The Eagle Works...

Wallpapers!!!

2008-07-24T19:32:00.002+05:30

Just take a look at the landing site here,before concluding about the posts.The wallpapers are absolutely amazing,let me know if this site disappoints you.
Thank you Vlad,YOU are an artist!

Knol "Beta" is live!

2008-07-24T14:05:00.004+05:30

Finally the 'wiki-killer' is launched.Click here to check out knol.
First impressions :Clutter free UI ( no ads,thank you Goog),Looks reliable(!...author has a face here;-).Majority of the posts are on Medical related articles.
There's also an option to the author to get themselves "Verified".

Scouring the searches...

2008-07-23T12:48:00.004+05:30

Further to my previous post w.r.t competition to Goog,here comes another another search tool,rather "The Social Search Engine" : Scour.
The idea is appealing.All the top search engines aggregated on a single page and better still users can rank the results making the results supposedly better by the day. I don't mind a social site for such purposes;-).Evenmore the fact that you can actually redeem gift cards is an added attraction.
Do check the site here.

My decision to splurge has been justified!

2008-07-22T20:28:00.006+05:30

More than a year ago,faced with a mobile with an erratic mind of its own,I decided and bought a Sony Ericsson K750i at a premium(according to me 14,000 for a gadget you spend maximum 1 hour a day is akin to spending over 2 lakhs for your laptop!).
My choice is perfect.It is one of the widely used mobiles throughout the world wrt opera users worldwide;-).Click here to read(Opera Mobile Browsing) the report.

Here's a snapshot of India:

Snapshot: India

Top 10 sites in India (# of unique users)
google.com
orkut.com
yahoo.com
gamejump.com (up from 7)
rediff.com
wikipedia.org (up from 8)
youtube.com (down from 6)
indiatimes.com (new)
myspace.com (new)
mobile9.com (new)

Top 10 handsets (# of Opera Mini downloads)

Nokia N70
Nokia N73
Nokia 6233
Nokia 6600
Nokia 3110c
Nokia N72
Nokia 6300
Sony Ericsson K750i
Sony Ericsson W700i
Nokia 2626

India @ 75

2008-07-21T12:51:00.003+05:30

So we have heard about Vision 2020, Mr. C.K.Prahalad, another visionary believes in India @ 75.Here's a brief on his address to the students of ISB,Hyderabad.
I quote Mr Prahalad:
"...India should have the right and the ability to “shake the emerging world order” - be it in the area of human rights, world trade, agri-policy, IP, etc."
I sincerely hope this would come true.

"...India must shape this emerging world order and not be a passive recipient. To this end it needs three pillars – “economic strength, technological vitality (not just innovation and science but contribution to fundamentally new ideas), and the third and most critical pillar being moral leadership.”
Economic strength is an often talked about subject,but the other two are new....need to read his new book.

"...greatest strength that India has is its secularism – the multiple rituals, languages, and customs – the diversity held together with a common idea. “We can leverage diversity and become the benchmark country in the world, as 90 percent of the conflicts of the worlds are due to inability to cope with diversity."
According to me the biggest challenge.An all encompassing approach to growth.

"...You need to have an aspiration which is larger than your resource base - that is the definition of an entrepreneur. The problem is not resource but imagination, inventiveness, and shared aspirations.”
Hit the nail on its head.Precisely the reason behind my decision to join a good bschool and become an entrepreneur.

“Incrementalism will not get us there. To become a leader in the world we must begin by creating a shared commitment to aspirations supported by creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. We need to have a shared understanding of the goals not of the means."
Again something which I 've seriously started to believe in .Shared goals,aspirations and vision.Quote by Rajat Gupta,Chariman,ISB.

