Swinging with the Moonbeams

...this is a sad feeling The Fed's going away

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 21:44:00 +0000

All the times The Fed lost never felt like this time; today truly feels like a slow end. Bad taste in mouth, an empty pit feeling in stomach, a catch in the throat... this is a sad feeling that The Fed's going away. Wee bit heartbroken.

Whoever Greg Couch is I already like his piece here about The Fed being too stubborn.

And then there is all this too.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/22978243

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2013-06-26/201306261372274111187.html

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 22:54:00 +0000

Everybody wants to be a record-breaker

Roger Federer seems to break records almost by the day, so it is not surprising he sometimes struggles to keep track of them.

That was certainly the case with the obscure landmark one journalist discovered he had set in Friday's five-set win over Julien Benneteau.

Federer, according to the intrepid reporter, has now won 5,459 games in Grand Slam tennis, 21 more than Andre Agassi.

That seemed to tickle the Swiss star, who said with tongue firmly in cheek: "You battle out there. Because I knew it. I knew that that record was on the line.

"That's maybe why I couldn't get it going early, because it's such a big record for me. I thought playing longer might make me really break it."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/18660644

Aug-2005 RoopKund... once in a lifetime experience

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:46:00 +0000

My reaction after watching the videos, nostalgia creeping in, it's been 7 years.

Chandan Save
Just finished watching the RoopKund videos on youtube. That was something, wasn't it. We (or at least I was) were so naive about the significance of that trip.

Makes me think what life is all about. We've all gotten so sucked into mundane everyday stuff. Isn't it high time to shake things up a bit ?!

----------------------------------
My record of the trip: http://chandan.name/RKund-v01.html

The official blog: http://himalayanquest.blogspot.com/

And finally.. videos that the gang so painstakingly captured. Special thanks to Sushen for the the final editing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye1WoPOqlmw - That's part 1; there are 8 parts in all.

Happy memories........................

King Fed - Nadal rivalry

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:37:00 +0000

"Miami Masters 2004 Rewind: Birthplace of the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal Rivalry" - this deserves to be recorded for posterity

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/369308-rewind-2004-miami-masters-birthplace-of-the-federer-vs-nadal-rivalry

Some snippets

He waited patiently for them to self-destruct or to give up once they concluded that inevitably Federer was going to win. That freed the world No. 1 to play pure tennis.

Nadal, however, never fit into Roger’s world view...like a programmed automaton.

"Tearing my Hair Out" moment ... with a pinch of humour

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:26:00 +0000

At work today, a customer reported they had several alarms that indicated possible networking issues with other equipment at the site. Ok, that wasn't so bad.

But then the Quality conscious side of me decided to take a deeper look to determine whether it was a recurrent problem, and if there was some configuration that could be tweaked; possibly increase some Response-TimeOut timer or something (the savvy get the hint ;-)

So I dug around for older/archived reported issues for the same customer and came across this dated Nov-2009 :

Customer reported several alarms from machine1 & machine2; Socket failures, connection failures, etc.

==> The resolution : they should take some of these alarms out of their SNMP configuration.

LOL !

For the first time in life...

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:13:00 +0000

It was just an inconspicuous moment, waiting for the traffic light to turn green. I idly looked around and noticed the car ahead of me; a Nissan Altima Hybrid with the number plate 2-7-K-K-O-I. "Twenty-seven-K Koi" I read aloud, and out of nowhere "Y2K" popped into my thoughts; something to do with both ending with a "K" I suppose.

And suddenly a series of thoughts sped through my head, and in a flash before I could acknowledge them, they were gone. All that remained was a strange sensation of pain, almost like a memory of some long past heart ache. Within milliseconds, I had seen something, registered it, pulled up a memory, subconsciously acknowledged it and let it go; possibly let it go because holding on would have left a harder pain?

The traffic light was still red, and I frantically tried to pry open my subconscious to find out what it was that left me feeling so, but for a sick moment I drew a complete blank, until just as suddenly the memory of a thought came back.

In that split second I had been thinking of death.

2-7-K, Y2K, brought the realization that 10 years had passed since the Y2K buzz, and I wondered how further ahead in time year 27K would be. For a moment the sensation of pain sneaked back, very tiny, almost like an inevitable, but careful afterthought.

As I slowly let the car into gear, I allowed myself to think; what was it about year 27K that made me feel so painfully vulnerable. And the answer was right there; I was scared, scared that I wouldn't see the year 27K because by then I would be dead.

For the first time in life, I had felt fear at the thought of death.

Shocked, I asked myself would I be scared if I were faced with a life threatening situation? My mind empathetically replied "No!". Then what, I asked, had me so scared for that iota of moment? Two cars ahead of me had moved through the green and it was my turn. As I passed under the traffic light I realized.

I was scared of dying; not of death, but of dying.

It was the certainty of an end; what after that? Will I again have "time" after I die? There are so many things in life that are begging me to experience them. How do I make time for all of them? And after I pass through the mortal phase of death will I continue to have time to keep doing new things. Strangely there was no thought of priorities. Everything is important; every new experience as worthwhile as the others that are still awaiting me.

With that thought reverberating to Shakti's drum beats, I settled at my work desk, promptly losing perspective of time (passing) as I slipped into the "rat rut".

But only until a friend called me to go for a walk, and I spent 40 minutes walking below the trees brightening newly with the first colors of fall.

Call me a sore loser

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:36:00 +0000

King Fed made a champion out of Del Po.

