PhiSpo-GenTech Blog

How to Negotiate for a Higher Salary

2011-02-22T15:46:00.000+05:30

You have your dream interview lined up. But how do you ensure that you get the best possible salary?
While the pay for junior-level positions is typically fixed, mid- to senior-level employees and managers have more flexibility to negotiate their salaries. Here are eight tips from recruiters and human-resource managers that can help improve your chances of snagging a high salary.

1. Research, research, research
To get a better salary, begin by figuring out what’s the highest you can get. “Do good homework on what are the prevailing salaries for a similar role in the industry,” says Mr Sanjay Pandit, managing director of recruiting firm Manpower Services India.
This is easier said than done, because companies don’t exactly publish their pay scales in the newspaper.
Ask your friends or trustworthy colleagues about potential salaries for someone with your relevant experience and skills. If you are working through a recruiting company, they might be able to give you a range.
2. Curb your eagerness
As with any negotiation, if you convey your eagerness for something, you lose your bargaining power. “Whoever shows more interest always gets less,” says Mr Sanjay Muthal, managing director of executive search firm NuGrid Consulting Pvt. Ltd., in Mumbai.
Candidates need to strike a balance between appearing interested in the particular job, and not appearing too eager.
Mr. Muthal advises talking about macro issues such as the role you’re applying for and potential responsibilities, rather than discussing the nitty-gritty of expected pay. “If you generate a terrific impression, then salary follows,” he says.
3. Wait to be asked
Candidates should not begin the salary discussion because that makes them “come across as being too money-minded,” says Mr Zak Parker, regional HR director of North Africa, Middle East & Southern Asia for security services firm G4S PLC.
Wait for the company to start the salary negotiation. It might help to delay the discussion till all interview rounds are over. The further along you are in the interview process, the more interested the hiring managers would be in you. That puts you in a better position to ask for a higher salary, because the manager might go back to the human resources team or the budgeting team to ask for more money for you.
4. Be honest
Sooner or later, the interviewing company will ask for your current salary. Employers now extensively use background checks to fact-check the information you give, so don’t be foolish enough to fudge your salary. “You’ll get caught very quickly and easily,” says Mr. Parker.
5. What’s the right hike?
Experts say that in the current market environment, an increase of 20% to 30% above your current salary is reasonable to ask. However, in industries or positions that have a talent shortage, such as life sciences, or even some jobs in the information-technology industry, you could get as much as double the salary. Here’s where your research will come handy.
Also, don’t be shy in asking for a high salary. “Many times I’ve seen people who are very shy when it comes to salary,” says Mr. Pandit of Manpower. Sometimes candidates say “I have no expectations, you give me whatever you want…”, or “I’m sure you will take care of me,” he says.
However, these people often end up getting disappointed, and sometimes walk away at the last minute. That can hurt them in the long run, says Mr. Pandit, because “the world is small.”
6. The first discussion
If the company comes back to you with a first salary offer which is below your expectations, don’t immediately give in.
The fact that the company has made you an offer is a good sign, because it shows they really want you. Try one of the following ways to get them to increase their offer.
Start by saying something like: “I’d really like to work for you, but the financials are not really working out,” says Mr. Parker. “Is there a possibility that we can look at this again?”
You could talk about how you are happy in your current job, and the only reason you are interviewing for this position is because you are attracted to the role. You could highlight what the market value is for a person with your skills and experience, or the value you’ve brought to your current employer.
One commonly used tactic is to say that you are talking to one or two other companies for a position as well; companies can’t usually verify that.
7. Ask for perks
Often, companies have a salary range fixed for different designations, and they may not be comfortable making an exception for one employee.
In that case, you could try asking for additional perks that could help indirectly boost your salary. Companies often prefer one-time perks, such as a signing bonus or a fixed bonus, and suggest asking for a possible raise or re-evaluation within a year or less.
8. Be ready to walk away
Sometimes companies may propose to you a particular salary and say: “Take it or leave it”. Unless you are in dire need of the job, Mr. Muthal suggests walking away, though at good terms. “Nine out of ten times, you will hear back” from the company, says Mr. Muthal.
Of course, this is a risky tactic because there’s a chance that you might not hear back at all!

Source: WSJ

Stop Abortion

2010-07-15T11:47:00.000+05:30

Stop Abortion

Excellent article this.... Do read it fully.....

Dear Mommy,
I am in Heaven now... I so wanted to be your little girl. I don't quite understand what has happened. I was so excited when I began realizing my existance. I was in a dark, yet comfortable place. I saw I had fingers and toes. I was pretty far along in my developing, yet not near ready to leave my surroundings. I spent most of my time thinking or sleeping. Even from my earliest days, I felt a special bonding between you and me.

Sometimes I heard you crying and I cried with you. Sometimes you would yell or scream, then cry. I heard Daddy yelling back. I was sad, and hoped you would be better soon. I wondered why you cried so much. One day you cried almost all of the day. I hurt for you. I couldn't imagine why you were so unhappy.

That same day, the most horrible thing happened. A very mean monster came into that warm, comfortable place I was in. I was so scared, I began screaming, but you never once tried to help me. Maybe you never heard me. The monster got closer and closer as I was screaming and screaming, "Mommy, Mommy, help me please; Mommy, help me." Complete terror is all I felt. I screamed and screamed until I thought I couldn't anymore. Then the monster started ripping my arms off. It hurt so bad; the pain I can never explain. It didn't stop.

Oh, how I begged it to stop. I screamed in horror as it ripped my leg off.

Though I was in such complete pain, I was dying. I knew I would never see your face or hear you say how much you love me. I wanted to make all your tears go away. I had so many plans to make you happy. Now I couldn't; all my dreams were shattered. Though I was in utter pain and horror, I felt the pain of my heart breaking, above all. I wanted more than anything to be your daughter. No use now, for I was dying a painful death. I could only imagine the terrible things that they had done to you. I wanted to tell you that I love you before I was gone, but I didn't know the words you could understand.

And soon, I no longer had the breath to say them; I was dead. I felt myself rising. I was being carried by a huge angel into a big beautiful place. I was still crying, but the physical pain was gone. The angel took me away to a wonderful place... Then I was happy. I asked the angel what was the thing was that killed me. He answered, "Abortion". I am sorry, for I know how it feels." I don't know what abortion is; I guess that's the name of the monster. I'm writing to say that I love you and to tell you how much I wanted to be your little girl. I tried very hard to live. I wanted to live. I had the will, but I couldn't; the monster was too powerful. It sucked my arms and legs off and finally got all of me. It was impossible to live. I just wanted you to know I tried to stay with you. I didn't want to die. Also, Mommy, please watch out for that abortion monster. Mommy, I love you and I would hate for you to go through the kind of pain I did. Please be careful.

Love,
Your Baby Girl

PRO CHOICE? DO YOU THINK THESE BABIES CHOSE TO DIE???

This Is Dedicated To The Memory Of All The Aborted Babies Throughout The World. Please pass this on to as many people as u can... so that they will know what happens to their child and all the pain the baby goes through when they abortion their baby

A modern day Poem on the Kings-not just Kings but on the super Kings

2010-04-26T14:02:00.000+05:30

On the eve of chennai wining the IPL third edition i got an intersting poem on the chennai super kings team. The poem is is written in tamil but for the sake of communication it is written with english text. Here it is:

Pooriku venum paani,
   one man army Dhoni.
Singam erukuru edam Den,
   Namma ooru singam Hayden.
Amma kU opposite naina,
   best fielder Raina.
Vegetable la gethu Kathiri,
middle order gethu Badri.
Song mix panna DJ,
Shots mix panna Vijay.
Dts sound na Dolby,
All rounder na Albie.
Ingikku english la Ginger,
Batsman kku yaman na Bollinger.
Bike la best na Ducati,
Spin la Best na Jakati.
Namma Spinner Ashwin,
Avan pottalae namma Win.

Management Lessons

2010-04-15T09:29:00.002+05:30

One of the posts that i really liked , hope you all will like it too.
Follow the link:

http://ishika21b.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html

Aliens roaming in Earth!!!

2010-04-07T09:34:00.002+05:30

UFOs ...
Space crafts in orange colour? What else we need to see to believe????

Follow the link:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100405/884/twl-aliens-hunting-livestock-on-earth-ex.html

$240 million spent and the result ------ a flop show

2010-03-11T12:45:00.000+05:30

Ronaldo had a largely frustrating night at the Bernabau

Florentino Pérez and Real Madrid spent $240 million in the summer hoping that Real Madrid can be at the Bernabau on the big day when the champions league final happens at Bernabau. But all their hopes were shattered by their bogey team Lyon. For the past few seasons Lyon have been a thorn in Real's european dream. If i remember correctly last season Real were battered by Lyon in the knockout stage. Atleast this season it was not the battering.

