Comment On Anything & Everything

Satyam Layoffs - Satyam Virtual Pool

2009-06-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

At last the ghost is out ... some 10,000 employees are on thier way out as Satyam moves them to a 'Virtual Pool' whereby its non-billable staff would get a fraction of their salary for up to six months has been called an "innovative, unique and humane" program by its top brass but it has triggered concerns among its associates that with a reduced pay packet, they would not be able to honor their personal commitments like housing loan, car loan, credit card payments, insurance, health policies and education loans.

Super PMs Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, CM YSR and PM Manmohan Singh fooled some 50,000 families of Satyam that they would provide job at any cost.

CTS Employees get Bonus

2009-03-13T01:45:00.000-07:00

Cognizant has paid good incentives for the year 2008 in keeping with our philosophy of sharing the results of good company performance with our associates. As compensation is confidential information, we cannot reveal any further details.

Cognizant reported a 32% rise in revenue for the fiscal year ended 31, December 2008 and ended the period with over $900 million in cash. Most Indian tech companies follow the April-March fiscal calendar.

Cognizant has decided to give bonuses to its employees despite the global economic downturn. The company has also announced to pay the variable component in its employees' salaries.

SAP Job Layoffs

2009-03-02T23:51:00.001-08:00

SAP was supposed to be a hot cake for software professionals. Many left hard-core engineering jobs to join IT companies as SAP consultants. Now there are more layoffs in SAP. HCL fired around 20 consultants from its bangalore branch. Other companies like IBM, Wipro are also in the layoff mode

SumTotal Systems, Hyderabad fires round 20 employees

2009-03-02T23:49:00.001-08:00

SumTotal Systems, also took resignation letters from around 20 employees in Hyderabad branch this week after giving five minutes notice.

"As per rules, we should get two months notice," said a techie who lost his job. "But, the HR people are forcing us either to resign or face termination. If our services are terminated, we won't get experience certificate and relieving letter, which will affect our career. So we are resigning."

20 SAP techies of HCL Bengaluru made to resign in 5 minutes

2009-03-02T23:48:00.001-08:00

20 techies working in the SAP division of the Bengaluru branch of HCL technologies were made to put in papers with five minutes notice. Majority of them were from Andhra. HCL did not even bother to go through performance tests. It is directly asking the employees to resign.

"As per rules, we should get two months notice," said a techie who lost his job. "But, the HR people are forcing us either to resign or face termination. If our services are terminated, we won't get experience certificate and relieving letter, which will affect our career. So we are resigning."

However, Murali Raghavan, global head of SAP practice in HCL, refused to comment on these developments, as he was not "authorised" to speak. At the same time, Ms Meena Vaidyanathan, head of external communications at HCL Technologies, said employees were not being sacked.

Cap Gemini Layoffs 2,000 in India with tailored resignation letter

2009-02-26T21:52:00.000-08:00

Cap Gemini is laying off employees in its Indian offices. The company has reduced 90-day notice period to 30 days without the consent of employees. This results in huge savings for the firm - Cap Gemini will now have to pay outgoing staffers a month's salary instead of three months.

The employees were asked to sign on a tailored resignation letter. We couldn't get the copy of the letter to be published

Thala Thala Daan - Rajini's Reach

2009-02-18T05:12:00.001-08:00

Rajnikant was bragging to Amitabh Bachan one day, "You know, I know
everyone Just name someone, anyone, and I know them.

Tired of his boasting, Amitabh Bachan called his bluff, "OK, Rajini how
about Tom Cruise?"

"Sure, yes, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it" Rajini said.

So Rajini and Amitabh Bachan fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom
Cruise's
door,

and sure enough, Tom Cruise shouts :--- "Thalaiva! Great to see you! You
and your friend come right in and join me for lunch!"

...Although impressed, Amitabh Bachan is still skeptical.After they leave
Cruise's house, he tells Rajini that he thinks Rajini knowing Cruise was
just lucky.

"No, no, just name anyone else" Rajini says

.."President Obama", Amitabh Bachan quickly retorts

..."Yes", Rajini says, "I know him .

And off they go. At the White House, Obama spots Rajini on the tour and
motions him, saying, :----"Rajini, what a surprise, I was just on my way
to
a
meeting, but you and your friend come on in and let's have a cup of
coffee
first and catch up".

Well, Amitabh Bachan is much shaken by now, but still not totally
convinced. After they leave the White House grounds, he implores her to
name anyone else.

"The Pope," Amitabh Bachan replies

..."Sure!" says Rajini, "My folks are from Italy and I've known the Pope
a
long time".

Rajini and Amitabh Bachan are assembled with the masses in Vatican
Square
when Rajini says, "This will never work. I can't catch the Pope's eye
among all these people. Tell you what, I know all the guards so let me
just
go upstairs and I'll come out on the balcony with the Pope."

And he disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican .. Sure
enough,
half an hour later Rajini emerges with the Pope on the balcony.

But by the time Rajini returns, he finds that Amitabh Bachan has had a
heart attack and is surrounded by paramedics. Working his way to Amitabh
Bachan's side, Rajini asks him, "What happened?"

Amitabh Bachan looks up and says, "I was doing fine until u and the pope
came
out on the balcony and the man next to me said,

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

"Who's that on the balcony with Rajini?"