Happy Birthday !

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:37:00 +0000

Several years ago when a close friend asked me to help "a recent college graduate girl from Mumbai" get settled in Bangalore, my mind conjured up the image of a fair girl, fashionably thin, with skinny jeans, a fancy top and the ubiquitous mascara. When I received an email from her enquiring about the dress code at Lucent I was already biased towards her being rather disagreeable; who bothered about office dress codes in the 90's!

But over the telephone she sounded rather sweet.

I can never forget the day we finally met. She walking tall in her salwar suit, me slouching at my desk in an oversized Tee and baggy jeans. It was the day Dr.Rajkumar was kidnapped. Poor girl, I don't know what she must've been thinking when she saw me dressed thus!

From that improbable first meeting emerged the best friendship of my life.

We appeared to be exact opposites of each other (shouldn't I be using the present tense?). She, the fashionista, with an impeccable sense of style, an uncanny worldly aptitude and a fighter. Me, the laid back, wear-what-you-can-grab, peace-be-with you person. I don't know if she felt it, but for me it was a "like at first sight". She moved in with me, for the time, in a make do arrangement until she got her own place. And then our lives almost separated... almost.

Once in a while she'd call (as my friends will vouch I *was* never good at staying in touch, key word being WAS :), and we'd have a stilted conversation. We'd agree to go out someday, shopping, movies and do all the gal-friend stuff she so enjoyed but that tested my patience (at that time! I've grown up now!!). At times I did muster the courage to go shopping with her, and it was like ... getting takeout from KFC; after long periods I'd forget how absurd the experience was and give in to a spontaneous urge. The lady's shopping will was (*was*; like me, she's grown and improved too :) insatiable. She could shop all day, visit malls at all four corners of the city, and end up with nothing or barely a single top. "That's how it's done!", she'd exclaim impatiently.

And then there were times when she'd be ill. A call from her at an unearthly hour meant she wasn't feeling too good; she needed to talk to someone, feel the security of knowing someone was there that cared. Then she'd sound like a little girl. Those were the times I never minded driving up to her apartment, in some god forsaken part of the city. I am glad I was there when she needed support; more importantly I'm glad she knows she can count on me when she needs help.

Oh, wait, I forgot to mention another trait that we NEVER shared; a sense of food. I'm not a foodie, junk food is my staple, culinary skills stop at whipping up a sloppy sandwich. She on the other hand is everything that a food lover would love to have, a magician in the kitchen! For god's sake, the lady even salvaged my disastrous attempts at preparing rice when my mother-in-law was visiting!

And then there was the time when we shared the apartment for almost a year together. If we weren't close enough, the time together really cemented our relationship. Her parents visited us and it was among the best times I've had in Bangalore. Animated discussions with her Baba, admonitions from her mom at my food habits, cooking together, watching TV, just being together... a wonderful wonderful time. And then those long drives, she with her Kiney, me with my RX, joyrides on the newly constructed Hebbal flyover, and feeling and being part of a shared enjoyment.

Everything I know about being a "lady" I learnt from her, and she darned well knows it! Oh, the umpteen times she's attempted to teach me to apply lipstick correctly. Her collection of cosmetics overwhelmed me, until one day I shocked her with my own bottle of eye liner :-D

I could go on and on about all she's done for me, everything that she'd advised me on, suggested to me and also bullied me into doing because she knew something was best for me at that time.

Today, on her birthday, this is my sincere message to her:

You enriched my life and I cannot even begin to describe how; I suspect you know it already. I didn't realize how you've always been there for me, even when I was deluding myself about being self sufficient. And when I did ask for help, you never once refused. You've always been genuinely happy for happy for me, and when I was in the doldrums you've been the one relentlessly and patiently bringing me back from the edges of desperation. You've motivated me, and encouraged me. You've advised me, cautioned me and at times berated me for my foolhardiness. You brought cheer and fun into my life. You're the one who taught me how to party, how to be-out-there and you're the one who persuaded me get my first pair of high heels!

For all this and much more, I wish I could say how thankful I am. I wish I could give you even one small part of what you've given me.

I wish you all the happiness that you so truly deserve. I wish I could share with you all the cheer and goodness I have. I wish you get everything that you dream of, and more. Be cautioned, "everything" includes all good things, success, wonderful happiness, and a loving sharing caring soul mate. I wish for you all the good that I know you wish for me, and if possible, some more too :)

Happy Birthday Dear Girl Friend !!

Thunder and hail storms..ominous warnings from the weather service

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:35:00 +0000

From The Weather Channel dot Com website:

Issued by The National Weather Service

Boston, MA

2:17 pm EDT, Tue., Jul. 7, 2009

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHWESTERN ESSEX COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS... NORTH CENTRAL MIDDLESEX COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS... THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF LOWELL... SOUTHEASTERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY IN SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE... THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF NASHUA...

* UNTIL 245 PM EDT

* AT 216 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL... AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR WESTFORD... OR 9 MILES WEST OF LOWELL... AND MOVING NORTH AT 15 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE... CHELMSFORD... DUNSTABLE... TYNGSBORO... DRACUT... PELHAM... MERRIMACK... LITCHFIELD AND HUDSON

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS... FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. GET INDOORS OR INSIDE A VEHICLE NOW! IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER... YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. MINOR FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED. DRIVERS SHOULD AVOID FLOODED ROADWAYS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM EDT TUESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN CONNECTICUT AND MASSACHUSETTS AND SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND CENTRAL RHODE ISLAND.

