachelor six months ago and now a happily married guy. My Geni family tree has grown two-fold since what it was six months ago...thanks to my wife! My blog subscribers have grown by 1/3rd without any active posts :-) (and received a lot of comments on some of my older postings). The Chandraayan-1 moon mission ended prematurely (though claimed to have completed it's primary mission).

There are a bunch of other changes that the world has seen in these six months. More importantly, the world seems to have gotten slightly better on the economic front and 'started' to head-out of one of the worst hit recessions of these times.

About these and more other interesting happenings that we are blessed to witness in the months to come, I'm looking forward to being active on my virtual space now on. See you soon with something to chew upon...

Technology & Infrastructure - Creating a "better" tomorrow?

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:37:00 +0000

From the stone age till date, man has made steady progress in the fields of science & technology. The invention of the wheel, numbers, aircraft, etc have played a big role in evolving mankind from what it was to what it is today. But, have we ever paused a single time and taken a glance back into the road we've walked? Have we asked the Whats, Whys, Wheres and Hows on whatever progress we've made? Still wondering what I'm trying to say? Read on...

Planet Earth is a part of the Solar System, and has taken thousands and millions of years to become what it is today. From a hot mass of burning matter, the planet has slowly cooled outwards-in. The formation of water and land bodies have been purely governed by the changes Earth has been subjected to. The influencing factors like the gravitational pull of the Sun, moon and other bodies in the Solar System have been some of the noticeable external stimuli due to which we see Earth the way it is - 2/3's of water and 1/3's of land.

The movement of the seismic plates below the surface of the Earth has taken the planet through different stages; from the Ice Age to the age of Information and Technology. As we learnt in Physics, there is a Newton's law that states that "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force". This applies well to our planet too. In the many years of mankind, apart from the external forces from the Solar System, our planet has increasingly seen yet another force - Force created by us Homo Sapiens.

Due to the technological advancements in the field of Civil Engineering, man built bridges and flyovers. Man has achieved extreme advancements in this field, that the world also saw the reclamation of land from natural water bodies (viz., seas, oceans and rivers) to create more land for human habitat. As a matter of fact, a good part of Mumbai (in Maharashtra, India) was claimed from the Arabian Sea. So is the Palm Jumeirah.

Due to natural equilibrium, the Earth has naturally been occupied by water for more than 2/3's it's surface area. As the first example, just imagine a pot of water that is filled to its brim. What will happen when you drop a stone into it? The water starts to overflow! This is precisely what we are forcing by claiming land from the natural water bodies!

Here is another example to explain another harsh action of mankind - Just imagine a pot filled with water till the brim and a piece of paper floating on the water surface. What will happen if you place a stone on top of this piece of paper? The paper sinks! This is what mankind is doing by building enormous buildings, skyscrapers, bridges and flyovers!

If we can treat the land (1/3rd of earth's surface) as a physical structure for a moment, we should also understand that this physical structure is also subjected to stresses and strains. Any physical structure has a point of failure / breakage. Applying strain above a certain limit is going to drive the physical structure (land) towards the point of breakage!

Having said that, here is my next question - "Can we make this better? Can we give Earth and mankind a little more time to exist? If so, How?" Here are my thoughts on how we can give ourselves and the generations to follow, a better and safer planet from an infrastructure perspective -

Reduce the number of tall skyscrapers - Build smaller structures and use more of the earth's surface to build structures. Start building satellite towns and start expanding away from main cities
Stop reclaming land from natural water bodies - Use what is available! Did you know that a very large part of Australia is uninhabited? Did you know that vast areas of land in India and China are uninhabited? This is the case in most countries!
Stop breaking mountains to create artificial structures (viz., man-made caves, rivers, etc)
Stop mass deforestation! There enough land available to build homes and offices - Let's leave the jungles to the flora and fauna
Stop building dams to obstruct the natural flow of water....unless or until its absolutely essential

All of this cannot be done without YOU. I urge you to THINK and ACT on it. If you can do your one bit towards this, I'm sure the generations to come will be more grateful to you than ever. Did you have more and better suggestions? Do let me (and the world) know!

Let us make the world a better and safer place to live. Peace..

Off Technology, People and Governance - Reckon a Change!

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 05:41:00 +0000

With a world that's fast changing, it's inevitable that one may have to do and undo things in an attempt to betterment. Today's world has seen lot more diversity than it was about a decade or two ago. With the technology making news every hour, every minute and every second, it is getting tougher to think of a world sans this wonder invention of mankind - Technology.

With the citizens of the world and the businesses across every street taking advantage of the technology wave, the world has definitely started to look better. From the age of the pin-hole camera to the age of the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) televisions, mankind has gotten to see the world with an increasing touch of reality. From the days of Morse code to the day of the broadband internet and the T1/2/3 lines, mankind has gotten to know happenings across the globe in near-real time.