50 feared dead in US Plane Crash, Buffalo Plane Crash

2009-02-13T00:38:00.001-08:00

Plane crashes into suburban Buffalo-area, United States

A Continental Airlines plane crashed into a home near Buffalo, New York, late Thursday, killing 44 passengers and four crew members on board, according to New York State police.

A huge fire burns from the wreckage of Continental Airlines Flight 3407 near Buffalo, New York.

Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, was en route from Newark, New Jersey, when it went down, said Bill Peat with New York State Emergency Management in Albany. The crash occurred about seven miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

The first sign of trouble was when Flight 3407 went off the radar.

Clarence emergency control director Dave Bissonet says the crash also killed one person on the ground.

The airplane, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, apparently was set to land on a specified runway at the airport under weather conditions that include light snow. Video from local television reports showed fire fighters battling blazes at a crash site. The flight was bound to Buffalo from Newark's Liberty International Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board is preparing a team of investigators to leave from the Washington region at 6 a.m.

Colgan Air, is a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines. Colgan operates planes under the Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express names. It has operations in Boston, Houston, New York, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

Co-education banned in Uttar Pradesh

2009-02-12T05:27:00.001-08:00

Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education (UPBME) has banned co-education in madrassas across Uttar Pradesh, stating it is against the 'spirit of Islam'.

"In Islam, parda (veil) is very important. By allowing co-education we promote 'be-pardgi' (women without veil), which is against Shariyat. "This is why we have directed all the madrassas to do away with the co-education system from this academic session. And we will ensure that this directive is followed in letter and spirit," UPBME Chairman Haji Rizawan Haq had said.

Who creates recession?

2009-02-12T02:35:00.001-08:00

What is recession?

This Story is about a man who once upon a time was selling "Wada-Pav" by the roadside.

He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers.

He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio.

His eyes were weak, so he never watched television.

But enthusiastically, he sold lots of "Wada-pavs".

He was smart enough to offer some attractive schemes to increase his sales.

His sales and profit went up..

He ordered more a more raw material and buns and use to sale more.

He recruited few more supporting staff to serve more customers.

He started offering home deliveries. Eventually he got himself a bigger and better stove.

As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from College, joined his father.

Then something strange happened.

The son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?"

The father replied, "No, but tell me about it." The son said, "The international situation is terrible.

The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times."

The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV.

He ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly.

So the next day onwards, the father cut down his raw material order and buns, took down the colourful signboard,

removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer as enthusiastic.

He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs.

Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his "Wada-Pav" stand.

And his sales started coming down rapidly, same is the profit.

The father said to his son, "Son, you were right".

"We are in the middle of a recession and crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time."

Moral of The Story: It's all in your MIND! And we actually FUEL this recession much more than we think we do!!!!!!!!!! !!

What can we take away from this story??

1. How many times we confuse intelligence with good judgment?

2. Choose your advisors carefully but use your own judgment

3. A person or an organization will survive forever, if they have the 5 Cs

* Character

* Commitment

* Conviction

* Courtesy

* Courage

The tragedy today is that there are many walking encyclopedias that are living failures.

The More practical and appropriate views on this economic recession is:

"This is the time to reunite together for any small or a big organization,

this is the time to motivate and retain people which are the biggest asset,

this is the time to show more commitments to the customers,

this is the time show values of our company to the world,

and this is the time to stand by our Nation".

ForwardSourceID:NT00020756

Twenty Great One Liners

2009-02-10T22:29:00.001-08:00

Twenty Great One Liners (courtesy - Arun Panyam Dutt)

1. Regular naps prevent old age... Especially if you take them while
driving.

2. Having one child makes you a parent; having two makes you a
referee.

3. Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and
the other is the husband!

4. They said we should all pay our tax with a smile. I tried- but they
wanted cash.

5. A child's greatest period of growth is the month after you've
purchased new school uniforms.

6. Don't feel bad. A lot of people have no talent.

7. Don't marry the person you want to live with, marry the one you
cannot live without... But whatever you do, you'll regret it later.

8. You can't buy love. . But you pay heavily for it.

9. True friends stab you in the front.

10. Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me.

11. Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.

12. Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get
tired.

13. My wife and I always compromise. I admit I'm wrong and she agrees
with me.

14. Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

15. Ladies first. Pretty ladies sooner.

16. It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job, he
still ends up with the same boss.

17. They call our language the mother tongue because the father seldom
gets to speak.

18. Saving is the best thing. Especially when your parents have done
it for you.

19. Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk
because they have to say something.

20. Real friends are the ones who survive transitions between address.

Boss's Donkeys - A Moral Story for today's executives

2009-02-06T05:53:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time a Washerman was bringing up two donkeys. Let us say Donkey-A and Donkey-B. Donkey-A felt it was very energetic and could do better than the other. It always tried to pull the washerman's attraction over it by taking more load and walking fast in front of him.

Innocent Donkey-B is normal, so it will walk normal, irrespective of the washerman's presence. After a period of time, Washerman started pressurising Donkey-B to be like Donkey-A. But Donkey-B unable to walk fast, got continuous punishment from washerman. It was crying and told personally to Donkey-A "Dear friend, only we two are here, why to compete with each other....we can carry equal load at normal speed ".