Now to know more about this thinker,click here to read his bio.I started reading about Mr Prahalad after knowing about his recently launched book "The New Age of Innovation"

Japan's Killer Work Ethic

2008-07-14T14:29:00.005+05:30

Washington Post has recently published an article on Karoshi -Japanese term for death from too much work.The figures are boggling,114 hours of overtime in a month by a CHIEF engineer working on Camry hybrid version.
114 apart from regular work hours!Also he is a Chief Engineer.I wonder the effort put in by his subordinates.
Click here for the complete article.

I hope they read this,pardon my poor Japanese.Choto nihongo wakarimasen.

Wakarimashta sans,
This is kinjuru! (This is prohibited!)
choudai ato biru!!!(Grab a beer!!!)
choudai ato jinsei,(Get a life)
hai?( ok?)
Anjin(thats my fav japanese name)

Jack Welch's Quote

2008-07-10T12:24:00.002+05:30

If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it you almost don't have to manage them.
::: Jack Welch :::

Google's Definite Adversary

2008-07-01T17:09:00.004+05:30

"All along the watchtower.....riders are approaching" sang Bob Dylan.Ok I am exaggerating the issue.But it always is good to associate rock music to day to day things,isn't it?
Finally when we thought there is no escaping Google and its dominance,there are places like Russia where alternatives(superior?!) are available.
Click here to read about a new search engine in Russia called Yandex which has a market share of 44%,10 points more than Google.

I strongly believe that competition makes things much better for the users like us.

Richard Feynman's Quote

2008-06-30T13:46:00.004+05:30

Here's a quote by Richard Feynman.Genius speak:
"Theres a difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something"
Check out the complete google video here:

More about the video:
BBC Horizon/PBS Nova THE PLEASURE OF FINDING THINGS OUT, Richard Feynman Interview (1981) Fifty minutes of PURE Feynman! This is the original Horizon Nova interview - essential for any Feynman fan... and for everyone else too! "I'm an explorer, OK I like to find out!" Richard Feynman, physicist and adventurer extraordinary... THE PLEASURE OF FINDING THINGS OUT was filmed in 1981 and will delight and inspire anyone who would like to share something of the joys of scientific discovery. Feynman is a master storyteller, and his tales -- about childhood, Los Alamos, or how he won a Nobel Prize -- are a vivid and entertaining insight into the mind of a great scientist at work and play. "The 1981 Feynman Horizon is the best science program I have ever seen. This is not just my opinion - it is also the opinion of many of the best scientists that I know who have seen the program... It should be mandatory viewing for all students whether they be science or arts students." - Professor Sir Harry Kroto, Nobel Prize for Chemistry«

Leaders - The Inception of ISB

2008-06-30T10:42:00.004+05:30

This is a post reproduced with permission from another blog called "Books,Science and Stories" by Archana Raghuram.Credits to Archana Raghuram and Karthik Agarwal(the Insider;-) who prev worked in ISB taking care of Marketing and Branding for the SAARC region).Though noone can vouch for the accuracy of the post(many things are hearsay),it still makes an interesting read.
The founders(Rajat Gupta, Rahul Bajaj, Adi Godrej and Anil Ambani) had initially short listed three cities for the college, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. Hyderabad did not even figure in the list. Mumbai being their first choice,they met Bal Thackeray who was willing to give them a 25 acre plot in Navi Mumbai. But he insisted on a 25% reservation for people from Maharashtra. It was not for people living in Maharashtra but for people of Maratha origin. He wanted the reservation both for the students and the staff.
This was a big no-no for the founders. So they went to Bangalore where the then CM. S.M.Krishna made them wait for three hours and then spoke to them for 15 minutes before handing them over to his secretary. They were shown a land on a map which had no access from any major road.
They visited Chennai to meet the CM, J.Jayalalitha. She showed them a land near an industrial area which did not appeal to them. If you know Jayalalitha, it won’t be hard to guess the other things that would have been discussed.
Meanwhile, Chandrababu Naidu came to know that things were not working out with Bal Thackeray and requested the founders to consider Hyderabad. He invited them to visit the city. Anil Ambani then convinced the others to take a detour to Hyderabad, not with the intention of setting up the college there but only to appease Naidu. When the landed, they were met at the tarmac by the Chief Secretary and the Minister for Education. They asked them if they wished to first see the land or meet the CM. Now, this was very different from the experience with other CMs. They first went to the site (in a Mercedes Van). In was a 250 acre plot and there some 20 odd officials were waiting for them with maps and details about the development plan for the area (the roads that were going to be laid and the power lines that were to be laid).
Then they went to Naidu’s house and they were taken straight to his private quarters without any wait. He welcomed them with a smile and asked them if they were happy with the land. If they were satisfied, he had a draft agreement which they could sign right away. He took out a blank paper and gave it to them. All they had to do was lay down the terms and conditions and he would sign. He then gave them a small presentation about the state, its culture and heritage, industry and people.
The rest is history. It’s truly amazing, the things that can be achieved if the right political will is in place. It may also interest you to note, that the biggest campus of Infosys is not at Bangalore or Mysore but at Hyderabad.
This is what I call acting like a LEADER.Period.