So, here comes my question - How have these inventions changed You and Your society? As I type this on my laptop, I do realize that in less than 5minutes from now, there are going to be a good number of readers across the globe reading my writing and commenting on the same. Such is the speed of communication. Technology and mankind have shared a very interesting relationship - A Love-Hate Relationship. Interesting? Read on...

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, the whole world applauded and patronized the invention. Soon, telephones became a common product in every household. When the Global Positioning System (GPS) was invented, the world loved it and it soon became a common feature in most cars and homes. Countries laid down laws that took into account the different types of communication, technology, etc.

With the growth and evolution of technology, the world has become more closely tied to technology today than ever before. This calls for a basic understanding from the citizens of the world that we will need to start looking at technology as one of the key constituents of social and community life too.

For example, Google's Street View service has provoked a lot of citizens on the privacy front. When this first cropped up in August 2008, I thought it was handled appropriately. But then, I saw this happening again just a few days back. Has there been a real solution to this problem? While democracies have always stressed on freedom of speech, freedom of action, etc, it's also important to respect people's privacy.

How can these things be handled? The governments of the world need to revisit their constitution and amend some of these privacy related statements and clauses. It's also important for the governments to have a constant update on the technology progress and accordingly make amendments to the countries' laws to eventually help mankind enjoy the luxuries of technology while getting to have their share of privacy.

Deepam - The Brighter Side of Indian Education

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:10:00 +0000

I've been observing this very small organization called Deepam for quiet sometime now. This is an organization that wants to "give back" something to the society. They have been doing some commendable work in the recent past that has attracted my attention in more than one instance of time.

It all started with two urban citizens sharing a common goal - Create a Brighter India. The two people are - Ram Viswanathan, who is a technocrat with one the world's biggest IT companies...the Big Blue, and Karthikeyan Vijayakymar, who is an entrepreneur with a strong passion to change the world. I'm proud to have been associated with the two as a friend in more than one way.

Well, let me not get into the past, and give you the opportunity to know more about what Deepam is all about and what's been cooking under the Deepam tree. Do visit www.Deepam.in to know more.

The National Knowledge Commission has been running a contest, and our friends at Deepam have posted an essay and video. The essay and film talks about how Deepam is solving some of the problems in Indian Education System. I strongly urge you to visit the following links and vote/rate these content and help Deepam in supporting a cause.

Please vote / rate the essay here ( please create a login for knowledge portal )
http://knowledgeportal.in/contests/node/290
Please View / Rate the video here ( to rate, please sign-in to youtube )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imvkeqnfaXI

All your votes and ratings will push Deepam one step closer to the prize, which in turn will help this organization get the necessary support to give better education to the Young and Growing India! Also, don't forget to spread the word!

My Blog Feeds Moved - Nothing much changes though!

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 03:54:00 +0000

I've been loving Feedburner ever since I started to use it. I started to use Feedburner after Google acquired the company in June 2007 for an estimated $100m. Needless to say, the Google+Feedburner combination has always interested me from both performance and feature set perspectives.

However, even though the acquisition had taken place two years back, there has been no migration of feeds to a Google platform till the recent past. Recently Google started to move Feedburner feeds to its own platform, and I've got a lot of reminders to move my feeds too. Finally, after several reminders, I just finished moving my blog feeds from Feedburner to Google.

The reason for not moving thus far has been for the very reason of not wanting to move and risk losing some valuable subscribers. But I'm sure Google has worked out things well...and the transition seems to happened very smoothly.

APPEAL TO MY READERS

Should you have trouble receiving my posts, I request you to wait for a week's time. Should you still not receive updates, do drop me a note!

My feeds link has changed from http://feeds.feedburner.com/KarthikVijayakumar to http://feeds2.feedburner.com/KarthikVijayakumar. The "feeds2" is the only change. Still, the old link should be redirecting you to my new link. You can still continue subscribe to my posts by email through the "Subscribe via Email" links on my blog or by visiting http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=KarthikVijayakumar.

WEEKEND WISHES

To all who've been struck by the Cupid, Wish you a Happy Valentines Day!! To all who've spent the night staring at your UNIX screens, Wish you a Happy 1234567890 Day!! Have a fun-filled weekend and Stay Inspired!

Running in Chennai - When, What, Where, How?

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:10:00 +0000

Many people have asked me about running in the city of Chennai, and I've tried to give them the right information. In this article, I thought of putting down my thoughts on this subject - I hope it will be useful for many in the days to come.

THE CITY OF CHENNAI

Firstly, I'd like to give a little information about the city of Chennai. Chennai is located in the state of Tamilnadu in India. Chennai is a pretty big city and is one of the metros in India. The climate is more tropical and the temperatures average at about 30 degrees Celsius annually. The humidity averages at about 70% and the day gets pretty busy by about 7:30AM. The traffic is pretty high during the day time with the peak hours being 8:30AM-11:30AM and 5:00PM-7:30PM. The atmosphere gets pretty polluted...especially during the peak hours.