Its been 6 years since Real got past the first knock-out stage of the champions league.And all this time they looked absoultely irrestible on the attack and absoultely hopeless in defence, the trend continued this year too. They bought some world class talents in the attacking front but none in the defensive front and that has eventually led to their downfall in europe this season.
$240 million spent and what do they have to show to the world and their fans: well i would say nothing.
A humiliating loss to third tier side Alcorn in th King's cup, expected defeat in Europe in the first Knockout stage and a stumbling stroll to the first place in La liga after numerous slips from Barcelona. So there is no wrong in saying them as a flop show this season.

For me Real are never the same after Zidane's departure. From then they have lacked the Charisma at the Big stage and Yesterday's night proved to be another sad chapter in Real's history.

Today's Tamil Nadu by an Angry Tamilian

2010-03-09T09:47:00.000+05:30

Here is an interesting piece of article by some bloke which i received in mail from one of my friends.

P.S: This post is not intended to hurt or to provoke any one and rather conveyed as a message from an angry Tamilian.

Ten Amazing Coincidences

2010-03-08T14:25:00.001+05:30

A very Interesting piece of Info:

Ten Amazing Coincidences

by Suzanne Hayes

What's in a Name?

A computer error gave two women in America called Patricia the same social security number. When the two women were brought together in an office to rectify the blunder they discovered that

They had both been born with the names Patricia Ann Campbell
Both of their fathers were called Robert Campbell
Their birthdays were on 13th March 1941
They had both married military men in the year 1959 (within eleven days of each other)
They each had two children aged 19 and 21
They both had an interest in oil painting
Both had studied cosmetics
Both had worked as book-keepers

Bullet With Your Name on It

In 1893, Henry Ziegland ended a relationship with his girlfriend.

Tragically, his girlfriend took the news very badly, became distraught and took her own life.

Her distressed brother blamed his sister's death upon Henry, he went round to Henry's house, saw him out in the garden and tried to shoot him.

Luckily, the bullet only grazed Henry's face and embedded itself in a nearby tree.

In 1913, twenty years after this incident, Henry decided to use dynamite to uproot a tree in his garden. The explosion propelled the embedded bullet from the tree straight into Henry Ziegland's head - killing him immediately.

Lucky Hughs?

On December 5th 1660, a ship sank in the straights of Dover - the only survivor was noted to be Hugh Williams.

On 5th December 1767, another ship sank in the same waters - 127 lost their lives, the only survivor was noted to be Hugh Williams

On 8th August 1820, a picnic boat capsized on the Thames - there was one survivor - Hugh Williams.

On 10th July 1940, a British trawler was destroyed by a German mine - only two men survived, one man and his nephew - they were both called Hugh Williams.

With a Quack Quack Here

Mr McDonald was a farmer who lived in Canada - nothing extra-ordinary in that - until you learn that his postcode contained the letter sequence EIEIO.

'Til Death Did Them Part

In 1996, Paris police set out to investigate a late night, high speed car crash, both drivers had been killed instantly.

Investigations revealed that the deceased were in fact man and wife.

Police initially suspected some kind of murder or suicide pact but it became apparent that the pair had been separated for several months - neither could have known that the other would have been out driving that night - it was just a terrible coincidence.

She's Behind You!

Michael Dick had been travelling around the UK with his family to track down his daughter, Lisa - who he had lost contact with ten years earlier.

After a long fruitless search, he approached the Suffolk Free Press, who agreed to help him by putting an appeal in their newspaper.

Fortunately, his long lost daughter saw the appeal and the pair were reunited. The odd thing was, his daughter had been right behind him when the free paper took the photograph - shown in the photograph above. What are the chances of that!

Licensed To Thrill

A fifteen year old pupil at Argoed High School in North Wales was to sit his GCSE examinations in 1990.

His name was James Bond - his examination paper reference was 007.

What Goes Around….

In 1965, at the age of four, Roger Lausier was swimming off a beach in Salem - he got into difficulties and was saved from drowning by a woman called Alice Blaise.

In 1974, on the same beach, Roger was out on a raft when he pulled a drowning man from the water - amazingly, the man he saved was Alice Blaise's husband.

Lightning Never Strikes Twice?

British cavalry officer Major Summerford was fighting in the fields of Flanders in the last year of WW1, a flash of lightning knocked him off his horse and paralysed him from his waist down.

He moved to Vancouver, Canada, six years later, whilst out fishing, Major Summerfield was struck by lightning again and the right side of his body became paralysed.

After two years of recovery, it was a summers day and he was out in a local park, a summer storm blew up and Major Summerfield was struck by lightning again - permanently paralysing him.

He died two years after this incident.

However, four years after his death, his stone tomb was destroyed - it was struck by lightning!

Practice What You Preach

Businessman Danie de Toit made a speech to an audience in South Africa - the topic of his speech was - watch out because death can strike you down at any time.

At the end of his speech, he put a peppermint in his mouth, and choked to death on it!

The birth of Paid Leave

2010-03-04T15:32:00.004+05:30

Have u ever seen the calendar for September 1752???

If you are working in Unix, try this out.
At $ prompt, type: cal 9 1752

Surprised????
not only in unix, u can also search it in google

Explanation for what you see:

Isn't the output queer? A month with whole of eleven days missing. This was the time England shifted from Roman Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, and the king of England ordered those 11 days to be wiped off the face of the month of September of 1752. (What couldn't a King do in those days?!) And yes, the workers worked for 11 days less, but got paid for the entire 30 days. And that's how "Paid Leave" was born.Hail the King!!!

HIstoric Info

2010-03-01T09:52:00.003+05:30

Here is an pretty interesting piece of information that we might not know.

Akhil Babu’s letter to INDIAN RAILWAYS!!!!

Akhil Chandra Sen wrote this letter to the Sahibganj divisional railway office in 1909. It is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi. It was also reproduced under the caption Travelers’ Tales” in the Far Eastern Economic Review.

“I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with lotah in one hand and dhoti in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station.

This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honor to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers.”

Any guesses why this letter was of historic value?………………………….It apparently led to introduction of toilets in trains.

Language is no barrier when it comes to expressing thoughts….

What Matters in Life???!!!

2010-02-19T09:56:00.000+05:30

Luck matters ;-)

With a pile of 300 resumes on his desk and a need to pick someone quickly, my boss told me to make calls on the bottom 50 and toss the rest. "Throw away 250 resumes?" I asked, shocked.
"What if the best candidates are in there?"

"You have a point," he said. "But then again, I don't need people with bad luck here."

- Becky Horowitz(Reader's digest)
Performance & Position ;-)

A Priest dies & is awaiting his turn in line at the Heaven's Gates.
Ahead of him is a guy, fashionably dressed, in dark sun glasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket & jeans.
God asks him: Please tell me who are you, so that I may know whether to admit you into the kingdom of Heaven or not?
The guy replies: I am Pandi, Auto driver from Chennai!
God consults his ledger, smiles & says to Pandi: Please take this silken robe & gold scarf & enter the Kingdom of Heaven...
Now it is the priest's turn. He stands erect and speaks out in a booming voice: I am Pope's Assistant so & so, Head Priest of the so & so Church for the last 40 years.
God consults his ledger & says to the Priest: Please take this cotton robe & enter the Kingdom of Heaven...
'Just a minute,' says the agonized Priest. 'How is it that a foul mouth, rash driving Auto Driver is given a Silken robe & a Golden scarf and me, a Priest, who's spent his whole life preaching your Name & goodness has to make do with a Cotton robe?'
'Results my friend, results,' shrugs God.
'While you preach, people sleep; but when he drove his Auto, people PRAYED'

It’s PERFORMANCE & not POSITION that ultimately counts.

Do you Believe in Second chnces in LIFE- IF not then think again

2010-02-10T18:37:00.000+05:30

Do You Believe in 2nd Chances?

Read The Caption on the First Photo then look at the Second Photo

Look at the picture above and you can see where this driver broke through the guardrail, on the right side of the culvert, where the people are standing on the road, pointing. The pick-up was traveling about 75 mph from right to left when it crashed through the guardrail. It flipped end-over-end, bounced off and Across the culvert outlet and landed right side up on the left side of the culvert, facing the opposite direction from which the driver was traveling.. The 22-year-old driver and his 18-year-old passenger were unhurt except for minor cuts and bruises.

Now look at the second picture below...

If this guy didn't believe in GOD before, do you suppose he believes now? Share this your email family and friends. Let this be a reminder to all of us, GOD is controlling !

An interseting chat with the Creator

2010-02-10T09:48:00.002+05:30

Discussion with God - Just place yourself as ME and the conversation can be interesting. Its really good one..

God : Hello... Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No.. who is this?
God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.

Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something..
God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.

Me: Don't know. But I cant find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.
God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results.
Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.

Me: I understand. But I still cant figure it out.. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.
God: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.

Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?
God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.

Me: why are we then constantly unhappy?
God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday . You are worrying because you are analyzing . Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.

Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?
God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty..
God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?
God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life becomes better not bitter.

Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?
God: Yes. In every terms, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?
God: Problems are P urposeful R oadblocks O ffering B eneficial L essons (to) E nhance M ental S trength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading..
God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?
God: Success is a measure as decided by others . Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.

Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go . Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.

Me: What surprises you about people?
God: when they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me". Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.

Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I can't get the answer.
God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.

Me: How can I get the best out of life?
God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.
God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat. I am so happy to start the New Day with a new sense of inspiration.
God: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve.

Well we all believe that God doesn't answer our prayers and he gives hardships only to us, well may be not: there is always a reason for each action of GOD.

The HUTCH Dog-

2009-10-08T10:06:00.000+05:30

Once lived a dog named 'Pug'... Popularly Known as Hutch dog.
His life was so happy when he was a kid.....

Playing.......Laughing........Sleeping......

He grew up...
One fine day he got a job in a company..
In...

He was asked to follow a small boy where ever he goes.....

He became so famous that....He was seen everywhere....
on websites....

Roadside hoarding... desktop... etc...

One fine day...
A new company takes over the old....

Pug is panicked.. in a nail biting situation!!!!

It's been decided... &

Pug was sent off... Now he is jobless...

New concept adopted...here comes zoo zoo....

n The End
Moral: Never love your company, love your job, you never know when your company stops loving you.
Company needs professionals. Be professional.

Give a thought to this... LION'S WORD...

Live as if you were to die tomorrow... Learn as if you were to live forever...

so true!!!!!

I'm trying to be back.... :-)

2009-10-08T10:02:00.002+05:30

Well its been a long time since i posted something, kind of busy these days!!!!
I'm trying to get back into the groove blogging hope to be back soon.
BUt when i come back you'll get lots and lots of intersting stuff to read about.
Till then stay tuned.

Interesting Painting

2009-06-15T10:02:00.003+05:30

Hey guys lets see how many of you can list down the personalities in this marvelous painting... do name the celebrities as comments..... Save the image to your PC to get the full view of the painting.....

There are over a 100 known personalities in this painting.
If you can name 25, you are considered to have good general knowledge…

Donkey Postulates

2009-06-15T09:37:00.001+05:30

Here is an interesting postulate... Read it and enjoy it....

Equation 1

Human = eat + sleep + work + enjoy
Donkey = eat + sleep

Therefore,
Human = Donkey + work + enjoy

Therefore,
Human - enjoy = Donkey + work

In other words,
Humans who don't enjoy = Donkey that works
==============================

=======================

Equation 2

Men = eat + sleep + earn money
Donkeys = eat + sleep

Therefore,
Men = Donkeys + earn money

Therefore,
Men - earn money = Donkeys

In other words,
Men that don't earn money = Donkeys
=====================================================

Equation 3

Women = eat + sleep + spend
Donkeys = eat + sleep

Therefore,
Women = Donkeys + spend

Therefore,
Women - spend = Donkeys

In other words,
Women that don't spend = Donkeys
=====================================================

To Conclude:

>From Equation 2 and Equation 3
Men that don't earn money = Women that don't spend.

So, Men earn money not to let women become Donkeys! (Postulate 1)

And, Women spend not to let men become Donkeys! (Postulate 2)

So, we have?
Men + Women = Donkeys + earn money + Donkeys + spend money

Therefore from this, we can conclude,
Man + Woman = 2 Donkeys that live happily together!
==============================

Proved And Tested in Recession Condition

IPL becomes (NRI)PL

2009-03-23T09:46:00.004+05:30

Ever since the Election commission of India announced the General election dates in india the IPL chief Mr. Lalit Modi is not having a good time. He has prepared three to four schedules for the season 2 of the League, so that it will be convenient for the states to stage the event. But unfortunately all his efforts went in vain with one state or another refusing for each schedule he came up with. At last a decision was made on Sunday,22nd March that the Grand event will be staged outside India.

This will be the first time that an India domestic tournament will be held outside India,making it a historic event. It may be fitting to call the event "NRI"PL, as some papers in India rightly Quoted. The two countries in the running to host the event are South Africa and England, but England seems to be the clear favorites among the board members as well as the Franchise owners.

Already few players have commented on IPL being taken outside event, The Master Blaster was quoted saying: "It will never be the same, no match will be a home game for any team."
Gambhir has said "We don't know who will support who?"
There are so many voices raised over this issue, let us see how this unfolds as time goes by.

New points system in F1

2009-03-19T09:40:00.003+05:30

Well each year the FIA(the Formula one governing body) throws up a twist or two before the start of the season. In the previous seasons the twists came pretty early in the mix, during the winter breaks, but this time around the twist has come pretty late in the piece.

On tuesday FIA has announced that the F1 driver's championship for this year would be decided by the number of wins scored by the driver and not by number of points earned. IS this decision right??????

Well according to the new rule, say if a driver wins 7 races and in the rest of the races he didn't even finish, he would have got 70 points and there is another driver who won 2 races , finished in the podium in every other race, he would have scored loads of points but still he would come only second in the championship. Is this the way to reward consistency????? I wonder!!!!!!!!Will this rule make drivers more conservative??????// Drivers might target specific circuits to win the races rather than concentarting on the entire season........ WEll the first race is only a few days away, time will tell us the answers for all of our questions.

I don't know what prompted FIA to take this decision. IF this rule was there from the start of F1 champioship the F1 world would have senn lots of differrent champions. Senna wolud have been a quadraple world champion and last year his country man Felippe Massa would have won the world title and not Lewis hamilton.

I believe the FIA is trying desperately to make the sport interesting amidst all this financial crisis, but it is making the sport a bit more complicated and difficult to follw with changes every year.

Newton's latest LAWS

2009-03-18T14:19:00.001+05:30

NEWTON IN ROMANTIC MOOD........ ......

U niversal L aw O f L ove:

" Love Can Neither Be Created Nor Be Destroyed; Only It Can Transfer From
One Girlfriend To Another Girlfriend With Some Loss Of Money "

F irst L aw O f L ove:

" A Boy In Love With A Girl, Continue To Be In Love With Her And A Girl
In Love With A Boy, Continue To Be In Love With Him, Until Or Unless
Any External Agent(Brother Or Father Of The Gal) Comes Into Play And
Break The Legs Of The Boy. "

S econd L aw O f L ove:

" The Rate Of Change Of Intensity Of Love Of A Girl Towards A Boy Is
Directly Proportional To The Instantaneous Bank Balance Of The Boy And
The Direction Of This Love Is Same To As Increment Or Decrement Of The
Bank Balance. "

T hird L aw O f L ove:

" The Force Applied While Proposing A Girl By A Boy Is Equal And Opposite
To The Force Applied By The Girl While Slapping."

A TRUE LOVE STORY

2009-03-18T09:59:00.001+05:30

A TRUE LOVE STORY

This is a real story of a young college girl who

passed away last month

in Chandigarh . Her name was Priya. She was hit by a

truck.

She was working in a call center. She had a boy friend

named Shankar.

Both of them were true lovers. They always talked on the

phone.

You used to be never found without her without handphone. In fact she

also changed her cell connection

from Airtel to Hutch, so that both of them can be on the

same network, and save on the cost.

She used to spend half of the day talking with shankar.

Priya's family knew about their relationship. Shankar

was very close to Priya's family as well. (Just imagine their

love) . Before she passed away she always told her

friends "If I pass away please burn me with my

handphone" she also said the same thing to her

parents.

After her death, people cudnt carry her body,

A lot of them tried to do so but still cant

everybody had tried to carry the body, the results

were the same. Eventually, they called a person

known to one of their neighbours, who can speak

with the soul of dead person and who was a friend of her

father.

He took a stick and started speaking to himself

slowly.

After a few minutes, he said "this girl misses

something here." Then her

friends told that person about her intentions to burn

her with her phone.

He then opened the grave box and place her phone and

sim card inside the

casket. After that they tried to carry the body. It

was then moved easily and

they then carried her into the van.

All of us were shocked. Priya's parents did not inform

Shankar that

Priya had passed away.

After 2 weeks Shankar called Priya's mom.....

Shankar :...."Aunty, I'm coming home today. Cook

something nice for me.

Don't tell Priya that I'm coming home today, I wanna

surprise her."

Her mother replied..... "You come home first, I wanna

tell you

something very important."

After he came, they told him the truth about Priya.

Shankar thinks

that they were playing a fool. He was laughing and

said "don't try to

fool me - tell Priya to come out, i have a gift for

her. Please stop

this nonsense".

Then they show him the original death certificate to

him.

They gave him proof to make him believe. (Shankar

started to sweat) He

said... "Its not true. We spoke yesterday. She still

calls me.

Shankar was shaking.

Suddenly, Shankar's phone rang. "see this is from

Priya, see this...."

he showed the phone to priya's family. all of them

told him to

answer. he talked using the loudspeaker mode.

All of them heard his conversation.

Loud and clear, no cross lines, no humming.

It is the actual voice of Priya & there is no way

others could use her

sim card since it is nailed inside the grave box

They were so shocked and asked

for the same person's

(who can speak with the soul of deal persons) help

again. He brought his

master to solve this matter.

He & his master

worked for 5 hours.

Then they discovered one thing which really shocked

them...

Hutch has the best coverage.

"Where ever you go, our network follows!!!"

Don't shout at me...............
I'm searching for the guy who had sent it to me......