Rajat Gupta's Quote

2008-06-24T10:09:00.006+05:30

"Great leadership is to lead through team work and making other people successful."
Rajat Gupta,Chairman,ISB.
This is one of the best definition of leadership I've come across.A leader is not only successful but also makes others around him successful!
How many have you come across?

Bill Gates

2008-06-17T13:46:00.004+05:30

Here's an ultra exhaustive bio(point-wise,chronological) of Bill Gates.A must read about the man who shaped the pc industry(well according to me)

Microsoft's Top 10 Innovations

2008-06-17T10:15:00.006+05:30

Its common to see Microsoft bashing in majority of the sites and the uber cool reviews for its competitors(not that they do something very extra ordinary).Here's an interesting read I came across about the success of "Innovations in Microsoft" to be the largest tech company.Success & Innovation not necessarily of its products but in its business strategy. Click here for the slideshow.Below are the slide headings:

Slide1 :Intro

Slide2 :Software,Not Hardware

Slide3 :Office Suites

Slide4 :Tight control over OS access

Slide5 :Developers,Developers,Developers

Slide6 :Acquire the Also Rans

Slide7 :Fear,Uncertainity,Doubt

Slide8 :Turn competitors into OS features

Slide9 :Embrace and Extend

Slide10 :Patch Tuesdays

Slide11 :Old Product Bashing,Newest is Best

Supply!

2008-06-17T08:59:00.004+05:30

Wonder how the military gets its supplies/rations?
Here's an important read.
As Sun Tzu said,"We may take it that an army without its baggage train is lost,withoust provisions it is lost,without bases of supply it is lost."

Opera 9.5 Released!

2008-06-13T11:20:00.005+05:30

Now this is cool!
As someone who finds IE obnoxious and Mozilla cluttered,Opera seems to be the best and safest broswer around.
And all the minor irks in previous versions of Opera have been jettisoned in the new version 9.5 (code named Kestrel ->a super fast bird from the eagle family)...
And their timing can't be more perfect,just days before Mozilla releases Firefox 3.
Do try it out.
It has all (& more) features you would use daily and now looks cool too!

Iceman's Clarity

2008-06-09T10:48:00.005+05:30

Here's the reaction of Iceman Kimi Raikkonen after Canadian Grand Prix, when his car was hit in the rear by Hamilton in the pit lane(news item here).

I quote Kimi:

"There's not much I can say".. "My race was ruined by Hamilton's mistake. Obviously, anyone can make mistakes, as I did two weeks ago in Monaco, but it's one thing to make a mistake at two hundred (miles) per hour but another to hit a car stopped at a red light. I am not angry because that doesn't achieve anything and does not change my result! I am unhappy, because I had a great chance of winning."

Unquote.

Thats clarity,empathy,maturity all rolled into one Iceman!