The roads in the city are pretty wide in most places, but you are sure to bump into some pot-holes in many roads. The city enjoys summer from early-March to mid-August in reality with the peak summer falling somtime in the second half of May. Temperatures during summer can average at 37 degrees Celsius, and can go as high as 44 degrees Celsius during the peak season (second half of May). The city enjoys rainfall from mid-September to early-December (or late-November), and the roads get pretty much flooded with puddles of water. The winter season is during the months of December to early-February, when the temperatures can fall as low as 20 degrees Celsius.

RUNNING IN CHENNAI

Chennai is a city that loves sports of all kind. The city has one of the best cricket teams with equal excellence in the sports of football, hockey, kabaddi and field atheletics. Running has been a much appreciated sport with a big number of atheletes into short distance running. There are big organizations like the YMCA and SDAT which have extended unrelenting support to this sport through the years. Chennai Runners is the biggest running club in the city, and with more than 600+ members, this club has been doing extensive running programs ever since 2006. I strongly urge you to visit www.chennairunners.com to know more.

As you would have guessed by now, Chennai is pretty tropical and humid most part of the year. Should you want to run in the city, I strongly urge you to carry a bottle of water or a fuel-belt. With the sun up and shining by 7AM, I strongly urge you to do early morning runs. Ideal time to start your run will be at about 4:30AM or 5:00AM, if you plan to do longer distances (>10-15kms). Also, use a good non-greasy sun block (with SPF of 30+) is advisable to avoid su burns. Chennai also has a lot of stray dogs, but with an increasing number of runners hitting the asphalt, these dogs seem to have got used to seeing people run and hence don't get into your way!

In terms of the apparel, a good running tee that breaths is something that will keep you cool and comfortable during your run. A dry-fit tee is what I would strongly recommend. With the city traffic being high, it's a good practice to run on the right side of the two-way roads...against the traffic. Should you want to find out good running routes, do visit www.chennairunners.com. Also, if you are looking for a group to run with, you should join the Chennai Runners' Google Group and get updates on our regular runs!

Keep Running 'n' have Fun! Stay Fit 'n' Healthy!

1234567890 Day - It's Once and Forever

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:27:00 +0000

In a world that's changing so fast, it takes more than sheer alertness to notice smaller wonders. But this time around, it's something to do with the time itself. Yes, in less than two days from when I write this article, the world is going to be getting a chance to celebrate the 1234567890 Day! Woah...what's this curiously sounding day all about? Read on...

As I write this article, my clock shows 9:06AM on Thursday the 12th February Indian Standard Time. In just about a day, 19 hours and 54 minutes from now, the UNIX time will equal '1234567890'!

When most of the people in this part of the world will be celebrating Valentines Day on the 14th Feb, the world will have another reason to celebrate by wishing "Happy 1234567890 Day!!!" So, if you are wanting to know the exact time of this unique event, here are the details -

Folks in India can celebrate it on Saturday, Feb 14 at 5:01:30 AM (IST)
Folks in the Pacific Time zone can celebrate it on Friday, Feb 13 at exactly 3:31:30 PM (PST)

So, what are you waiting for? Folks in India should plan to extend your Friday night party to the early morning hours and have your UNIX screen displayed on a large 75mm screen and see the time tick 1234567890!! Probably a toast to in the name of 1234567890 would get the promoters of this unique day (Colin and Andy) a greater reason to celebrate!

Advanced wishes for a Happy 1234567890 Day!! (Aint this sound 'cooler' than the much beaten Valentines Day!?!) Have Fun!!

Stay Different! Stay Inspired!

PS: For those of you who are celebrating Valentines Day with your loved ones - PLEASE DON'T SHOW THEM THE UNIX SCREEN...YOU ARE IN FOR A BIG TROUBLE!! LOL

Dilbert @ Work - On Taking over New Roles

noreply@blogger.com (Karthik Vijayakumar) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:42:00 +0000

Found this apt in an environment like that of today - A recession hit world where companies tend to give additional responsibilities (originally done by someone who is fired without notice!) to existing employees who don't have a clue of what needs to be done.

PS: Incidentally, a friend of mine was recently subjected to the a situation very similar to what Dilbert is subjected to in the above cartoon strip by Scott Adams!

Water Droplets - Karthik Vijayakumar's Weblog

Birth & Growth of Innovation in India

On Short & Long term Success

Twitter, Trade and Global Economy?

New Year Resolutions and me

Snake Robots

3D Models from WebCams

How to Keep Sales Strong in a Tough Economy

How Do You Shift to a Sales 2.0 Culture?

Partnerships, Incorporation, and Employee Stock Plans

The Secrets of Growing a Successful Business

How to Cut Through the Hype

Plug Innovation - Unplugged!

IBM Global Truck Study - Insighful One..

Human Habits - A Survey

Identifying Hidden Talents

Cloud Computing - Ubuntu Linux - IBM

Back after a Six Month Holiday..

Technology & Infrastructure - Creating a "better" tomorrow?

Off Technology, People and Governance - Reckon a Change!

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