Why Women are so special????

2009-03-17T21:31:00.005+05:30

Mum and Dad were watching TV when Mum said, "I'm tired, and it's
getting late. I think I'll go to bed."

She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's
lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the
freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box
levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the
table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.

She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes
into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She
picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on
the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer.
She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to
dry. She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom.

She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted
out some cash for the excursion and pulled a text book out from
hiding under the chair. She signed a birthday card for a friend,
addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the
grocery store.

She put both near her bag.
Mum then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night
Solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth
and filed her nails.

Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed."
"I'm on my way," she said. She put some water into the dog's dish
and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and
the patio light was on. She looked in on each of the kids and
turned out their bedside lamps and radios, hung up a shirt, threw
some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation
with the one up still doing homework.
In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next
day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her
6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and
visualized the accomplishment of her goals.
About that time, Dad turned off the TV
and announced to no one in particular. "I'm going to bed." And he
did...without another thought.

Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer...?
'CAUSE THEY ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL.......
(and they can't die sooner, they still have things to do!!!!)

So respect the women around you.

__,_._,___

Mokka----- Sami

2009-03-10T09:16:00.001+05:30

This is only for people who know tamil language.....

மொக்கைச்சாமி, மொக்கைச்சாமின்னு ஒருத்தன். கடவுளை நோக்கி ரொம்ப நாளா தவம் இருந்தானாம். என்னடா வரம் வேணும்னு கடவுள் கேட்டாராம். இவன் சொன்னானாம்..

“கடவுளே.. எனக்கு சாவே வரக்கூடாது”

“அப்படியே ஆகுக”ன்னு சொல்லிட்டு சிரிச்சுட்டே போய்ட்டாராம் கடவுள்.

ரொம்ப நாள் காட்டுல தவம் இருந்தவன் வரம் பெற்ற இறுமாப்புல நெஞ்சை நிமித்தி நடந்து வந்துட்டிருக்கறப்ப.. ஒரு சாமியார் எதிர்ல வந்து
“யாரப்பா.. நீ?”ன்னு கேட்டாராம்..

இவன் சொன்னானாம்... “மொக்கைமாமி”

பாவம்.. அவனுக்கு ‘சா’வே வரல!

How many things are we missing????????

2009-02-24T18:39:00.002+05:30

The following is a narration of a true incident . Please read it and then you will come to know what we are missing....

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold December morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it
was calculated that a thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning
his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took
over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outlines
were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:

Do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be - If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many
other things are we missing?

Just think of this, you will realize how many things we are missing in life.

Somethings You May Not Know

2009-02-22T22:21:00.003+05:30

Here is a list of facts out of which i had known only a few, i believe most of you wouldn't have known these like me, so i'm sharing these things... The things given are real facts, read it and be amazed by it....

1. Coca-Cola was originally green.

2. The most common name in the world is Mohammed.

3. The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.

4. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

5. There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.

6. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters onlyon one row of the keyboard.

7. Women blink nearly twice as much as men!

8. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath..

9. It is impossible to lick your elbow.

10. People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.

11. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

12. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.

13. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to

Suppress a sneeze; you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

14. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from history. "Spades" - King David; "Clubs" - Alexander the Great; " Hearts" - Charlemagne; "Diamonds" - Julius Caesar.

15. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

16. If a statue of a warrior on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has a all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

17 What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common?

Ans. - All invented by women.

18. Honey - This is the onlyfood that doesn't spoil.

19. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

20. A snail can sleep for three years.

21. All polar bears are left handed.

22. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.

23. Butterflies taste with their feet.

24. Elephants are the onlyanimals that can't jump.

25. In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

26. On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.

27. Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.

28. Stewardesses is the longest word typed with onlythe left hand.

29. The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

30. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

31. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

32. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.

33. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

34. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

35. Most lipstick contains fish scales.

36. Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.

The Secret behind the number 11

2009-02-22T15:34:00.001+05:30

The Secret behind the number 11

1) New York City has 11 letters
2) Afghanistan has 11 letters.
3) Ramsin Yuseb has 11 letters . (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin Towers in 1993)
4) George W Bush has 11 letters.

This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets interesting:

1) New York is the 11th state.
2) The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number 11.
3) Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers. 9 + 2 = 11
4) Flight 77 which also hit Twin Towers , was carrying 65 passengers. 6 + 5 = 11
5) The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11 as it is now known. 9 + 1+ 1 =11
6) The date is equal to the US emergency services telephone number 911.

Sheer coincidence..?

Read on and make up your own mind:

1) The total number of victims inside all the hi-jacked planes was 254. 2 + 5 + 4 = 11

2) September 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year.

3) The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 11.

4) The tragedy of Madrid happened 911 days after the Twin Towers incident.

Now this is where things get totally eerie:

The most recognized symbol for the US , after the Stars & Stripes, is the Eagle. The following verse is taken from the Koran, the Islamic holy book:

"For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was peace."

still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was peace."

That verse is number 9.11 of the Koran.

Unconvinced about all of this still ..?

Try this and see how you feel afterwards, it made my hair stand on end:

Open Microsoft Word and do the following:

1. Type in upper case Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers .
2. Highlight the Q33 NY.
3. Change the font size to 48.
4. Change the actual font to the WINGDINGS……………………

What do you think now????

Those Famous Sports SHIRTS

2009-02-22T10:12:00.003+05:30

In sports fame is everything. A single sportsman's popularity can be gauged by the name and respect he gets all over the world. But how do you gauge a team's popularity????

Well there is one way to do that,it is said that a team's popularity can be reflected in large selling of their team's jerseys.. Well here is a list of teams whose jerseys are at the top of the pile...

Club Football in Europe--Manchester United:

English Premier League the most famous and perhaps the most competitive league in the world. In this One of the easily recognizable jerseys, Manchester United's Red is easily the biggest seller in the world.

Makers : Nike
Price: Rs.2745/-(INdian Rupees)

They are closely followed by the (Blues) Chelsea whose adiddas shirts are sold for Rs. 2999 and the Spanish giants Real Madrid come in as close third with the same price tag as the Blues.
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World Football- Brazil

The most romantic of the jerseys, Brazil's yellow is worn with pride by the followers of the beautiful game, everywhere in the world.

Makers: Nike
Price :$49

Edging them close are their neighbors Argentina. With Lionell Messi in full flow, the craze for the albaceliste will only go up.

Makers : Adidas
Price :$49

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NBA- Los Angeles Lakers

Legendary NBA team LA Lakers' home colour yellow is probably the most sought after basketball jersey any where in the world. And Kobe Bryant's number continues to sizzle and bring in tons of revenues for the makers.

Makers : Adidas
Price : $175
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Last but not least is the
Malliot jaune (my-yo-john)/Yellow Jersey-Cycling

The Yellow jersey , perhaps the most coveted jersey in the world of cycling gets its popularity during the race season. The yellow jersey is the jersey worn by the leader of many multi-stage bicycle races,most notably the Tour-De-France. It allows the riderwho was in the overall lead at the end of the previous day to be easily identified.

Personally, i love each and every one of these jerseys and the teams that wear it.

Think out of the BOX

2009-02-18T09:55:00.002+05:30

Read it fully......

Employee "A" in a company walked up to his manager and asked what my job is for the day? ·

The manager took "A" to the bank of a river and asked him to cross the river and reach the other side of the bank. ·

"A" completed this task successfully and reported back to the manager about the completion of the task assigned. ·
The manager smiled and said "GOOD JOB" ·
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Next day Employee "B" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task as above to this person also.

· The Employee "B' before starting the task saw Employee "C" struggling in the river to reach the other side of the bank. ·

He realized "C" has the same task. · Now "B" not only crossed the river but also helped "C" to cross the river. · "B" reported back to the manager and the manager smiled and said " VERY GOOD JOB " ·

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The following day Employee "Q" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.

· Employee "Q" before starting the work did some home work and realized "A", "B" & "C" all has done this task before.·

He met them and understood how they performed. · He realized that there is a need for a guide and training for doing this task. ·

He sat first and wrote down the procedure for crossing the river, he documented the common mistakes people made, · and tricks to do the task efficiently and effortlessly. · Using the methodology he had written down he crossed the river and reported back to the manager along with· documented procedure and training material. · The manger said "Q" you have done an " EXCELLENT JOB" . ·

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The following day Employee "O' reported to the manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.

· "O" studied the procedure written down by "Q" and sat and thought about the whole task.·

He realized company is spending lot of money in getting this task completed.· He decided not to cross the river, but sat and designed and implemented a bridge across the river ·
and went back to his manager and said, "You no longer need to assign this task to any one".· The manager smiled and said "Outstanding job 'O'. I am very proud of you ."·

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What is the difference between A, B, Q & O???????? Many a times in life we get tasks to be done at home, at office, at play….,

Most of us end up doing what is expected out of us. Do we feel happy? Most probably yes. We would be often disappointed when the recognition is not meeting our expectation. Let us compare ourselves with "B". Helping someone else the problem often improves our own skills. There is an old proverb (I do not know the author) "learn to teach and teach to learn". From a company point of view "B" has demonstrated much better skills than "A" since one more task for the company is completed.