To be the greatest, you need to have someone else who is greater.

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:20:00 +0000

It's a matter of comparision. If everyone is great, then you are only "greater" than the rest. But only if there are a handful "greater", can you aspire to be the "greatest".

That was the caveat Roger Federer was trapped in. During the years that he was the undisputed king of the game, Federer was exactly that, the "undisputed" king.

Among all the good players, he was "better".

Then came Rafael, "better" than the good players, and thus started the quest to become the "greatest".

Notwithstanding st what level of ability one consistently performs, it is judged superlative only when there is another entity to compare it with.

India's march @ the Wimbledon

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Five players from India qualified for the Wimbledon 2009. Between them, they have over 200 ATP and WTA titles, including an impressive 18 Grand Slam titles (see below for the list)

In Round III, the Indian squad is due to plat against each other. Paes will face his erstwhile doubles winning partner, Mahesh Bhupati, but this time on the opposite sides of the net. The story repeats in the mixed doubles as the Mirza/Bhupati pair is pitted against Black/Paes.

After taking out an Indian player in the 1st round of men's doubles, (Devrama), the Bhupati/Knowles pair took out the India-Pakistan pair of Amritraj/Qureshi in the 3r round of the men's doubles.

Sania Mirza

Ladies' Singles - Out in Round-2 : Sorana Cirstea def Mirza : 6-4 6-4

Ladies' Doubles w/ Chia-Jung Chuang -

Round I : beat Jill Craybas/Carly Gullickson : 6-4 6-2

Round II: lost to Alla Kudryavtseva/Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-2; that's a dismal score

Mixed Doubles w/ Mahesh Bhupati

Round I : BYE

Round II: beat Colin Fleming/Sarah Borwell : 7-6 6-4

Round III: lost to Leander Paes/Cara Black (irony :) 2-6 7-6 3-6

Leander Paes

Mixed Doubles w/ Cara Black

Round I: BYE

Round II: beat Michal Mertinak/Mara Santangelo : Walkover

Round III: beat Mahesh Bhupati/Sania Mirza : 6-2 6-7 6-3

Quarters: beat Andre Sa/Ai Sugiyama : 6-3 6-3

SemiFinal: Stephen Huss/Virginia Ruano Pascual

Mahesh Bhupathi

Gentlemen's Doubles w/ Mark Knowles

Round I : Fought an early challange from Somdev Devvarman and Kevin Anderson to win in 4 sets, 6-7 6-4 7-5 7-5. Must've been some good play.

Round II: beat Philipp Petzschner/Alexander Peya : 6-3 7-5 6-7 6-3

Round III: beat Prakash Amritraj/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi : 6-4 5-7 7-6 6-0

Quarters: lost to Wesley Moodie/Dick Norman : 6-7 6-4 6-7 7-5 4-6 ; that must've been a lively 5-setter.

Mixed Doubles w/ Sania Mirza

Round I: BYE

Round II: beat Colin Fleming/Sarah Borwell : 7-6 6-4
Round III: lost to Leander Paes/Cara Black (irony :) : 2-6 7-6 3-6

Prakash Amritraj

Gentlemen's Doubles w/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi

Round I: The Indo-Pak pair of Prakash Amritraj and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi stayed united against Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins, to play out a 5-sets winning 6-4 6-7 6-4 3-6 6-3

Round II: beat Rameez Junaid/Philipp Marx : 7-5 6-4 6-7 6-7 8-6

Round III: lost to Mahesh Bhupati/Mark Knowles : 6-4 5-7 7-6 6-0

Somdev Devvarman

Gentlemen's Doubles w/ Kevin Anderson - Out in Round-1 : Mahesh Bhupati and Mark Knowles

For the record, here is the Grand Slam vicroty history for the Paes, Bhupati and Mirza:

2009 --- French Open ----- Mens' Doubles - Leander Paes / Lukáš Dlouhý

2009 --- Australian Open -- Mixed Doubles - Mahesh Bhupati / Sania Mirza

2008 --- U.S. Open -------- Mixed Doubles - Leander Paes / Cara Black

2006 --- Australian Open -- Mixed Doubles - Mahesh Bhupati / Martina Hingis

2006 --- U.S. Open -------- Mens' Doubles - Leander Paes / Martin Damm

2005 --- U.S. Open ------ Mixed Doubles - Mahesh Bhupati / D. Hantuchová

2005 --- Wimbledon ----- Mixed Doubles - Mahesh Bhupati / Mary Pierce

2003 --- Australian Open -- Mixed Doubles - Leander Paes / M. Navratilova

2003 --- Wimbledon ----- Mixed Doubles - Leander Paes / M. Navratilova

2002 --- Wimbledon ----- Mixed Doubles - Mahesh Bhupati / E. Likhovtseva

2002 --- U.S. Open ------ Mixed Doubles - Mahesh Bhupati / Max Mirnyi

2001 --- French Open ----- Mens' Doubles - Leander Paes / Mahesh Bhupathi

1999 --- French Open ------Mens' Doubles - Leander Paes / Mahesh Bhupathi

1999 --- Wimbledon ------- Mens' Doubles - Leander Paes / Mahesh Bhupathi

1999 --- Wimbledon ------- Mixed Doubles - Leander Paes / Lisa Raymond

1999 --- U.S. Open -------- Mixed Doubles - Mahesh Bhupati / Ai Sugiyama

1997 --- French Open ----- Mixed Doubles - Mahesh Bhupati / Rika Hiraki

Wimbledon, Nike, Federer

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:48:00 +0000

This is the cool look on the court; only missing is the Wilson.

