Shriman Kalyan

Usability Review: What it is

2011-02-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

Usability review is the process of reviewing an artifact to test the ease of use, UI design parameters like user controls, recognition of features rather than recall, aesthetic design, etc ... The artifact could be any website or any application that has been developed, product or even a prototype.

Primary necessity of conducting a successful usability review is to clearly identify and define the goals of the artifact under review, meaning why it was developed and who the intended users would be. Another critical factor is to identify the persona. A persona in this context is a fictional representative who would be using the application. For instance the intended users could be experts in some cases and just any one for that matter in few cases. An understanding of persona hence makes it clear to the reviewer as to in whose shoes they should be reviewing the artifact.

What questions are to be answered?

Whether the end user will be able to 'use' the application for the purpose for which it has been developed without any difficulties?
How easily can the usage flow be completed with 'more of recognition rather than recall' of features?
Are proper error messages, notifications, alerts, whatsoever where ever applicable being returned to the user?

Also useful would be the ten usability heuristics as defined by Jakob Nielson:

Visibility of system status
Match between system and the real world
User control and freedom
Consistency and standards
Error prevention
Recognition rather than recall
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Aesthetic and minimalist design
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Help and documentation

// Will be doing an actual usability review in my company for a mobile application development project tomorrow :-) //

Wake up guys ...

2009-08-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Quite often, I end up convincing some of my friends and colleagues that issues of national importance need to be analyzed in depth with some rational and logical thinking. I found few interesting write ups in the net about the now almost forgotten nuclear deal that was making news last year:

Nuclear Deal = Total Sellout

The Unclear side of Nuclear Deal

Do spend time to read these 'hard facts and basics'; else we will also end up alongside the 'politically illiterate' mass - which is almost the whole of this country - which votes for parties that boast of experience (and candidates who can be best associated with hospital beds and old age homes rather than someone leading a Nation's portfolios) but have nothing in their think-tanks.

Let's not be blind!

India as small-car manufacturing hub...

2009-06-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

The prospects of India becoming the Global hub for car manufacturing, at least for the small car segment, look good given the difference in the labor costs.

Just consider the case of European car industry to 'feel' the difference:

Average of 70 hours of labor per small car * labor cost of 1.5 Euro in India = 105 Euros
Compare this with the average labor cost incurred for a similar small car manufactured in Germany: 3000 Euros!!!

And one company that has exploited this and taken the right strides is Hyundai Motor India. With the given state of World economy, companies across the World will be looking to cut the prices of their products and even with freight and import charges added up, Indian manufacturing seems more luring. And this is a big opportunity for other Indian companies to penetrate this segment given the fact that cos like Nissan, Volkswagen and Fiat have already realized this and made inroads.

Source: ET, 18.06.2009

Why 9.11?

2009-02-06T10:14:00.001-08:00

Interesting reasoning behind why 9/11 was chosen as the date of attack of WTC ...

Paul Cantor's article

Another similar one here

A valid reasoning or mere coincidence; whatever the case is, history repeats, the reverse way in this case!!!

St.Gilgen, I'd love to be there again...

2009-02-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

(click on pic for a better view)

In a world mad with concrete jungles, facebooks, emails, machines and meetings; without knowing where we are headed to, I was rather easily stunned by such a picturesque location.

Man knows nature is at its best when left undisturbed, but still continues to make a fuss out of it, in all possible ways that have been invented as on date. After all, we appreciate the beauty of nature only during some rare weekends and continue our marathon race-for-even-more-money-and-fame 5 days a week. :-(

Location: St.Gilgen Wolfgang, Austria
Original pic with D80/PP done -HDR (using Photomatix)

Now, Deathride!

2008-08-19T11:14:00.001-07:00

Death. For the second time in a week!

After the death walk, it was the death ride last week. The challenge was to 'ride' down, or rather fall down, from the top most sphere of the Atomium. It was too thrilling but a very short one indeed as it took just seconds to glide down the rope.