"Q" created knowledge base for the team. More often than not, we do the task assigned to us without checking history. Learning from other's mistake is the best way to improve efficiency. This knowledge creation for the team is of immense help. Re-usability reduces cost there by increases productivity of the team. "Q" demonstrated good "team-player" skills,

Now to the outstanding person, "O" made the task irrelevant; he created a Permanent Asset to the team.If you notice B, Q and O all have demonstrated "team performance" over an above individual performance; also they have demonstrated a very invaluable characteristic known as "INITIATIVE".Initiative pays of every where whether at work or at personal life. If you put initiative you will succeed.Initiative is a continual process and it never ends. This is because this year's achievement is next year's task . You cannot use the same success story every year.The story provides an instance of performance, where as measurement needs to be spread across at least 6-12 months. Consequently performance should be consistent and evenly spread.

Out-of-Box thinkers are always premium and that is what every one constantly looks out for. Initiative, Out-of-Box thinking and commitment are the stepping stone to success. Initiative should be life long.

Think of out of the box!!!!!!!!

This could save a life-Stroke

2009-02-13T23:17:00.003+05:30

Hey people, here is a mail that i got from my friend aeons back and saw it just yesterday, this is a very important message and it could save a life . Sp please forward this message to your friends, relatives and everyone you know.

You could save a life !

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters... S.T.R .

My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.

Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)

She had suffered a stroke at the party. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.

The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :

S * Ask the individual to SMILE .

T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg "It is sunny out today").

R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is

1. Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue.

2. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

A prominent cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

?.and it could be your own?..

7 Reasons on why you should not mess with children

2009-02-03T09:40:00.002+05:30

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".

The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".

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A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like"

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."
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A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.

After explaining the commandment to "honour" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"

Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."

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One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.

She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"

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The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture. "Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'

A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, she's dead."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face."

"Yes," the class said. "Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?"

A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."

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The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:

"Take only ONE . God is watching."

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.

A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."
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Children are much smatter than we think. so give a thought to it.

Photos taken By Spitzer Space Telescope

2009-01-30T09:36:00.004+05:30

Spitzer Reveals stellar family tree

Generations of stars can be seen in this new infrared portrait from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. In this wispy star-forming region, called W5, the oldest stars can be seen as blue dots in the centers of the two hollow cavities (other blue dots are background and foreground stars not associated with the region).

__________________________________________________________________

One of the Biggest Galaxies Collisions:

____________________________________________________________________
The mark of a Dying star

Six hundred and fifty light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, a dead star about the size of Earth, is refusing to fade away peacefully.

In death, it is spewing out massive amounts of hot gas and intense ultraviolet radiation, creating a spectacular object called a "planetary nebula."

In this false-color image, NASA's Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes have teamed up to capture the complex structure of the object, called the Helix nebula, in unprecedented detail. The composite picture is made up of visible data from Hubble and infrared data from Spitzer.
The dead star, called a white dwarf, can be seen at the center of the image as a white dot. All of the colorful gaseous material seen in the image was once part of the central star, but was lost in the death throes of the star on its way to becoming a white dwarf. The intense ultraviolet radiation being released by the white dwarf is heating and destabilizing the molecules in its surrounding environment, starting from the inside out.

Like an electric stovetop slowly heating up from the center first, the hottest and most unstable gas molecules can be seen at the center of the nebula as wisps of blue. The transition to more stable and cooler molecules is clearly depicted as the color of the gas changes from very hot (blue) to hot (yellow) and warm (red).

A striking feature of the Helix, first revealed by ground-based images, is its collection of thousands of filamentary structures, or strands of gas. In this image the filaments can be seen under the transparent blue gas as red lines radiating out from the center. Astronomers believe that the molecules in these filaments are able to stay cooler and more stable because dense clumps of materials are shielding them from ultraviolet radiation.

____________________________________________________________________
A massive Spiral Dust with Stars Scattered around

_____________________________________________________________

Amazing Andromeda Galaxy

"Some mind boggling thoughts-Part 1 of a Long series"

2009-01-26T20:56:00.003+05:30

hey all here are some mind boggling thoughts, few of them are written by me and the others are quoted text from some famous personalities over the globe. The ones with the M.S.P initials are my thoughts, read them and think about how true each and every thought is:

"You can't BUY LOVE, but still u PAY heavily for it".

"One who do not LOVE a girl before his marriage. he can not LOVE his Wife after his marriage". -Shakespeare.

"Success is like a cart following a bull, they follow the bull called Failure." -M.S.P

"Whenever there is a hard job to be done, I assign it to a Lazy man; He is sure to find an easy way of doing it." -Bill Gates.

"When two clouds called "Heart" collide they induce a storm called "Love." - M.S.P.

"Defeat is not when you fall down, It is when you refuse to get up." -The great Alexander.

"Life is full of surprises.
A life without surprises is like having tonnes of money but
Nothing to buy with it." -M.S.P.

"Past is an experience.
Present is an experiment and
Future is our expectations.
If we use our experience in our experiments,
We can yield fruits with our expectations." - M.S.P.

"YOU are the creator of your own destiny, so make yours." -M.S.P.

"Life is not a race to be chased or to chase.
It is a battle to be fought, in which you have to defeat the opponents called obstacles." -M.S.P.

Until Next time its your friend M.S.P saying adieu.

Top ten Space photographs -Part -2

2009-01-24T09:56:00.002+05:30

Part - 2 of the top ten space photographs taken by Hubble telescope

In sixth place is the Cone Nebula. The part pictured here is 2.5 light years in length (the equivalent of 23 million return trips to the Moon).
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The Perfect Storm, a small region in the Swan Nebula, 5,500 light years away, described as 'a bubbly ocean of hydrogen and small amounts of oxygen, sulphur and other elements.

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Starry Night, so named because it reminded astronomers of the Van Gogh painting. It is a halo of light around a star in the Milky Way.

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The glowering eyes from 114 million light years away are the swirling cores of two merging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163 in the distant Canis Major constellation.

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The Trifid Nebula. A 'stellar nursery', 9,000 light years from here, it is where new stars are being born.

Hope this time the pictures load correctly. Enjoy the beauty of the galaxies and the stars.

"Some words are Priceless"

2009-01-23T23:29:00.003+05:30

A husband wakes up at home with a huge hangover.
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> he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass of water on the side table. He sits
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> around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotless, clean. So is
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> the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table.
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> "Honey, breakfast is on the table, I left early to go grocery shopping.
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> Love You!"
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> and sure enough there is a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is
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> He asks, "Son, what happened last night?"
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> His son says, "Well, you came home around 3 AM,
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> drunk and delirious. Broke some crockery, puked in the hall, and gave yourself
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> a black eye when you stumbled into the door".
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> Confused, the man asks, "So, why is everything in
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> order and so clean, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?
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> I should expect a big quarrel with her!"
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> His son replies, "Oh, that! Mom dragged you to the
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> bedroom, and when she tried to take your clothes n shoes off, you said,
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> "LADY LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M MARRIED!"
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> Moral
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> Self-induced hangover - $ 400.00
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> Broken crockery - $ 800.00
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> Saying the Right Thing While Drunk –
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> "PRICELESS”
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> There are truly some things that both money and
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> Mastercards
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> can’t buy.

Carling cup Final- Match up

2009-01-23T00:20:00.002+05:30

Its that time o the year where the cup competitions of all the major leagues in the world draw to a conclusion. Its the same in Britain, after all the rounds of action it has come down to this a match between the Last Year's Premiership Champions Manchester United and the CARLING cup holders Tottenham Hotspur.

Both clubs have had their hick ups in the cup, Manu beaten by Derby 1-0 in the first leg of the semifinal and then clinching the home leg 3-1 on Wednesday(21,Jan) and Tottenham had their own problems going to the brink of elimination in the group stages and even yesterday(22,JAN) in the match against Barnley (the GIANT killers of this season's carling cup). They some how managed to survive the scare and made it to Wembley. They narrowly escaped exit, after two late goals from Pavylechenko and Defoe in the 3-2 defeat to Burnely on Wednesday.

Now the stage is set and date is March 1,2009 for a mouth watering clash between two of the most entertaining teams of the premiership. But before that they are set to meet this weekend in the F.A. Cup fourth round and also in the premiership sometime soon.
Until then stay tuned.

An interesting way of Multiplying

2009-01-22T23:59:00.005+05:30

The video is an interesting one, depicting an impressive way of Multiplication of two numbers.
Enjoy it and Learn from it.
This is the method followed by the Chineese. I have tried it with a few numbers, it has worked for me.
Surprising but true.

Top ten SPACE photographs-Part 1

2009-01-22T23:33:00.005+05:30

These are some ten photos which i got by mail sometime back from a friend of mine, just thought i would share this with all. The pictures are Fabulous.