Pants have made a comeback this year; even the women are trying them on.

The military jacket.

"Undressing", was one of the bemused reactions to Roger's Jacket-Waistcoat-Pant ensemble.

Round I - Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) : 7-5 6-3 6-2 :: Match Stats

Round II - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) : 6-2 6-2 6-4 :: Match Stats

A cakewalk for King Fed, with a surprisingly low UE value. His game today could have been perfect, if not for the missed serve-and-volley opportunities.

Round III - Philipp Kohlschreiber - 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-1 :: Match Stats

Didnt watch the match yet; but what happened in the 3rd set ? Did Fed fall asleep?

Round IV - Robin Soderling - 6-4 7-6 7-6 :: Match Stats

The tie breaks were close. Both had the perfect number of aces up their sleeves. It's getting closer. In the next match-up between Soderling - Fed, I expect Soderling will take at least a set.

We're already in week-2 at Wimbly! The Quarters have arrived.

Quarter-Final - Ivo Karlovic - 6-3 7-5 7-6 :: Match Stats

Despite the score, it was a sad play to watch. Karlovic had no game other than his serve, which, when/if Federer could manage to return, left Karlovic no chance of scoring.

Semi-Final - Tommay Haas - TBD

It wasn't supposed to be this way !!

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:24:00 +0000

Those who didn't know him labelled him a nihilist, to me he was just another young man, passionate about his beliefs and with a razor sharp mind that you did not want to face in a debate. He could discuss a point with total conviction, and when the other person started to relent, he'd abruptly switch his opinion leaving you bewildered. Not for him the mere win; it was the drawn out intellectual battle of wits that mattered.

Extraordinarily intelligent this young man was constantly on the look out for new challenges. No challenge was too trivial, no challange not worth mastering. I remember once he and his friend hacked into my Tetris score file so their score could be higher than mine. When I challanged him, he actually learnt to play the game as fast as I did, then gave up in utter disgust... but not without beating me first!

Whatever he did, he did it with determination and passion. He would criticise my thrown together mistmatched attire with as much fervour, as he would discuss his opinion of God and religion. Whatever he did that inadvertently angered, and even hurt others, he did with an almost childlike innocence. To him it was incomprehensible that anything could stand in the way of a logical deduction. It puzzled him, angered him and even saddened him to realize how people would rather stay deluded than accept a truth that is inconvinient.

Like all brilliant minds, his weakness was his vanity. His need to be recognised, appreciated and accepted for what he is. When he recorded his first song, he played the song for me over the phone to make sure I listened and gave my opinion. When he got his new Benz, he called me trying in vain to be modest about it. Being busy, I could not visit him immediately. He called me the next day saying the car already had a dent and I'd better hurry. Finally, he even offered to let me drive it around. All this from the person who few years ago had not let me sit in the driver's seat of his Ford!

Whatever his traits, I trusted him absolutely. Once when we had not been in touch for almost 6 months, he called me, asking for my credit card details! He had maxed out his card and needed to do some online purchasing. After that first time, he never called again asking for permission to use the info. I'd regularly see a mysterious deposit in my savings account, and few days later my credit card bill would show an equally suspicious entry.

It wasn't his impudence. It was his utter belief that having helped him once, I'd be willing to help him again.

I wonder, did I help help him enough? Did we all..?

I hope you had the last laugh Ligesh.

When a year passed

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Sat, 30 May 2009 11:40:00 +0000

It was no different from every other morning, except this morning I was expected to consider myself a year older. I'm afraid, despite the leaps and bounds in science I still find the concept of time a mystery. OK, so it was my birthday and what milestone better than a birthday to look back.

Ironically, despite being out of work all year, it was one of the most eventful in my not-so-short life.

Most significant was sticking to my earlier decision of moving to USA. Admittedly no one could find fault if I had delayed coming to be with my husband. But then, how serious is a commitment that gets pushed to the back seat whenever not convenient?

It was also the most traumatic year I have faced. As a career oriented person, not having a job has been extremely self deprecatory. Lack of confidence, self esteem, extreme insecurity and the scary feeling of not being accepted by the local society plagued me all of last year. They still do, and I expect will continue till I get a job. The one dark blip in an otherwise wonderful life.

Talking of wonderful, I realised just how many friends I have who really care enough to give their time to me. Cliched as it sounds, I understand better that "Life is a mirror"; you see what you show, you get what you give. If there is anything I need to appreciate more, it is the immeasurable value of relationships. Never again will I make the mistake of falling out of touch with friends.

Another year has begun; eerily it once again involves a change, moving house. It's a second chance in some aspects. Insights gleaned over the last year should make me wiser and better. Another year should tell.

For now, I only want to thank my friends for being such wonderful people!

New blog ... not for the faint hearted :)

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:23:00 +0000

I've started a new blog, titled "Career Development ToDo" where I am cataloging efforts, skills and knowledge that would eventually build me into a well rounded, professional.

At this stage I am concentrating on Quality, Project Management and Telecom.

URL: http://career-development-todo.blogspot.com/

I welcome feedback, suggestions and contributions.

Earned Value Management - explaining the formulae

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:56:00 +0000

Start with the 3 corner stones of EVM; there's no need to "understand" what they stand for, at least for the time being.