Or is it idolizing and eulogizing of one Iceman by another?;-)

---Sri

Trivia

2008-06-05T08:50:00.003+05:30

Got this as a mail forward.Seems true.

Just try this. It is from an orthopedic surgeon............ This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't. It's pre-programmed in your brain!

1. While sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right Hand. Your foot will change direction!

Me Shopping

2008-06-04T14:02:00.003+05:30

Last weekend I was in Hyderabad to finish the shopping mission undertaken by my parents which seemed to continue till eternity.I was called in as a saviour probably 'cause of my extremely low tolerance to spend time shopping.After much discussion(which was obviously one-way and thats definitely not my way),'we' settled on a store that supposedly sells apparels at discounts.The store was my choice too when I was studying,considering the then shallow pockets.I had later changed my brand to Parx,premium casual lifestyle(!) by Park Avenue.
Don't get me wrong.I have neither started earning so much nor 've inherited a fortune(how i wish!)
It seems as though all my pockets have a custom made hole that drains all my money the day....nah the moment I put some money into it.
Owing to all the 'grave' considerations,we settled on this store called some blah blah mart.Having neither the inclination nor the liquidity to shop,I casually started to roam around the store looking around for well whatever.Putting my idle brain to use here's my take on how they offer those steep discounts and still manage to run their show.

They have a premium brand called Bow(?) prominently displayed on all the billboards,ads.However the shelf space for this brand is hardly anything.I am sure the stock on the shelves are out of fashion probably for years now and in some rather eye catching colors favourite to Govinda (not that I care,I never go past the white/black shirts and blue jeans) .However what amazed me was they had shelves and shelves of striking and appealing designs of some other brand which I am sure even the most avid shopper hasn't heard.These had jacked up prices.Imagine paying thousand bucks for a brand with a latin name So inadvertently,a guy like me who usually spends a max of 5 mins in a clothes store would buy these and realise after couple of months that they are to be used as floor mops.
Another amazing feat is that they have an home brand which always sells on discounted rates so as to say the mrp on the bill is actually including the discount.

Having made such a startling discovery which would benefit so many wo~~eful~~ men,I convinced my parents to shop elsewhere and took an oath never ever to enter another discount store unless ofcourse I am not paying!

Definition of Leadership

2008-05-30T10:41:00.006+05:30

Here's an very good video by Tom Peters (the guru who gave us management gyan alongwith Peter Drucker).Do check it out.I thank this blog from where I picked the link.Great things are to be shared with others!

Tom Peters on the Definition of Leadership from Tom Peters on Vimeo.

Here's the transcript of the video(click here for the actual link to the pdf):
Definition of Leadership
When the century turned, when the millennium turned—no great surprise, I suppose—I was frequently asked, “Will you lecture us on 21st century leadership?” Implicit was the virtual organization, the Internet, and so on. I need the money, I said, “Sure.” But what I did do when I would walk into the room, is I would say to them every time, “I’m here. I’m a charlatan.” Because the reality is, leadership in the 21st century A.D. is exactly what it was in the 21st century B.C. Leadership is about the development, the inducement of people to grow, to go way beyond where they believe they could go. Nothing has changed. I’m going to write a book soon that’s called, Nothing Has Changed.
Of course, the world is very different in the age of the Internet. But they thought the same darn thing when the cars came along. They thought the same darn thing when the trains came along. They thought the same darn thing when the canals came along. But the leadership thing, it’s ...
Robert Greenleaf, 25 years ago, wrote a magnificent book called Servant Leadership. I just passed it by. I picked it up about a year or two ago, and I said, “Wow, this is it!” The essence of the leader is to induce people to grow. When you look at a football team—a coach and a quarterback—when you look at a ballet company—the choreographer and the dancer—the magic is when the dancer or the quarterback is shocked by how much they have grown as we worked together. And I, the leader, am shocked at how much they have grown.
Robert Altman won the lifetime achievement Oscar about three or four years ago, and died immediately thereafter, alas. But Mr. Altman said—and I actually wrote this down in pencil while he was doing his acceptance speech—he said, “The role of the director is to provide a space where people can become—where actors and actresses can become—more than they ever dreamed of being.” Now, you say “Hollywood,” I say “Everybody.” The same thing exactly is true with a housekeeper in a hotel, with a junior accountant in the finance department. And so, I once said that leadership is about painting portraits of
excellence. Napoleon said it better than me, no surprise. He said, “A leader is a dealer in hope.”
On my wall in my writing room at home, are two, and only two, pictures. Winston Churchill, 1940, as the Battle of Britain began. Franklin Roosevelt, 1933, in the midst of the Depression. Why are they there? Roosevelt was a lousy economist, as have been almost all of our presidents. Churchill was no great military strategist, most would agree. But what did they do? In 1933 in the United States and 1940 in Britain, Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Churchill made people believe that the sun would come up the next morning. It’s what Rudy Giuliani did for 18 hours on 9/11, and changed the perception of millions of people and the perception of him. That’s what it is all about.