That made Donkey-A all the more energetic and next day it told to washerman that it can carry more load and even it can run fast also. Obviously happier washerman looked at Donkey-B.., his BP raised and he started kicking Donkey-B. Next day with smile, Donkey-A carried more load and started running fast. But it was breathtaking for Donkey-B and it couldn't act that way....But the washerman was frustrated, so he harassed Donkey-B terribly, and finally it fell down hopelessly. Then Donkey-A felt itself as a supremo and happily started carrying more load with great speed. But now the Load of the
Donkey-B is also being carried by Donkey-A., and still it has to run fast. For some period it did, finally due to fatigue it got
tired and started feeling the pain. But washerman expected more from Donkey-A. It also tried best, but couldn't cope up with his owners demand. The Washerman got angry with Donkey-A also and started harassing to take more load... Donkey-A was crying for long time and then tried its best... But it couldn't meet the owner's satisfaction.

Finally the day came when due to frustration the washerman killed Donkey-A and went for searching some other Donkeys.

Its an endless story....... ...
But the moral of the Story in Corporate life is......,

"Think all colleagues are same and that everyone is capable.... Always Share the Load equally..... Don't ever act smart in front of your Boss and never try for getting over-credit. .. Don't feel happy when ur colleague is under pressure.. "

It doesn't matter if u r A or B, for the Boss u shall be always DONKEY And most importantly, Never Work Hard, Work cleverly....."Success is a journey not a destination"

Regards,

Radhika.

IT Sector Cartoon TITANIC - The IT in p ANIC

2009-02-06T05:51:00.001-08:00

Firing People - Literally!!!

2009-02-05T23:45:00.001-08:00

XYZ Office -> A fire alarm rang at 6 PM when almost all shift employees are in office(approx 5000). As usual entire office was evacuated within 3 mins & every employee gathered outside office. 10 mins
passed..................................5 more mins passes by.

Security Officer -> Announcement started, "Dear Employees - With a heavy heart I am making the announcement that for many of you this will be the last evacuation drill, as we are laying off almost 80% of employees.

While moving in, who-so-ever's ID card won't work are laid off & all their belongings will be couriered to them tomorrow.

We followed this approach as we don't want to fill email box size with layoff mail in thousands & also to avoid any fight inside office". Hope you have nice career ahead. Please move in & try your luck.

Accenture, Wichita facility to close

2009-02-03T22:48:00.000-08:00

Accenture will close its Wichita facility (Premier Office Building, 8200 E. Thorn Drive) & about 160 employees will be either laid off or redeployed to another company facility.

Operations at the Wichita location will cease by November, Finlaw.

Satyam - Marches Ahead As Usual - 15 More Contracts Added

2009-02-03T22:32:00.001-08:00

Satyam Computer Services has secured fifteen new outsourcing contracts in the last one month. The development comes as a shot in the arm for the company that has seen some of its clients moving away in the wake of the accounting scandal.

The contracts come from different geographies spread across the world. "These new contracts are spread across the US, Europe and other parts of the world," a company spokesperson said.

The deals in the US include one from an existing technology client, and two new ones in the insurance and pharmaceutical sectors, respectively.

Microsoft asked to Layoff Indian Engineers

2009-01-26T21:37:00.000-08:00

In a letter to Microsoft, which employs thousands of people through the H-1B visa programme, a majority of them Indians, senator Chuck Grassley urged the IT giant to make efforts to retain qualified American workers during its recently announced lay-offs.

Noting that last year, Microsoft had advocated for more H-1B visas in the US Congress, he said the purpose of the H-1B programme for professionals in "specialty occupation" is to help companies hire foreign guest workers on a temporary basis when there is not a sufficient qualified American workforce to meet those needs, he said.

However, the programme is not intended to replace qualified American workers, Grassley said asking questions of both American and foreign based companies about their use of the H-1B visa programme. A majority of the 60,000 professionals given H-1B visa every year are from India.

In his letter reacting to Microsoft Corporation's reported move to layoff 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, Grassley expressed concern "that Microsoft will be retaining foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American employees when it implements its layoff plan".

"As you know, I want to make sure employers recruit qualified American workers first before hiring foreign guest workers," he told Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer - Layoffs Mail

2009-01-23T01:58:00.001-08:00

From: Steve Ballmer
To: All Microsoft FTE
Subject: Realigning Resources and Reducing Costs

In response to the realities of a deteriorating economy, we're taking important steps to realign Microsoft's business. I want to tell you about what we're doing and why.

Today we announced second quarter revenue of $16.6 billion. This number is an increase of just 2 percent compared with the second quarter of last year and it is approximately $900 million below our earlier expectations.

The fact that we are growing at all during the worst recession in two generations reflects our strong business fundamentals and is a testament to your hard work. Our products provide great value to our customers. Our financial position is solid. We have made long-term investments that continue to pay off.

But it is also clear that we are not immune to the effects of the economy. Consumers and businesses have reined in spending, which is affecting PC shipments and IT expenditures.

Our response to this environment must combine a commitment to long-term investments in innovation with prompt action to reduce our costs.

During the second quarter we started down the right path. As the economy deteriorated, we acted quickly. As a result, we reduced operating expenses during the quarter by $600 million. I appreciate the agility you have shown in enabling us to achieve this result.

Now we need to do more. We must make adjustments to ensure that our investments are tightly aligned with current and future revenue opportunities. The current environment requires that we continue to increase our efficiency.