AC = Actual Cost

EV = Earned Value

PV = Planned Value

Unfortunately, as PMI tends to use old EVM nomenclature, we need the old 3 terms too:

ACWP = Actual Cost of Work Performed = obviously the Actual Cost = AC

BCWP = Budgeted Cost of Work Performed = expected value of work performed = EV

BCWS = Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled = expected value of work planned = PV

Now that the old and new terms are explained and understood it's time to tackle the formulae.

Remember, EVM is used for measuring and monitoring performance, and the best way to measure performance is to compare it against another value and determine the differences, ie: Variances and Ratios, ie: Cost Variance (CV), Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI).

By the way, variances are good only if they're positive, and ratios are good only when they're greater than 1.

Variances: To enforce the effect of AC and EV, they should be in a position where they influence a positive result; ie: smaller AC and larger EV. Presto!

CV = difference between cost incurred (AC) and value expected (EV)

= EV - AC (smaller AC => positive result, larger AC => negative)

= BCWP - ACWP

SV = difference between value expected and value planned

= difference between Earned Value (EV) and Planned Value (PV)

= EV - PV (larger EV => positive result; smaller EV => negative)

= BCWP - BCWS

Performance Ratios: Still following the "smaller AC and larger EV" and using them in a ratio to yield greater than 1 value, gives:

CPI = ratio between cost incurred (AC) and value expected (EV)

= EV/AC

= BCWP/ACWP

SPI = ratio between value earned (EV) and value expected (PV)

= EV/PV

= BCWP/BCWS

Yielding to Project managers' need for putting everything into percentages, the Variance% needs the variance to be represented as a percentage (%) of value that is earned (EV).

CV% = CV/EV * 100

SV% = SV/EV * 100

All the above values are part of the "monitoring: performed using EVM.

"Controlling" would mean changing and forecasting new values, ie: new "Estimates".

Estimate To Complete (ETC) = estimate of how much more expenditure is needed from this point. If all has gone well it would be the difference between budgeted cost (at completion, BAC) and actual cost (AC).

Estimate At Completion (EAC) = estimate of total cost that the project would eventually incur. In an ideal world this would be the same as original planned budget (BAC).

But, all doesn't go always well, so there are some more terms and formulae:

BAC = The planned budget of the project, obviously a known value. Hence no need for a formula

EAC = BAC; if original budgeting holds good; here CPI = 1, CV = 0

(1) = BAC/CPI ; factoring in CPI

(2) = BAC/CPI - CV ; factoring in CV

(2) = BAC/CPI - EV + AC ; replacing the formula for CV

(3) = BAC/CPI - EV/CPI + AC ; if present performance is not

expected to continue CPI affects EV

(3) = (BAC - EV)/CPI + AC

(4) = ETC + AC ; older budgeting totally a mess!

ETC = BAC - AC ; if all is well, which of course it isn't

= EAC - AC ; so factor in new estimates, ie: EAC

And the final measure of whether the entire project is over or under budget, ie: Variance At Completion (VAC) is the difference between original budget (BAC) and revised estimate (EAC)

VAC = BAC - EAC

Galaxy Triplet ..

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:00:00 +0000

On April 1-2, 2009 the Hubble Space Telescope photographed this winning target in the Space Telescope Science Institute’s 'You Decide' competition in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA).

The winner is a group of galaxies called Arp 274 . The striking object received 67,021 votes out of the nearly 140,000 votes cast for the six candidate targets.

Arp 274, also known as NGC 5679, is a system of three galaxies that appear to be partially overlapping in the image, although they may be at somewhat different distances. The spiral shapes of two of these galaxies appear mostly intact. The third galaxy (to the far left) is more compact, but shows evidence of star formation.

Two of the three galaxies are forming new stars at a high rate. This is evident in the bright blue knots of star formation that are strung along the arms of the galaxy on the right and along the small galaxy on the left.

The largest component is located in the middle of the three. It appears as a spiral galaxy, which may be barred. The entire system resides at about 400 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo.

Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was used to image Arp 274. Blue, visible and infrared filters were combined with a filter that isolates hydrogen emission. The colors in this image reflect the intrinsic color of the different stellar populations that make up the galaxies. Yellowish older stars can be seen in the central bulge of each galaxy. A bright central cluster of stars pinpoint each nucleus. Younger blue stars trace the spiral arms, along with pinkish nebulae that are illuminated by new star formation. Interstellar dust is silhouetted against the starry population. A pair of foreground stars inside our own Milky Way are at far right.

The International Year of Astronomy is the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first observations with a telescope. People around the world came together to participate in the IYA's 100 Hours of Astronomy, April 2 to 5. This global astronomy event was geared toward encouraging as many people as possible to experience the night sky.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Finally I found a Loop !

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:46:00 +0000

Not long ago, whenever I traveled the one thing I never forgot to pack was my jogging gear; shoes, T-shirts, cap, track pants, iPod, charger. I mentally chalked a route for me to run (ok, jog, ok trot, whatever!)

In Bangalore, which was my home for almost 10 years I ran almost everyday. My favorite spots for running were the short 3.5 km strtch to/fro Agra Bus stand, the slightly longer 5 km to/fro stretch along Sarjapur Road, the 7.0 km weekend special loop around the Agara lake and of course this 5.3 km stretch along the airport runway where I inevitably and foolishly spent precious energy trying to race planes that were taking off ! I tried running all the way to Marathhalli and back; it was long, it was hot, it was tiring on the way back; definitely not trivial.