Hubble Telescope's

Top TenGreatest Space Photographs

The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth - was voted best picture taken by the Hubble telescope. The dimensions of the galaxy, officially called M104, are as spectacular as its appearance. It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.
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The Ant Nebula, a cloud of dust and gas whose technical name is Mz3, resembles an ant when observed using ground-based telescopes. The nebula lies within our galaxy between 3,000 and 6,000 light years from Earth.

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In third place is Nebula NGC 2392, called Eskimo because it looks like a face surrounded by a furry hood. The hood is, in fact, a ring of comet-shaped objects flying away from a dying star. Eskimo is 5,000 light years from Earth.

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At four is the Cat's Eye Nebula, which looks like the eye of disembodied sorcerer Sauron from Lord of the Rings.

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The Hourglass Nebula, 8,000 light years away, has a pinched-in-the-middle look because the winds that shape it are weaker at the centre.

The remaining five are in the part-2 post.

The Auzzie tuzzle starts on Monday-19th of Jan

2009-01-18T15:05:00.004+05:30

hey tennis geeks, the feast for you is almost ready to be served. Wondering what i'm talking about?
Its about the Auzzie open which kicks starts the grand slams this year on Monday. Coming into the auzzie open there are no clear cut favorites either in the men's section or in the women's section.
The men's game has seen lots of changes over the years and is continuing to see lots of changes even now. For the past four or five years the men's game was ruled by a man called Roger Federer full of grace, talent and natural ability with style, now he is forced out of his throne by the man Rafa equipped with shear power and determination. he has been ruling th courts for the past 3 or four months, but the start of the year has given a clear indicator that these two men's position are under severe threat by a certain man called Andy Murray, beating both these players to clinch the doha open title. The auzzie open will see all these three men in action competing for the first grand slam of the year along with the other usual suspects like Roddick, Djokovic, Tsonga and a few more.

Meanwhile in the women's section there are no cler cut favourites either, there is a tussle going on between the world nos. 1 and 2 Jankovic and Serena in off the court talks. They are up there competing for the title and also there is The beautiful, young and energetic Dinara safina and a few more of the usual suspects like Venus, etc.

but one thing is clear that the auzzie open cannot give us a clear indication of who will rule 2009 in tennis. the answer to that of course will unfold at a later stage of the season,until then we will enjoy the tennis!!!!!!!!!!!

A brief- on how do ATM machines work?

2009-01-16T09:43:00.000+05:30

The following is an article that i came across in an website, thought people will be intersted in knowing how ATMs work, so i have posted it in my blog.

Whether an ATM is in a bank, at a bank drive-thru, in the wall of your shopping mall, or standing out in the middle of nowhere, the process is pretty simple. A real live human being goes to the machine and opens it, then opens the safe-locked door inside, and fills trays in the machine with a set amount of money. If it's a machine that only gives out portraits of Andrew Jackson, then there's either only one tray, or multiple trays that are all filled with twenties. It also dispenses tens (or, rarely, fives also), the multiple trays each holding a separate denomination.
When you pop your plastic in the slot, punch in your PIN, and request funds - assuming you're not a deadbeat who's about to see "We're sorry, but you do not have sufficient funds in your account to complete this transaction" - the computer in the machine triggers mechanisms that feed the appropriate number of bills of the appropriate denomination from the tray(s). Then, they're fed to the slot your cash pops out of, right into your greedy little fist.
If the ATM is in a bank, the door to the ATM is usually behind the machine, where you can't get to it, and a bank employee fills the trays. ATMs located elsewhere are generally filled by men in uniforms, who drive large armored vehicles, carry sidearms, and whose employers carry a lot of insurance.
You didn't ask, but in case you were wondering, when you make a deposit at an ATM, it's merely fed into a bin within the safe. The bank employee or armed guard retrieves the envelopes when they fill the machine, and your deposit is taken to the tellers, who process it just like any other deposit, only they key it in as an ATM deposit so that you don't get credited twice. If you were to try to rip off the bank by not really depositing any funds, at the end of the day, the bank's computer system would say to itself, "Self, this deposit wasn't keyed in by a teller ... this guy's trying to rip us off." At that point, the computer would subtract your deposit back out, and you'd probably be in deep spit.
Hope this was useful.

My take on the SATYAM ISSUE

2009-01-09T09:30:00.000+05:30

When i heard about the amount of money i was really shocked! The fact is that is there such a CEO who cares so much for a company? and second how could he say that this whole thing was not known to not even a single member of the board and last but not least how could this massive forged profits and other money be there in the books without coming to the notice of the auditors.
Mr.Raju in his statement has said that he did all this for the good of the company, i don't know how manipulating the account statements would result in goodness for the company. It might be a stop gap solution but not a permanent one. I believe he should have looked for other solutions, sadly he didn't and he is going to face the consequences for it soon.
But the saddest part of the whole saga is the state of all employees in the company and also the state of the other Indian IT firms.
Will continue my comment on this issue in my next post. Meantime other's views are welcome.

TEXT - Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju's letter

2009-01-08T09:33:00.000+05:30

TEXT - Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju's letter
The chairman of Satyam Computer Services resigned on Wednesday, saying profits had been inflated over the last several years.
Following is the text of his letter, which was released by the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Note: references using Indian numerical system of crores and lakhs have been converted to Western system.
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To the Board of Directors
Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
From B. Ramalinga Raju
Chairman, Satyam Computer Services Ltd. January 7, 2009
Dear Board Members,
It is with deep regret, and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience, that I would like to bring the following facts to your notice:
1. The Balance Sheet carries as of September 30, 2008
a. Inflated (non-existent) cash and bank balances of 50.40 billion rupees ($1.04 billion) (as against 53.61 billion reflected in the books).
b. An accrued interest of 3.76 billion rupees which is non-existent.
c. An understated liability of 12.30 billion rupees on account of funds arranged by me.
d. An overstated debtors position of 4.90 billion rupees (as against 26.51 billion reflected in the books)
2. For the September quarter (Q2) we reported a revenue of 27.00 billion rupees and an operating margin of 6.49 billion rupees (24 pct of revenues) as against the actual revenues of 21.12 billion rupees and an actual operating margin of 610 million rupees (3 percent of revenues). This has resulted in artificial cash and bank balances going up by 5.88 billion rupees in Q2 alone.
The gap in the Balance Sheet has arisen purely on account of inflated profits over a period of last several years (limited only to Satyam standalone, books of subsidiaries reflecting true performance). What started as a marginal gap between actual operating profit and the one reflected in the books of accounts continued to grow over the years. It has attained unmanageable proportions as the size of company operations grew significantly (annualized revenue run rate of 112.76 billion rupees in the September quarter, 2008, and official reserves of 83.92 billion rupees). The differential in the real profits and the one reflected in the books was further accentuated by the fact that the company had to carry additional resources and assets to justify higher level of operations -- thereby significantly increasing the costs.
Every attempt made to eliminate the gap failed. As the promoters held a small percentage of equity, the concern was that poor performance would result in a take-over, thereby exposing the gap. It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.
The aborted Maytas acquisition deal was the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones. Maytas' investors were convinced that this is a good divestment opportunity and a strategic fit. Once Satyam's problem was solved, it was hoped that Maytas' payments can be delayed. But that was not to be. What followed in the last several days is common knowledge. I would like the Board to know:
1. That neither myself, nor the Managing Director (including our spouses) sold any shares in the last eight years -- excepting for a small proportion declared and sold for philanthropic purposes.
2. That in the last two years a net amount of 12.30 billion rupees was arranged to Satyam (not reflected in the books of Satyam) to keep the operations going by resorting to pledging all the promoter shares and raising funds from known sources by giving all kinds of assurances (Statement enclosed, only to the members of the board). Significant dividend payments, acquisitions, capital expenditure to provide for growth did not help matters. Every attempt was made to keep the wheel moving and to ensure prompt payment of salaries to the associates. The last straw was the selling of most of the pledged share by the lenders on account of margin triggers.
3. That neither me, nor the Managing Director took even one rupee/dollar from the company and have not benefitted in financial terms on account of the inflated results.
4. None of the board members, past or present, had any knowledge of the situation in which the company is placed. Even business leaders and senior executives in the company, such as, Ram Mynampati, Subu D, T.R. Anand, Keshab Panda, Virender Agarwal, A.S. Murthy, Hari T, S.V. Krishnan, Vijay Prasad, Manish Mehta, Murali V, Sriram Papani, Kiran Kavale, Joe Lagiola, Ravindra Penumetsa; Jayaraman and Prabhakar Gupta are unaware of the real situation as against the books of accounts. None of my or Managing Director's immediate or extended family members has any idea about these issues.
Having put these facts before you, I leave it to the wisdom of the board to take the matters forward. However, I am also taking the liberty to recommend the following steps:
1. A Task Force has been formed in the last few days to address the situation arising out of the failed Maytas acquisition attempt. This consists of some of the most accomplished leaders of Satyam:, Subu D, T.R. Anand, Keshab Panda and Virender Agarwal, representing business functions, and A.S. Murthy, Hari T and Murali V representing support functions. I suggest that Ram Mynampati be made the Chairman of this Task Force to immediately address some of the operational matters on hand. Ram can also act as an interim CEO reporting to the board.
2. Merrill Lynch can be entrusted with the task of quickly exploring some Merger opportunities.
3. You may have a restatement of accounts' prepared by the auditors in light of the facts that I have placed before you.
I have promoted and have been associated with Satyam for well over twenty years now. I have seen it grow from few people to 53,000 people, with 185 Fortune 500 companies as customers and operations in 66 countries. Satyam has established an excellent leadership and competency base at all levels. I sincerely apologize to all Satyamites and stakeholders, who have made Satyam a special organization, for the current situation. I am confident they will stand by the company in this hour of crisis.
In light of the above, I fervently appeal to the board to hold together to take some important steps. Mr. T.R. Prasad is well placed to mobilize support from the government at this crucial time. With the hope that members of the Task Force and the financial advisor, Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America) will stand by the company at this crucial hour, I am marking copies of this statement to them as well.
Under the circumstances, I am tendering my resignation as the chairman of Satyam and shall continue in this position only till such time the current board is expanded. My continuance is just to ensure enhancement of the board over the next several days or as early as possible.
l am now prepared to subject myself to the laws of the land and face consequences thereof.
(B. Ramalinga Raju)
Copies marked to:
1. Chairman SEBI
2. Stock Exchanges