As part of the process of adjustments, we will eliminate up to 5,000 positions in R&D, marketing, sales, finance, LCA, HR, and IT over the next 18 months, of which 1,400 will occur today. We'll also open new positions to support key investment areas during this same period of time. Our net headcount in these functions will decline by 2,000 to 3,000 over the next 18 months. In addition, our workforce in support, consulting, operations, billing, manufacturing, and data center operations will continue to change in direct response to customer needs.

Our leaders all have specific goals to manage costs prudently and thoughtfully. They have the flexibility to adjust the size of their teams so they are appropriately matched to revenue potential, to add headcount where they need to increase investments in order to ensure future success, and to drive efficiency.

To increase efficiency, we're taking a series of aggressive steps. We'll cut travel expenditures 20 percent and make significant reductions in spending on vendors and contingent staff. We've scaled back Puget Sound campus expansion and reduced marketing budgets. We'll also reduce costs by eliminating merit increases for FY10 that would have taken effect in September of this calendar year.

Each of these steps will be difficult. Our priority remains doing right by our customers and our employees. For employees who are directly affected, I know this will be a difficult time for you and I want to assure you that we will provide help and support during this transition. We have established an outplacement center in the Puget Sound region and we'll provide outplacement services in many other locations to help you find new jobs. Some of you may find jobs internally. For those who don't, we will also offer severance pay and other benefits.

The decision to eliminate jobs is a very difficult one. Our people are the foundation of everything we have achieved and we place the highest value on the commitment and hard work that you have dedicated to building this company. But we believe these job eliminations are crucial to our ability to adjust the company's cost structure so that we have the resources to drive future profitable growth.

I encourage you to attend tomorrow's Town Hall at 9am PST in Café 34 or watch the webcast.

While this is the most challenging economic climate we have ever faced, I want to reiterate my confidence in the strength of our competitive position and soundness of our approach.

With these changes in place, I feel confident that we will have the resources we need to continue to invest in long-term computing trends that offer the greatest opportunity to deliver value to our customers and shareholders, benefit to society, and growth for Microsoft.

With our approach to investing for the long term and managing our expenses, I know Microsoft will emerge an even stronger industry leader than it is today.

Thank you for your continued commitment and hard work.

Steve

EDS Layoffs

2009-01-22T00:59:00.000-08:00

EDS plans to lay off about 29 employees and 25 contractors from its Old Spanish Trail facility in March. The layoffs are part of the Plano-based company's integration with Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP.

Patni to 'Hire' Satyam Employees

2009-01-22T00:57:00.001-08:00

Pune-based software services provider Patni is ramping up its onshore operations in Bloomington, Illinois, to accommodate additional demand from US-based State Farm Insurance, which terminated its contract with beleaguered Satyam Computer Services Ltd earlier this week.

Patni is already working with SFI for many years

Satyam Clients cannot move out

2009-01-22T00:49:00.000-08:00

Satyam provided services to some of its clients at as little as $10 or $11 per hour, per resource. "This is dirt cheap, as good as charity. Billing rates of other IT firms are much higher and this is where customers may feel the pinch if they do wish to move out of Satyam," predicted an IT industry analyst.

Top customers of Satyam such as GE, Qantas and DuPont will wait for a few months before exploring any possibility of terminating their outsourcing contracts with the company, as they seek more clarity about the new leadership, and a potential change in the management, if a rival tech firm acquires the company.

No Salary Hike for Wipro Employees

2009-01-22T00:41:00.001-08:00

There will be no hike in Salary for Wipro employees who are working in Client locations.

Aegis BPO keen on acquiring Satyam BPO

2009-01-20T02:23:00.001-08:00

Aegis BPO, the Essar group company keen on acquiring the BPO business of Satyam Computer Services

vazka vazhamudan

Top 20 Tips To Speedup Your System

2009-01-19T00:45:00.001-08:00

Top 20 Tips To Keep Your System Faster

Follow these tips and you will definitely have a much faster and more reliable PC! Most of the below tips works for windows XP.

1. Wallpapers: They slow your whole system down, so if you're willing to compromise, have a basic plain one instead!

2. Drivers: Update your hardware drivers as frequently as possible. New drivers tend to increase system speed especially in the case of graphics cards, their drivers are updated by the manufacturer very frequently!

3. Minimizing: If you want to use several programs at the same time then minimize those you are not using. This helps reduce the overload on RAM.

4. Boot Faster: The 'starting Windows 95/98' message on startup can delay your booting for a couple of seconds. To get rid of this message go to c:\ and find the file Msdos.sys. Remove the Read-Only option. Next, open it in Notepad or any other text editor. Finally, go to the text 'Options' within the file and make the following changes: Add BootDelay=0. To make your booting even faster, set add Logo=0 to remove the Windows logo at startup.

5. Restart only Windows: When restarting your PC, hold down Shift to only restart Windows rather than the whole system which will only take a fraction of the time.

6. Turn Off Animations: Go to Display Settings from the Control Panel and switch to the Effects Tab. Now turn off Show Windows Content While Dragging and Smooth Edges on Screen Fonts. This tip is also helpful with Windows XP because of the various fade/scroll effects.