When I visited my parents in Goa, I accompanied my dad and his friends on their morning walks. While it was fun listening to their learned conversations the urge to run used to soon overcome me and excusing myself I'd run up to to our rendezvous point and wait for them. It was a beautiful quite road stretching 4.5 km, surrounded by tall dense trees and lush green paddy fields. Obviously these were the most refreshing runs I've had!

In Ahmadnagar when I visited my sister it was a slightly different matter; young ladies there just didn't got for runs! ... and well I didn't want to cause any discomfort. But my ever supportive bro-in-law shooed away my doubts and I had to admit that was just an excuse to stay home with my darling niece and nephew. But my dad, enterprising that he is, decided that he would walk with them while I went for a short run :-) These were indeed short runs, mere 2.5 km sprints.

In Mumbai I left the task to my brother; he shares my love for running and I never had to bother with laying any routes. Of course I loved the 4.0 km stretch to/fro Gorai. He also took me along some loops on the Link road and a maze of inner roads that only he knew how to navigate :)

For that matter I even ran along the next to my office when I visited California (can't chalk the route using google map), and also settled for an easy 2.2 miles lppo in Mt.Laurel during my 6 months stay in New Jersey

When I moved to Billerica, MA last year I tried chalking a loop for my runs, and instead signed up at the local gymwhere I rarely went.

Most of the roads around where I live have no sidewalks and running on the roads is a big no-no for me. There is a lovely recreation complex nearby which has a football ground and people do run loops there, but I have never enjoyed running round in circles. After several attempts like this 2.5 mile stretch to/fro Middlesex Tpk, and this shorter 1.6 mile to/fro the above mentioned Lampson Recreation Complex

I just couldn't get anything worthwhile... that is until today, when I decided to get out of my comfort zone and discovered this 2.7 mile loop. What made it more enjoyable was I could trade smiles and "hellos" with others who were walking the same loop :-)

I've finally discovered a loop that I enjoyed !

PS: For a better idea of the geography set your google map view to "Satellite"

When God admits he still has a lot to learn from humans ;-)

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:47:00 +0000

A while ago my little brother, (well, not so little now :) took to sending us cousins a daily email with an anecdote highlighting a thought for the day. It was his way of helping us lead a better life. But as the big sister who knows-it-all, not always did I spend the time to read them. However his persistance paid off and now I've begun looking forward to getting these anedotal musings with their slight touch of humor at the everyday happenings around us.

Here are two such "My Time Musings"

============== (1) ====================

A man having no child, no money, no home, a blind mother, prays to God.

God happy with his prayers, grants him only ONE wish!

Man : I want my mother to see my wife putting Diamond bangles on my Child's hands in our new home!

God : I still have a lot to learn from these humans !!

============== (2) ====================

A New York businessman dropped a dollar into the cup of a man selling pencils and hurriedly stepped aboard the subway train.

On second thought, he stepped back off the train, walked over to the beggar and took several pencils from the cup. Apologetically, he explained that in his haste he had neglected to pick up his pencils and hoped the man would not be upset with him. "After all," he said, "you are a businessman just like myself. You have merchandise to sell and it is fairly priced."

Then he caught the next train.

At a social function a few months later, a neatly dressed salesman stepped upto the businessman and introduced himself.

"You probably don't remember me and I don't know your name, but I will never forget you. You are the man who gave me back my self-respect. I was a "beggar" selling pencils until you came along and told me I was a businessman. "

The Wow! factor in customer support delivery

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:28:00 +0000

In today's world of ever increasing expectations what does it take to consistently exceed expectations.

As a customer support professional of several years this question has formed the basis of all performance measurements. Not withstanding the touch of individual psychology in customer support, measuring quality of support performance merely on the basis of Turn-Around-Times seems rather trivializing the entire experience.

What then are some measures that can help bring the Wow! factor in the entire interaction?

The Association of Support Professionals surveyed support managers and service delivery experts from 142 companies to get insights on what made their support organization one of the bets. The report, with inputs from inputs from Intuit, BlackBaud, Nokia, Palm, RWK Enterprises and several others sheds light on what would constitute the Wow! factor in customer support delivery.

Some excerpts ...

Anticipate customer needs:
...what if we anticipated a question a customer may encounter, and presented them with an answer before they reach for help?

Stellar Support Reps:
...No software system can ever truly be perfect, but when you have really spectacular support people behind it, that just doesn’t matter.

In the Web 2.0 era:
...Your customers... they buy them— all this happens without a single visit to your site. You can’t fight this phenomenon. So join it.

Speed Demons:
...There’s one surprisingly simple way to astonish and delight customers: provide a lightning-fast answer.

Expectations:
...So really all you can control is how well you meet or exceed existing expectations.

‘Wow’ vs. ‘Ow’ Service:
...the customer sensing your overriding wish for his or her well-being.

Empowerment:
...a KB that even comes close to this ideal is bound to be seen as dramatically more helpful at solving user problems

Measured response:
...Only if a situation warrants it, should the customer service experience be delivered in a surprising way.

Wake up in the morning test:
...The Best Service is No Service

Quoting the closing statement; "From a customer’s perspective, great technical support is not about process, policy, toolsets, or technology. Rather, it’s about the interaction between two human beings."

Army, Real estate, what other (trap)doors ?

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:42:00 +0000

In mid-Feb 2009 the global immigrant community was abuzz with news that the American military would begin recruiting immigrants holding temporary visas, with a chance to become citizens within six months.

While this appears to be a good move to reinforce depleting war resources the potential of a security threat is surely not as invisible as it appears... or rather doesn't appear.