"The Seven Stages of Self Awakening"

2009-01-07T23:17:00.000+05:30

I happened to read a book called "Discover Your Destiny With the Monk Who Sold his Ferrari"
by the author Robin Sharma. It is a very intersting piece of book, written in simple understandable language and teaching some good principles and also giving us the stages involved in one's Self Awakening. Here i'm going to give you the the names of the seven stages only, i would recommend that you buy this book and read it. It will be an entertaining but enlightning experience.
NOW, the seven stages of Self Awakening:
Stage 1: Living A Lie (The Stage of self Betrayal)
Stage 2: The Choicepoint (The stage of Releasing Control and Breaking your Chains)
Stage 3: Awareness of Wonder and Possibilty (The stage of seeing with new eyes)
Stage 4: Instruction from Masters ( The stage of Learning,Failing and Preparation)
Stage 5: Transformation and Rebirth (The Stage of Emptying and Refilling)
Stage 6: The Trail (The Stage of Testing and Confirmation)
Stage 7: The Great Awakening of Self ( The stage of Fearlessness)
I felt while reading the book, the author was lucid with his ideas and the flow was simply sensational.
A book to be read by each man and specially a man in pain.
Prakash.M.S

Interesting Love story

2009-01-07T09:18:00.000+05:30

Here is an article which is in the interest of all human beings. I happen to read this article in The HINDU newspaper dated 7/1/09 and also heard it in the news. This is a real story.
Down in germany there is a town called Hannover, in here an intersting event took place. A 6 year boy(name i don't remember) fell in love with a 5 year old girl who lives in the next house.
After long discussions they both decided to get married at a church in some town in Germany(name i don't remember) and on one fine morning they set foot from thier house and this boy took her 7 year old sister as a witness to this lovely and cute couple's marriage.
The three of them had some how got to the train station in Hannover without getting noticed and finally as they were ready to board a train, they were spotted by a policemen.
The couple and the witness were taken into the police station and the parents were informed of their childrens plan. They were shocked hearing what happened and were found wanting for words.
When the boy was asked why they didn't tell their parents about their love, he toldthat he thought they will not agree!!!! And the boy started crying after the police told that they were not going to the church.
The police not knowing what to do, finally took the couple on a guided tour through the police station to pacify them!
Its really interesting to hear this piece of love story. We should also understand that the impact of love even on small children.

Birth of an interesting era of cricket

2008-12-24T22:00:00.000+05:30

The year 2008 has seen lots of lows in markets, fall of the BUSH kingdom, attack of terrorists on the posh hotels in MUMBAI and also this year can be considered as one of the most significant years in the history of world cricket. I say this because of the turn of events around the world in the cricket field. If we see the history of test cricket or one day cricket there will be only one team at its pick in a particular era. During the Bradman era Aussies were at the top and then the seventies belonged to the West indies and then after the mid eighties the Aussies captured the thrown and kept it for more than two decades.In his period of twenty years are so there has been many contenders for their thrown but no one was able to de-thrown them of their thrown. The Aussies were way ahead of the rest of the field and the rest of the world vied for the contender's spot only. Also during this period no team was able to match the consistency of the Aussies and were terrified or may be amazed at the way the Aussies played their cricket.

But 2008 has seen a change in proceedings ,teams like South Africa ,India and Sri lanka were not competing for the second spot but for the first sport with the Aussies, giving the true meaning for the word contenders. Australia were dethroned from their first spot by the Africans and India went a step ahead by defeating the Aussies 2-0 in the test series.The Aussies are no more invincible and are not seen fearful by the other teams. Its really a amazing and wonderful site for cricket lovers all over the world to see teams fight it out and also to see the monotony of single team dominating a period of cricket.

It will be rally intersting to watch the next major tournaments like mini world cup, The world cup itself, to see how these contenders perform and can they de-thrown the australian Dynasty.
Only time will tell!!!!!
M.S.Prakash

A must read conversation between a student and a professor

2008-12-24T21:53:00.000+05:30

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problemscience has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to standand.....

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How isthis God good then? Hmm?

Student is silent.

Prof: You can't answer, can you?Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?

Student: Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?

Student does not answer.
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terriblethings exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?

Student has no answer.
Prof: So, who created them?

Student has no answer.
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe theworld around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have youever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science saysyour GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Now the student said can I ask something to you Professor.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, megaheat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anythingcalled cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but wecan't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold isonly a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence ofit.(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light... But ifyou have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness,isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to makedarkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there islife and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing theconcept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but hasnever seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as theopposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as asubstantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence ofit. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolvedfrom a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, ofcourse, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where theargument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work andcannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you notteaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor'sbrain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, feltit, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according tothe established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, sciencesays that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we thentrust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his faceunfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH. That is allthat keeps things moving & alive. .
WANT TO KNOW WHO THAT STUDENT WAS?
This is a true story, and the student was none other than
DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India.