7. Faster Start-Menu Access: Go to the Start menu and select Run. Now type Regedit and hit Enter. The Registry Editor will appear on the screen. Now, open the folder HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Control Panel\Desktop. You should see a MenuShowDelay value. If you don't then do the following: right click on a blank space in the right pane and select New\String. Change the name in the new value to MenuShowDelay. Now that we have the MenuShowDelay value, double click on it and enter 0 in the value data field. This sets the start menu delay to 0 milliseconds.

8. Resolutions: If you are willing to do anything for faster performance from your PC, then try lowering your display resolution. The lower it is, the faster your PC.

9. Turn off Active Desktop: Go to your Display Properties and switch to the Web tab. Uncheck View My Active Desktop As a Web Page. Since the Active Desktop option under Windows 98 uses a lot of system resources, this option can have a dramatic effect on the speed of the whole system.

10. Defragment Often: Windows 98's Defrag tool uses Application Acceleration from Intel which means that when you defragment your drive, data is physically arranged on the drive so that applications will load faster.

11. Take your PC to Bed: Using the Advanced Power Management feature under Windows 98 gives you the option to use the sleep command. That way, you can send your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down and then restarting it. It's as simple as pressing a button and then pressing the same button to wake it up. You can tell Windows after how many minutes/hours of inactivity to automatically sleep the machine in the Advanced Power Management section of the Control Panel.

12. Faster Internet Access: If you use the Internet for reference and the sites you visit are rarely updated then try the following. In IE (the same can be done in Netscape) go to Tools, Internet Options. Next, click on Settings... In the Temporary Internet Files section. Finally, select Never for the first option and double the amount of storage space to use, click OK!

13. Benchmarking: Benchmarking can be very useful when run frequently. It can tell you how your PC's components are performing and then compare them to other machines like yours. For example, when you overclock your PC, you want to know how much more speed you have and whether it is stable. All this and more can be discovered using benchmarking. An excellent piece of software for doing this job is SiSoft Sandra which can be found in the Downloads File Archive!

14. Refresh the Taskbar without restarting: If you in some way change the taskbar, either in Regedit or elsewhere, you can refresh the task bar without restarting. Hold down Ctrl Alt Del, and double click on Explorer. Say Yes to close Explorer, but no to closing Windows. This will refresh the Taskbar and system tray.

15. Quick CD Eject: Instead of pushing the button on your drive, right-click your CD drive letter in My Computer and click on Eject. This will also remove any icons that have become associated with the CD drive.

16. Start Up Programs: Windows can be slowed down when programs run on start up. To eliminate this, check your Start up folder. You can access it from the start menu: Start, Programs, Start Up. Another way to eliminate programs from loading even before Windows actually starts is by doing the following: Click on Start, then Run. Type msconfig. It will take quite a long time for this program to load, but when you finally see it on your screen, explore the different tabs. They all have to do with how quickly your PC boots, so select what you want, and uncheck what you don't want!

17. Fonts: When Windows starts, it loads every single font in the Fonts folder. Therefore, the more fonts you have, the slower the booting process. To get rid of unwanted fonts, simply go to the Fonts folder under c:\windows and remove whatever you don't want. Fonts that have a red letter 'A' as their icon are system fonts, so don't delete them.

18. Stretching Wallpapers: Don't "stretch" your wallpaper in Windows 98 since it actually slows Windows down when you drag icons around on the desktop.

19. RAM Matters: If you have less than 32MB then you should seriously think of upgrading it to at least 64MB. Windows runs much more smoothly with 64MB or higher and tends to use less hard disk space for virtual memory.

20. Partitioning: A very nice little thing you can do to boost system performance. By partitioning your hard drive, splitting one physical drive into several logical ones, you can gain several advantages. 1. If you get a virus or you accidentally format a drive, not all will be lost. 2. By placing the swap file (Win386.swp) on a separate drive, The swap file will be less fragmented and thus, faster. 3. Place Windows on a separate drive and whenever you need to reinstall it, you rest assured that your data is safe on a separate drive. Partitioning can be done using a few programs such as FDisk which comes with DOS. However, FDisk formats everything on the hard disk before partitioning. Alternatively, you can use Partition Magic from Power Quest to partition your hard disk without losing your data.

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How to disable Ctrl+C at Windows startup

The problem: Windows lets anyone press the Ctrl+C keys during its initial booting phase and stop the booting. If the user is knowledgeable enough about the MSDOS mode, s/he can then examine the contents of all your drives and folders, etc. To prevent this from happening, you can reconfigure your computer to disable the Ctrl+C keys in the MSDOS mode.

The following method may be used to fix this problem:

First, make a backup copy of the C:\CONFIG.SYS file (just in case something goes wrong) by copying this file onto your emergency startup disk. Also, make sure that you can actually use the startup disk to boot your computer into the MSDOS mode.

Open C:\CONFIG.SYS with Notepad and add the following line at the very beginning of the file:

BREAK=OFF

Now save the file and reboot the computer.

For more information about the CONFIG.SYS file and its contents, please refer to the file Config.txt, installed by Windows in your C:\Windows folder.

Note: Note that this setting also disables Ctrl+C for all programs running in the MSDOS mode.

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Turn Off Hibernation

Hibernation is a feature that allows your system to shut down quickly and save everything that is open in the RAM to be stored on the hard drive until the computer is powered on again.

XP and 2000 use a file called hiberfil.sys to save everything it needs when they go go into hibernation. If you never use the hibernate function, you can turn it off.