As if this wasn't sufficient reason for US-citizen wannabes globally to start drooling, today Wall Street Journal published an article suggesting how immigrants could help re-build the American real estate financial empire if they were granted resident status on purchase of surplus houses!!

What with the American treasury depending on Chinese finances to get itself out of the financial doldrums, the military building it's strength on resident "aliens" and American consumer finance attempting to lure immigrants to help re-build itself, where does that leave the US as an independent entity? Or is this the quintessential spirit of "unity" that USA stands for?

I pray and hope it indeed is.

Surviving 2009 as an IT professional

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:43:00 +0000

As a subscriber to TechRepublic's newsletters today my InBox had an email with the very topical subject line "State of the IT Profession 2009".

Authored by Jason Hiner, Editor in Chief at TechRepublic, it provides a sanity check on the current state of IT profession and is based on the Gartner 2009 CIO Survey and Veritude's 2009 IT Hiring Outlook.

It seems to say that despite the global financial turmoil the IT profession "remains strong", but will face challenges. Re-training on skills such as Web-based applications, virtualization and utility computing hold the key.

All is all it summarises what is happening to majority of the non-production professions. Re-train, specialization, expect resource restructuring and being prepared for reduced spending are key characteristics of survival.

In late Dec 2008 computerworld.com published a list of the 9 Hottest IT Skills relevant for 2009. It is interesting to read the reader feedback about this assessment.

1. Programming/application development
2. Help desk/technical support
3. Project management
4. Networking
5. Business intelligence
6. Security
7. Web 2.0
8. Data center
9. Telecommunications

For the slightly non-technical process minded (like me) infoworld.com had brought out this piece on "How to keep your tech career afloat" that highlighted not only the technical skills but also essential process skills for IT professionals.

A Castle, snowy woods and frozen lakes

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:54:00 +0000

The castle at Winnekenni Park.

Gently sloping meadow opposite the castle, covered with snow.

The WW II memorial; the plaque says Dedicated to "The Greatest Generation" World War II 1941 - 1945

An enormous tree in the woods; notice the branches spreading in alternating circular pattern. The enormity of the tree can be gauged by the purple dot at the base; that's me standing.

Hubby posing for me, on our way back from a short hike in the woods; frozen lake in the background

Time of my life at MSG

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:02:00 +0000

If not for the fact that we had already booked our tickets several months in advance, I doubt we would've travelled from Boston to New York for the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup!

The northeast had recorded one of it's heaviest snowfall on 01-Mar, there were weather alerts and travel advisories in place. Worse still, Peter Pan cancelled all buses to NYC (and some other routes) so out pre-booked non-refundable tickets were a waste of some much needed good money :-( None of the other operators were plying either and spending $300.00 for a one-way train ticket seemed too extravagant, even for die hard tennis fans like us.

Luckily Megabus had their last bus leaving, and we managed to get the last two tickets. I believe it was a do-good-get-get thing, when hubby helped out a young man who needed $15.00 in cash to buy a ticket to Springfield. Despite there being almost 20 people who heard his entreaty nobody offered even $1.00 to help him out. A Chinese contributed $5.00, and hubby (Indian) offered $10.00. I found it helplessly disturbing to realise that either everyone else did not have cash to spare (very disturbing) or did not feel the need to help out (even more disturbing). Anyway, we were soon on our way.

Reaching NYC always feels like entering fairy land, what with all the glitter and shimmer of the lights; even the reds of the car brake lights added to the scene. Our apprehension of being late cleared when we managed to reach the Madison Square Garden around 07:05 PM.

This was my first live tennis experience and though not new to live events, catching the first glimpse of the blue court was definitely exciting. I was surprised to see the crowd turnout, especially given the existing financial doldrums. Lot of the people were decked rather formally which made me wonder whether they had come directly from work. Black, gray, red and blue were the main colors. I seemed to be the only purple there :-)

What do I say about the tennis; Venus v/s Jelena was as expected a fighting match. Characteristically, Jelena lost her groove for that critical game and Venus pounced to take the break, and served next for the set. No much ado about anything there. Tying Ana and Serena was, IMO, unfair. I expected Serena to devour Ana and that's exactly what happened.

Sitting here at Madison Square Garden, in the heart of New York city, one of the most powerful financial hubs of the world, in one of the most powerful nations of the world, it was very strange to hear ille Jean King talk about gender equality, Just goes to reinforce that people problems are quite the same everywhere. Bill Clinton's talk about "having the heart of a champion" was quite touching, especially when the overhead screens showed Bille Jean clasping her hands pensively and nodding modestly to the encouraging words. Several past and future champions were present at the ceremony. Seeing these past winners of multiple Grand slams and Olympic gold medals appearing so normal only reinforced the earlier words that champions are just like you and me, normal people who decided to win and become great people.

Seeing and hearing BJK and Bill Clinton was one among the few moments of life where you are in complete awe of the present.