Engineering Design Processes, Problem Solving &Creativity

2008-12-17T14:56:00.000+05:30

BY
Don L. DekkerRose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Abstract:There is confusion as to what the terms in the title mean. None of them are clearly defined. ``The engineering design processes'' are often confused with open-ended problems. ``Problem solving'' has many definitions. ``Creativity'' is much more than the prevalent ``free-thinking'' view. The lack of a common definition leads to confusion when people, faculty included, are discussing these topics..
There are many listings of the steps or phases which comprise the engineering design processes. There are also many listing of the steps or phases of problem solving. Although completing an engineering design is solving a problem, ``problem solving'' is not engineering design. Engineering design and problem solving can be distinguished by the activities that take place during the project.
Early in most descriptions of problem solving and the design processes, there is usually a step called ``search for alternatives'' or ``ideate.'' This implies that creativity is needed only in this step. The prevalent, ``free-thinking'' view of creativity also implies that creativity will happen if all constraints and negative attitudes are removed. There are positive techniques that can help everyone become more creative. These structured creative enhancement techniques provide a tool to quantify creative skills. This quantification also makes creative skills easier to teach.
These creative enhancement techniques are consistent with the structure of the engineering design processes and the phases of problem solving. In fact, these creative skills must be used throughout the engineering design processes to produce a ``better'' design in a shorter time!
The Importance of the Engineering Design Processes
Two quotes emphasize the importance of design in the product realization process:
``After all, 70%of a product's total cost is determined by its design, and that cost includes material, facilities, tooling, labor, and other support costs.''
A. Sandy Munro [1]
``Studies have shown that 50 to 80 percent of the life cycle cost of products are influenced in engineering design.''
Description of Session DFM 3 [2]
The first quote not only indicates the large impact that the engineering design processes have on product cost but also some of the other considerations that go into the product realization process, (PRP), such as tooling, facilities, and labor. These other considerations dictate that certain members of the engineering design team must be knowledgeable in these other areas.
Introduction
Many authors have developed a ``framework'' or ``structure'' to help describe engineering design. Most of these ``structures'' have been developed in the European design community. Studying the engineering design processes became necessary only after WWII when the products which were being developed became more complex. When the companies which had been involved in the war effort reverted to peacetime producers, the associated design processes and development techniques carried over into their peacetime products. Greater use of physical laws, mathematics, information theory, materials selection, and systematic design techniques was required.
Perhaps the ``king'' of these complicated peacetime projects was the landing of a man on the moon. This required a concept, a lot of calculations, preliminary layouts, much prototype testing, a great deal of detail designing and specifying the shape of the parts and recording this in a document (drawing), production, and finally the ``moon shot.''
Engineering Design Processes
Most engineering design follows the ``moon shot'' type of format. Pahl and Beitz [3] provide one of the better known design ``structures.'' One of the useful parts of this ``structure'' is the fact that it not only shows the steps, it shows what the output of each step should be. The structured design steps of Pahl and Beitz &Hubka and Eder [4] show, in addition to the steps in the process, conceptual design, embodiment design and detail design. These three activities take place in all industrial design projects. In educational design projects, students may only complete the conceptual design phase, or both the conceptual design and embodiment design phase. It is important that the students and their instructor recognize what type of design they are expected to complete.
Ambiguity
All design challenges are ambiguous. Unlike answers to mathematical expressions like the derivative of , there are always several ``right'' answers to any design challenge. The answer is always uncertain or ambiguous. Not all design solutions are equally good, however, and some are definitely wrong.
The ``best'' design solution is the one that most completely fulfills the client's requirements and can be delivered when it is needed and produced with the available resources.
A. T. Roper [5]
All designs could be improved if there was more time and resources. Most products improve as time passes and the product is refined. However, there are windows of opportunity. A product that is too late or costs too much often is unsuccessful even though it may be technically superior. In time, new technology often provides ways to expand performance, increase reliability, lower cost, broaden applications, and overcome other limitations. Therefore the engineering design processes require judgment, creativity and discipline as well as technical skill.
Conceptual Design
Conceptual design is just like it sounds-the generation of a concept. Some of the terms used by Pahl and Beitz to describe it are: identify essential problems, establish function structures, search for solution principles, combine and firm up concept variants. Using the ``House of Quality'' [6] may be very useful at this stage.
An excellent example of this is the ``lunar-orbit rendezvous'' (LOR) which enabled American astronauts to land on the moon. Other options were earth-orbit rendezvous (EOR) and the direct ascent, which was an updated Jules Verne version. John Houbolt had a difficult task to get his new idea accepted. The LOR concept was ridiculed and other NASA scientists said it wouldn't work. This has been described in Space [7] by James Michener and in LIFE in Space [8].
Embodiment Design
Embodiment design consists of preliminary layouts and configurations, selecting the most desirable preliminary layouts and refining and evaluating against technical and economic criteria.
After NASA selected the LOR concept to land a man on the moon, there was an incredible amount of design work to be done. The rough, conceptual sketches of the LOR do not provide any direction as to how to built these devices. Much work had to be done to refine the concept. Configurations, shapes, weights and interactions had to be determined before detail design could begin.
Detail Design
The detail design includes specifying the materials, the sizes, the type of motor, the size of the hydraulic pump and cylinders, where the attachment and assembly holes should be drilled, the size of the holes, etc, etc, etc. It requires a lot of skills to specify this myriad of items correctly if the design is to ``go together'' in a satisfactory manner. Many alternatives and options should be considered during this part of the engineering design processes.
Many of the skills required in detail design can be acquired early in the student's career. Students can acquire skills, such as dimensioning, tolerancing, surface finishes, welding, heat treating, and many others during the first two years of their studies.
Iterations
All of the steps or phases of the engineering design processes indicate feed-back arrows which indicate RE-DOING or iterating the steps.
This ``re-doing'' is necessary because we seldom know enough at any stage of the design process to produce a complete answer, let alone the best one. For instance, we must define the problem to begin, but the beginning is precisely when we know the least about the system we are designing. We learn about its characteristics, performance and limitations as we design. Thus, we must do and redo the design, that is, we must iterate.
Problem Solving
There are differences between the problem solving steps and the engineering design processes. Polya's [9] problem solving steps are probably the most well known. They are: (1) Define, (2) Think about it, (3) Plan, (4) Carry out the plan, and (5) Look back. The steps usually neglected are ``plan'' and ``look back.'' The looking back is essential if our thinking skills are to improve.
The author has used an eight step list for problem solving. These eight steps are: (1) Recognize a Need, (2) Accept the Challenge, (3) Define the Problem, (4) Collect Information, (5) Synthesize &Ideate, (6) Analyze &Optimize, (7) Evaluate, and (8) Implement. In either case the steps provide a ``roadmap'' or ``guide'' to follow. To improve our thinking skills, it is imperative that the processes used to solve problems are recognized. These processes are more important than the ``correct answer.'' We must think about our thinking processes.
Differences Between ``Problem Solving'' and ``Engineering Design Processes''
Conceptual design, embodiment design and detail design are the three activities that separate the engineering design processes from the problem solving processes. Problem solving is done by nearly everyone, nearly every day. A problem, like ``my car won't start'' or ``how can we increase our market share'' can be solved by following the problem solving steps. However, these examples are not problems in engineering design because there is no conceptual design, no embodiment design, and no detail design.
Creativity
Creativity is given a back seat in design education because it is poorly understood and difficult to teach. There are positive techniques that everyone can learn. Dr. Edward de Bono, in his book Serious Creativity [10], describes many different ways to produce creative ideas. A listing of de Bono's creative techniques is helpful here because the names of the techniques are very descriptive. The techniques are: ``The Creative Pause,'' ``Focus,'' ``Challenge,'' ``Alternatives,'' ``The Concept Fan,'' ``Concepts,'' ``Provocation,'' ``Movement,'' ``Setting Up Provocations,'' ``The Random Input,'' and ``Sensitizing Techniques.''
It is interesting to note that Dr. de Bono then discusses ``Harvesting,'' ``The Treatment of Ideas,'' ``Formal Output,'' and ``Group or Individual'' techniques. This means that once the creative ideas are generated, there are useful additional techniques for nurturing a young, tender idea so it will grow into a productive concept or solution.
Dr. de Bono concludes by mentioning several creative situations, many of which are applicable to design. The most applicable situations are: ``Design,'' ``Invention,'' ``Opportunity,'' ``Problems,'' ``Improvement,'' ``Planning,'' ``Futures,'' and ``Projects.'' Another one is ``Conflict,'' and there certainly needs to be conflict resolution when engineers work in teams. Creative conflict resolution would be useful in many, many situations. Of course, ``design'' and ``invention'' are two of these situations that are integral parts of the engineering design processes. A successful company will always be looking for ``opportunities'' and these ``opportunities'' will, by definition, occur in the ``future.'' Engineers are always working on ``projects.'' Certainly, all engineering design processes and projects must be ``planned.''
These creative skills must be practiced until the thought patterns in our minds become comfortable with these creative lateral thinking techniques. We can create these creative grooves in our mind so these techniques will be utilized. These creative lateral thinking techniques can be used to enhance all of these situations. These previously described situations are integral parts of the engineering design processes.
Conclusion
The engineering design processes include conceptual design, embodiment design and detail design. Engineering design is ambiguous and iterative. Open-ended problem solving may also be ambiguous and it may have several iterations. However, it does not include conceptual design, embodiment design, and detail design. The structured creative enhancement techniques provide a tool to quantify creative skills. The creative skills should be used in all phases of the engineering design processes. Upper level students have more and stronger analytical skills than first year students, but the lower level students can be learning and practicing the creative skills. The combination of creative skills and technical abilities will enable the students to be ready to ``hit-the-ground-running'' and produce in industry when they graduate. This also can help students produce better, more satisfying, and more creative designs. Ultimately this will produce better designs for society. Our students, the engineers of tomorrow, must have a command of the engineering design processes, and be ready to actively participate in the product realization process.
References
Munroe, A. S., ``Is Your Design a Life Sentence?,'' Machine Design, 26 January 1995, pp. 156
PREVIEW, National Manufacturing Week '95: National Design Engineering Conference Sessions 1995, Design for Manufacturability Track, Session DFM 3
Pahl, G. and Beitz, W., Engineering Design: A Systematic Approach, Edited by Ken Wallace, Springer-Verlag, The Design Council, 1988
Hubka, Vladimir and Eder, W. Ernst, ENGINEERING DESIGN: General Procedural Model of Engineering Design, Heurista, Zurich 1992
Roper, A. T., Class Handouts, ME461, Aerospace Design, 1995, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Hauser, John R. and Clausing, Don, ``The House of Quality,'' Harvard Business Review, May-June 1988
Michener, James, SPACE, Ballantine Books, New York, 1982
LIFE IN SPACE, Mason, Robert Grant, Editor, Time-Life Books, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1983
Polya, Gyorgy, How To Solve It, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1971
de Bono, E., SERIOUS CREATIVITY: Using the Power of Lateral Thinking to Create New Ideas, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, NY, 1992

Proud to be an Indian

2007-12-19T12:01:00.000+05:30

December 16th, a day that will be remembered as one of the greatest days in Indian racing history.The day in which Team India won its first race in A-1 by winning the feature race in china.After securing the first race win for India this is what Narain has to say: ‘The team has been working really hard at pit stop practices and they’ve done a really good job this weekend. Both the pit stops were excellent and we got ahead but unfortunately I got stuck behind Pakistan on my out lap so I couldn’t push but I came out just ahead of Jonny. There was a lot of pressure towards the end but then his tyres went off as well as mine and then we were equal - after that I just got the job done.’"
It was an excellent race with some brilliant defensive driving from the Indian ace and a nice tidy pit-stop set up the victory for Narain.Let us hope for the sake of Indian Pride that Narain drives well in next year's F-1 and gets a race seat in one of the leading constructors.