When this feature is disabled, the hiberfil.sys file is deleted. This can free up the as much disk space as the amount of ram that you computer has. For example, if you have 1GB of RAM, you could be freeing up to 1GB of hard drive space.

In XP, go to Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernation and uncheck / Enable hibernation.

In 2000, go to Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate / tab and uncheck / Enable hibernate support.

If you should want to re-enable hibernation, go back in and check / Enable hibernation in XP or Enable hibernate support in 2000.
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About Linux

What is Linux?

Linux is a free Unix-type operating system originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers around the world. Developed under the GNU General Public License, the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone which is causing a major evolution in the world of computers. It outperforms other operating systems on similar hardware and is available on architectures ranging from a PDA to supercomputers.

A modern operating system like Linux is even easier to install and use than Microsoft® Windows, especially given the reboot nightmares, viruses, worms, driver-update hassles and Service Pack annoyances that come with Microsoft® Windows.

Linux and Open Source technologies have become the standard platform of choice for IT system deployment. Over seventy percent of the Internet is running on Open Source technologies and international vendors such as Sun, Novell and IBM are deploying Linux and Open Source.

With proven reliability, security by design and a world class reputation throughout the IT industry there really is no reason why you cannot move to Linux and freedom right now. Why wait for your next systems failure? Now is the time to start your move to Linux and Open Source.

Moving to the Linux platform does not require abandoning existing investments in Microsoft Windows applications and infrastructure. Linux runs on the same hardware and can run many of the Microsoft Windows applications, like OpenOffice. What makes this even more amazing is that Linux and Open Source applications are freely available to anyone who wishes to download them.

Why Move?

The big question for many corporate IT professionals and developers is "Why would I move from Windows to Linux?" Windows is well established in the enterprise computing space and applications currently deployed on Windows may be running just fine in their organisation.

However, many organisations are migrating from Windows and UNIX to the OSS Linux platform. They are moving in order to gain better business value, a greater choice of solutions, and richer capabilities for addressing their enterprise computing needs and abilities. This is what no proprietary vendor can do...

1. They don't have the hugely productive environment of KDE to program in.

2. They can't run development crews of the Open Source Community size without considerable investment.

3. They can't gather the input of thousands of users.

4. They can't design in such an open fashion as to remove all their hooks.

5. They can't make a product so extensible that it takes away their upgrade leverage.

6. They can't give it away for free.

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Increasing The Life Of Hard Disk

Taking care of your hard disk is important because this is the place where all the data is stored and once the hard disk crashes, data in most cases is not recoverable. There are data recovery softwares and programs which recover data from crashed hard disks but that is not for normal computer users.

But why do hard disks crash and what can be done to prevent them from crashing?. At the same time how can a hard disk be made more efficient? Here are the answers.

Hard disks crash due to many reasons. Voltage fluctuations, physical impact, improper alignment and of course mechanical failure due to wear and tear of internal parts. Let us start one by one and get the answers to the above problems.

1. Voltage fluctuations or spikes as they are called can be prevented by using voltage stabilizers or spike guards. This will limit the damage to the hard disk to a great extent.

2. Physical impact can be prevented by handling the hard disk carefully when installing/ re-installing. When installing the hard disk care should be taken to see that it sits perfectly horizontal and that it does not vibrate or shake once the computer is started.

3. The natural wear and tear of parts can be limited by defragmenting your hard disk from time to time.But what is defragmentation? All newly created files are stored in various places on the hard disk in a single cluster ( contiguous file ). But, as the number of files and programs increase, these files are not stored as one contiguous file but broken down and scattered in various places on the hard disk. In short files get fragmented. When these files are accessed by the user, the head on the hard disk moves to and fro to locate these fragments. These fragmented files puts lot of mechanical pressure on the internal parts of the hard disk. This leads to crashes. To start disk defragmenter from the start menu, click the start button and follow this path (All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Defragmenter) . A minimum of 15 percent free space on your disk is needed for disk defragmenter to run. The disk can also be defragmented automatically by using schedule task. This program can can be accessed via system tools.

4. Power management tool can also be used to enhance the life of hard disk. To access this program go to start / control panel / power options and set the parameters for various hardware devices.

5. Disk cleanup increases the efficiency of the hard disk. So delete unwanted files and programs regularly.

Follow the above rules to increase the life of you hard disk.

Article Source: http://EzineArticle s.com/?expert= Lalit_Navani

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Disable popup warnings in Windows XP

Windows XP may be one of the more stable and developed operating systems (Vista is like a beta right now). But there are many irritating aspects in Windows XP.

Windows has a really stupid popup system, which pops up for every unnecessary thing imaginable. For example, there is a popup to warn that disk space is low on the system drive (usually C:\). Also, there is a popup for alerting you that a new program installed. As if you didn't know that you've installed a program!

There is an easy registry hack to get rid of all these popups. Do not be appalled by a registry edit - this is really simple.

Open up the registry editor - go to Run, type regedit and click OK. Backing up the registry before a hack is always a good idea, so click File > Export, choose a location and click save. Then, proceed to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV ersion\Explorer\ Advanced

Right click on the right-hand pane, make New> DWORD Value and name it EnableBallonTips. Set the value to 0 to disable ballontips, and set it back to 1 to enable balloontips.