Extracting from my notes made during the matches

Venus and Jelena are both TALL ; Jelena especially is much taller than she appears on TV, and both look prettier than on TV
Venus had a rather low ball toss; it's strange I noticed this, but I haven't especially observed her ball toss before- Both players play wonderfully well, despite what the TV appears to show about Jelena's game
Serena and Ana both seem bit shorter, especially when coming after Venus and Jelena. Ana entered the court first and she seemed almost petite, Serena didn't loom as large as she does on TV
Ana keeps her ball way low on her returns; she tended to hit the ball almost below the net on the returns. Again, I haven't noticed this while watching TV, but will surely observe in the future
Ana Ivanovic is absolutely b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l
All four ladies wore make-up; I guess appearing on a tennis court is as much worthy of looking good as appearing on stage for any live event
If the ball happened to whiz past Jelena or Ana they always looked behind, apologetically, as if to ensure nobody had been hit by the ball they missed. Serena and Venus didn't show as much concern
In fact when Serena fell twice in the final, the 2nd fall looking rather nasty, Venus simply stood with her own thought possibly concentrating and trying not to worry about her own sister
Ana _definitely_ has a problem with her toss; on TV it may not be as obvious, but here in person she tossed the ball all over, and at times even had to lunge at the toss getting all off balance when trying to make contact for the serve. Venus, on the other hand took as much time and as many attempts it needed her to steady herself enough to consistently blast those 129+ mphs!
Serena's little-blue-dress doesn't look good at all; rather it looks quite odd, common and few sizes too small
Neither does Venus' little-yellow-dress; it is shorter than it appears on TV
At 4-1 in the 2nd semi-final Serena was, as expected, devouring Ana Ivanovic
The ball boys rarely miss any overhead ball coming towards them, thwarting all hopes the audience have of catching a ball and keeping it
Up close, the 2nd serve is almost as low-quality as the 1st serves we hit when friends play
The Williams' sisters definitely have the crowd on their side, being the local gals. But Serene was the uncontested darling of the audience
Both of them tend to run around their backhand quite often; again, this hasn't been as apparent on TV
Serena isextremely nimble and light on her feet; her feet appear to skim over the surface of the court when she moves
In the 2nd set of the final match, at 1-4 down, Venus had won only 1 of the last 7 games. In effect losing a set 1-6 .. and that was the essence of the last set of the final match

We didn't wait for the award presentations; instead rushed to Port Authority to catch the last bus, but it was cancelled. So, rushed back to Penn Station to get the next bus out, but it was, if any, only at 7:30am.

Wasted some time at MacDonalds outside MSG; Macs have the best french fries among all fast-food, aka, junk-food vendors! Decided we could loiter no more, went into Penn station, booked two tickets on the next Amtrack (used the AAA discount ;-), spent 2 hours in the waiting area then slept all the way back to Boston South Station.

All in all, it would have been a wonderful experience, if only I hadn't had to spend all the extra money for the bus & train tickets... and .. of course.. if Jelena had won :-)

Everyday lessons from the WSJ

noreply@blogger.com (charags) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Lesson #1: "Leaders must face reality."

Reality starts with the person in charge. Leaders need to look themselves in the mirror and recognize their role in creating the problems. Then they should gather their teams together and gain agreement about the root causes. Widespread recognition of reality is the crucial step before problems can be solved. Attempting to find short-term fixes that address the symptoms of the crisis only ensures the organization will wind up back in the same predicament.

Lesson #2: "No matter how bad things are, they will get worse."

Faced with bad news, many leaders cannot believe that things could really be so grim. Consequently, they try to convince the bearers of bad news that things aren't so bad, and swift action can make problems go away. This causes leaders to undershoot the mark in terms of corrective actions. As a consequence, they wind up taking a series of steps, none of which is powerful enough to correct the downward spiral. It is far better for leaders to anticipate the worst and get out in front of it. If they restructure their cost base for the worst case, they can get their organization healthy for the turnaround when it comes and take advantage of opportunities that present themselves.

Lesson #3: "Build a mountain of cash, and get to the highest hill."

In good times leaders worry more about earnings per share and revenue growth than they do about their balance sheets. In a crisis, cash is king. Forget about EPS and all those stock market measures. The question is, "Does your organization have sufficient cash to survive the most dire circumstances?"

Lesson #4: "Get the world off your shoulders."

In a crisis, many leaders act like Atlas, carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. They go into isolation, and think they can solve the problem themselves. In reality, leaders must have the help of all their people to devise solutions and to implement them. This means bringing people into their confidence, asking them for help and ideas, and gaining their commitment to painful corrective actions.

Lesson #5: "Before asking others to sacrifice, first volunteer yourself."

If there are sacrifices to be made – and there will be – then the leaders should step up and make the greatest sacrifices themselves. Crises are the real tests of leaders' True North. Everyone is watching to see what the leaders do. Will they stay true to their values? Will they bow to external pressures, or confront the crisis in a straight-forward manner? Will they be seduced by short-term rewards, or will they make near-term sacrifices in order to fix the long-term situation?

Lesson #6: "Never waste a good crisis."

This piece of advice comes from Benjamin Netanyahu, the next prime minister of Israel, at the panel I (Bill) chaired in Davos. When things are going well, people resist major changes or try to get by with minor adaptations. A crisis provides the leader with the platform to get things done that were required anyway and offers the sense of urgency to accelerate their implementation.

Lesson #7: "Be aggressive in the marketplace."

This may sound counter-intuitive, but a crisis offers the best opportunity to change the game in your favor, with new products or services to gain market share. Many people look at a crisis as something to get through, until they can go back to business as usual. But "business as usual" never returns because markets are irrevocably changed. Why not create the changes that move the market in your favor, instead of waiting and reacting to the changes as they take place?

The Bottom Line: In a crisis we learn who the real leaders are, and whether they have the wherewithal to stay on course of their True North.

From the Wall Street Journal article Seven Lessons for Leading in Crisis by Bill George