A robot conducting a Symphony

2008-05-29T09:29:00.003+05:30

Here's a video of how Honda's Robot Asimo conducts a symphony.Now this is called Tech.

Best City for Innovation: Hyderabad

2008-05-28T17:38:00.004+05:30

Thats great news about my city.Click here to read the complete article on Fast Company.com

Top Tele Ads(Category Advertising)

2008-05-27T08:41:00.005+05:30

According to the report here, mobile services ads are have the maximum share.These ads are followed by Social Service ads,Life Insurance,Branding,Toiletries,ISP,Mobile cos and Auto.One strange fact(call it branding or brainwashing)aerated soft drinks fill in about 2% of time share(based on secondages).

Buying a Guitar

2008-05-21T16:55:00.004+05:30

In line with my new year resolution,I've decided that I need a new guitar.The one I have right now(thanks to one of my senior at work who lent it to me) is great but somehow lacks the punch.
Still undecided as to which one I would buy.If only I had some extra bucks....
Probably a Yam or Ibanez would do for now.
---Sri

p.s : If you have read my new year's resolution,I have directly jumped to "Buying Better Guitars".Shortcuts are always better!

Tata's Nano proof of Innovation

2008-05-20T17:20:00.009+05:30

Check the news article that reports that GM and Ford are using glued plastics instead of welding metals to decrease the weight and thus improve the efficieny of their automobiles.

I just wanted to note the similar reports on TATA's Nano,had an exclamatory mark( to denote the surprise/danger/shock)?!
No,I am not claiming TATA is truly innovative.This technology has been there since long,even in Auto sector.However it was the Nano which actually brought it to limelight.Innovation need not necessarily mean creating something 'new' which stares right back at you,but also those which actually solve an existing problem.In this case Nano is truly innovative.Even their distribution and service model is unique.Instead of transporting and hoarding their cars in fancy showrooms and passing these cost of maintaining to the consumer,they would ship modular packages which would be assembled locally,thus not only reducing the logistical nightmares but also generate employment.
How does TATA build a car within 2500$,check this article in BW.
Another trivia about Nano,it has been named in the "Dozen most important cars of all times"!!! by TIME magazine.

Its all numbers my dear

2008-05-13T09:15:00.005+05:30

So the IT capital of India Bangalore oops Bengalooru(hope I got it right) went to polls last week. The news article here says a turnout of 60%. C'mon B'lore you could do much better!

In a 'democratic poll' , candidate with the largest number of votes wins.So in a constituency where say there are three major parties(it would be godsend if there were just 3 parties. Most political party's name followed by letters from A to Z is the number),a candidate with 20% of votes polled is the winner. Wow!

Here's the simple math : A guy with just one-fifth votes can represent the whole of the populace.

A quote by George Bernard Shaw:

“Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.”