This hack disables most balloontips. In order to eliminate all popups, some more work is required. In each of the following locations, change the values to 0 to disable balloontips.

Location: HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV ersion\Explorer\ Advanced\

1. Change the value of FolderContentsInfoT ip to 0

Location: HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV ersion\Explorer\ Advanced\

1. Change the value of ShowInfoTip to 0.

Location: HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV ersion\Explorer\ tips\Show

1. Change the value of Show to 0

If anything goes wrong, restore the registry file that you had explored before and settings will be restored.

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How Processor Speed Is Reported to a Computer

The System tool in Control Panel uses currentspeed to do its reporting rather than maxspeed, but the System tool may display the wrong clock speed for the Central Processing Unit (CPU).

As of January 2002, Windows XP uses the currentspeed value rather than the maxspeed value because the maxspeed value was reporting inconsistent values.

After startup, the processor may not correctly reflect its correct speed until a program utilizes processor cycles.

The computer basic input/output system (BIOS) in some laptop computers may throttle the processor because of heat, load, power AC/DC.

To check the currentspeed setting:

1.Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance and Maintenance.

2.Click See basic information about your computer. On the General tab, the processor speed (in MHz) appears under Computer.

To check the maxspeed setting:

1.Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.

2.The speed (Maxspeed) of the processor appears in MHz in the System Information window, in the right column of System Summary, under Processor..

NOTE: System Information from Administrative Tools always reports Maxspeed.

If you click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information, the correct processor speed (for example, 797 MHz = 800 MHz) is shown. After you start the System Information tool, the System Properties tool in Control Panel displays the correct speed. However, when you first start your computer, the incorrect speed is shown in the System Properties tool in Control Panel.

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How to make Two clocks for two time zones

If you work in different time zones, you can add up to two additional clocks on the system task tray.

Left-click on the clock, select Change date and time settings, and go to the Additional Clocks tab.

You can then enter the display name for the clock(s) and choose its time zone.

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Computer maintenance tips

With the amount of information available for download on the Internet, it's easy to quickly fill up your valuable hard drive space and turn your computer into a sluggish, unresponsive monster. Keeping your hard drive clean is essential to the high performance that the latest computers can achieve. Fortunately, it's a simple process; one that can easily be performed on a regular basis and, with some organization, keep your computer running like a well-oiled machine.

You can discover how much hard drive space is available on your computer by accessing the DriveSpace program in your System Tools. A pie graph will show you the amount of used and unused space for each of your drives. Check this often to keep an idea of how much space you are using.

There are six simple steps to clearing up your hard drive:

1. Uninstall unused programs.

Many times a new program will come along that looks fun to have or play with, but after a week or two you simply stop using it. These programs clutter up your drive and take up valuable space. You might be tempted to delete these programs from your drive, but doing so will cause problems. You must use the uninstall function of Windows for the program to be removed safely and completely.

2. Clean out temporary files.

When your computer is not shut down properly, it will pass information from memory into fragmented files. Also, while you are running programs, your computer will write information that it does not immediately need into temporary files. Installation files will also expand themselves into the temporary folder and will not always clean up after themselves. You can delete these temporary files safely by using the Disk Cleanup option in your System Tools.

3. Empty your Internet cache.

As you surf the Internet your computer stores web pages and images into a temporary Internet cache so that it can quickly recall and access information when you move back and forth between pages. This backup information can quickly add up and eat hard drive space.

Whether you use Internet Explorer, Netscape, or one of the many other browsers available, emptying out your cache is quick and easy. Simply follow the instructions in the Help files located within those programs. You may also wish to set a specific maximum file size for your cache folder, so that it is not allowed to run rampant.

4. Empty your mail programs of clutter.

It's easy to browse through your email and leave old messages there, promising yourself you'll sort them out later. One or two messages don't take up much space, but hundreds certainly do. Take the time to sort through these old emails now and delete what is not important. Create folders and organize what is left. Make it a habit that when new emails come in, they are either filed immediately or thrown away. Set your email program to empty your deleted items folder each time you close your mail program.

5. Empty your recycle bin.

Once you've emptied your drive of cluttering, unnecessary programs; empty your recycle bin to remove what has been placed there in the process.

6. Scandisk and Defrag.

When Windows installs programs, it will put the files it needs anywhere that it finds free space, and not directly after the last program installed. As a result, your hard drive has patches of empty space on it that are not big enough to fit a full program, and will result in a drive space error if you attempt to install something new. Scandisk your drive to check for lost file fragments and to fix any errors it finds, then Defrag to pack all of the program files together at the beginning of your drive. This will clear out those empty patches and move all of the free space you've just created to the end of your drive.

Now that you've got it clean, keep it that way. Perform this quick maintenance routine every week. For your work computer, Friday afternoon before you leave for the weekend is the perfect time. When you return to work on Monday, you'll have a computer that is clutter-free and as responsive as it should be.

Organize your surfing habits. Direct all of your downloads to the same folder, so that you can easily find them and delete them when necessary, or move them to zip disks for storage. Keep track of the programs that you install. For trial versions, note the date that they will expire on a calendar. This will remind you to uninstall the programs that you can no longer use rather than allowing them to clutter up your drive. Also, if you run into problems, keeping track of new downloaded and installed programs and the date they were installed can help you track down the cause of problems.

Remember that the cleaner your hard drive is, the better your machine will respond! In order for your computer to be user friendly, it must have a friendly user. Be your computer's best friend and clean out the cobwebs regularly.

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(Know) Motherboard

The motherboard is the heart of the computer, every part of the computer relies on the motherboard to function correctly.

It maintains connection between every PC component and ensures that things are operating smoothly between them.

Many signs of motherboard failure is that the computer won't boot up, not reaching the POST test, erratic system behavior, different combinations of components not working. The motherboard is the heart of the computer, every part of the computer relies on the motherboard to function correctly.

It maintains connection between every PC component and ensures that things are operating smoothly between them.

Many signs of motherboard failure is that the computer won't boot up, not reaching the POST test, erratic system behavior, different combinations of components not working.

Because everything is connected to the motherboard certain parts may or may not work correctly if the motherboard is faulty so be sure to test those parts before thinking they're dead and getting new ones.

Be sure to do a visual inspection of the motherboard to make sure all cables are seated properly, the fans are spinning, and that the CMOS battery is in it's proper place.

Also check for any broken or leaking capacitors, those can immediately render a motherboard dead.

Make sure that all of the jumpers are set correctly as well, you should be able to find jumper information in your motherboard's manual, and if you don't have the manual you should be able to find the manual on the Internet at the motherboard manufacturer's website.

Many of the problems caused by a bad motherboard is also similar to problems caused by a faulty or dying power supply, so be sure to check if the power supply is faulty or swap it out for another to see if your problem is fixed.

If you have a spare motherboard you can try swapping out the motherboard to see if that solves your problem, if that's the case then the motherboard is most likely faulty.

If you think the motherboard is faulty and it is still in warranty you should be able to send it back to the manufacturer for a new one with no hassle, sometimes they might even pay for the shipping & handling if it is a big problem that is happening with a certain line of motherboards.

Make sure that when you open a motherboard you keep all of the packaging and the box, and if there are any stickers that will void the warranty if removed make sure you do NOT remove them, so that way it is easier to send back.

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Create a shortcut to lock a PC in Vista

Slice steps off your system log-off routine by putting a log-off shortcut on your desktop.

Start by right-clicking an empty space on the desktop and then selecting New shortcut. In the space below Type the location of the item, type in rundll32.exe user32.DLL, LockWorkStation (remember to watch your spacing and case).

Finally, create a clever name for the icon besides the default "rundll32"how about "Lock PC"? Then click the shortcut to lock your computer with ease.

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How to start windows programs quickly with Run Command...?

The run option of Start menu is used to run a program or to open a document directly. If you

Do not know the exact location of the program or document then click on Start button to open

Run and type the programs shortcut name to open it directly.

Run Commands

Appwiz.cpl -- Used to run Add/Remove wizard

Calc --Calculator

Cfgwiz32 --ISDN Configuration Wizard

Charmap --Character Map

Chkdisk --Repair damaged files

Cleanmgr --Cleans up hard drives

Clipbrd --Windows Clipboard viewer

Control --Displays Control Panel

Cmd --Opens a new Command Window

Control mouse --Used to control mouse properties

Dcomcnfg --DCOM user security

Debug --Assembly language programming tool

Defrag --Defragmentation tool

Drwatson --Records programs crash & snapshots

Dxdiag --DirectX Diagnostic Utility

Explorer --Windows Explorer

Fontview --Graphical font viewer

Fsmgmt.msc -- Used to open shared folders

Firewall.cpl -- Used to configure windows firewall

Ftp -FTP.exe program

Hostname --Returns Computer's name

Hdwwiz.cpl -- Used to run Add Hardware wizard

Ipconfig --Displays IP configuration for all network adapters

Logoff -- Used to logoff the computer

MMC --Microsoft Management Console

Msconfig --Configuration to edit startup files

Mstsc -- Used to access remote desktop

Mrc -- Malicious Software Removal Tool

Msinfo32 --Microsoft System Information Utility

Nbtstat --Displays stats and current connections using NetBIOS over TCP/IP

Netstat --Displays all active network connections

Nslookup--Returns your local DNS server

Osk ---Used to access on screen keyboard

Perfmon.msc -- Used to configure the performance of Monitor.

Ping --Sends data to a specified host/IP

Powercfg.cpl -- Used to configure power option

Regedit --Registry Editor

Regwiz -- Registration wizard

Sfc /scannow -- System File Checker

Sndrec32 --Sound Recorder

Shutdown -- Used to shutdown the windows

Spider -- Used to open spider solitaire card game

Sfc / scannow -- Used to run system file checker utility.

Sndvol32 --Volume control for soundcard

Sysedit -- Edit system startup files

Taskmgr --Task manager

Telephon.cpl -- Used to configure modem options.

Telnet --Telnet program

Tracert --Traces and displays all paths required to reach an Internet host

Winchat -- Used to chat with Microsoft

Wmplayer -- Used to run Windows Media player

Wab -- Used to open Windows address Book.

WinWord -- Used to open Microsoft word

Winipcfg --Displays IP configuration

Winver -- Used to check Windows Version

Wupdmgr --Takes you to Microsoft Windows Update

Write -- Used to open WordPad

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Accenture layoffs - Philippines

2009-01-19T00:37:00.001-08:00

Accenture lays off approximately three percent of its total workforce in the Philippines or approximately 500 out of a total headcount of more than 16,000 employees.