This is it: (not me 'course)

Planning to give it another shot sometime this week. You don't get to glide down over hundred meters that often, atleast in India. And of course it could be a prelude to the next in my wish list - bungee jumping :-)

Deathwalker

2008-08-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

I did 58 km in the 'deathwalk' here at Bornem, near Brussels. It was a nice experience to walk all night along with around ten thousand fellow participants. :-) Started at 2130 hrs on Aug 08 and finished at around 1040 hrs on the 9th. Here is a page which gives stats on my walk: link. The event was damn well organised and I d suggest any interested hiker to do this.

Aiming to finish the run the next time I participate in any such event. But before that, moral of the story is to read the rules before giving it a try :-P

Evening at Leuven

2008-06-23T09:48:00.001-07:00

After taking rest post 25 km walk, spent the Sunday evening at Leuven, the student city, err, the student 'town' of Belgium.

Mood: As you see, tired and depressed :(

25 km walk

2008-06-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

The only good thing that has happened this week weekend is that 25 KM walk that I completed today, which was partly because of the kind of mind set I was in. Let me see if I am able to increate the distance in the coming weeks. Took 5 hours to complete the 25 KM today. The timing seems to be decent enough but need to keep up the stamina and consistency over longer periods.

Not my day today

2008-06-22T06:44:00.000-07:00

A day I would like to forget. But cannot.

Hmm, I will just illustrate my situation, rather than going into the details - A loyal dog looks upon his master for nothing but part of that loyalty in return. But that speachless dog too has a breaking point to tolerate whatever his master does. And today is the day! Breaking point.

And the Euro 08 frenzy - Van Basten's Dutchmen could not match the Russians and what a finish to my day.

Planning to go for 'walk' practice tomorrow, of atleast 15 to 20 kms. Atleast let tomorrow be better.

A long day to get over with

2008-06-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Longest day of the year. Nalla nallayae inga rathiri padhinoru manikkudhaan lesa irutta arambikkudhu. Idhula longest day vera. Hmmm.

Anyway, have the Euro 2008 QF bw my fav Nederlands and Russia tonight. That should be interesting, and I will be starting from office shortly to catch the action on the big screen in the Luxembourg square.

E(N)U

2008-06-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

European (Non) Union. EU has common currency, freedom of movement of people and capital, what not, but no common language. Not even English? Till I was in India, I thought English was the 'universal' common language - but alas I was proved wrong today.

Decided to have my hair cut after four months. I chose Olivier Dachkin. The place was neat and the cost was 'okay' at 19 euros for the haircut, and most importantly, I was told that it was one of the few salons in my locality in Brussels where English was understood, atleast for the haircutting terms. So, I took it for granted that I can manage to communicate with ease with the people there.

"Bonjour!"

Me: Bonjour! I want to have a hair cut.

This way sir.. !@# bla bla bla dfkfhkfskfh #@!

Me: Excuse me, I speak only English.

Oh. Bla Bla !@# dfffjglskalskf #@!. You speak French?

Me: No.

Spanish?

Me: Nooo ...

Dutch?

Me: No, only English. (Only now I realised that I am gonna be screwed up)

He went to the other people to check if any of them could do translation. To my horror, there were no one out of the five people there who knew English. Wierd.

Then after few minutes of actions and expressions, I made it clear that I wanted a 'short' hair cut. And every now and then, he asked this and that, though I did not understand anything of what he said - just shook my head with a smiling face. But finally, he made my head look a lot better than I had surmised.

A nice experience for Rs.1200! You get a haircut with shampoo, TOeFL (Test of Xpressions as Foreign Language) and most importantly some thrilling and anxious moments in front of the miror.

At last! Yamaha R15

2008-06-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

R15. Yamaha seems to have finally entered the race. I am gladly surprised and happy that Yamaha India has decided to launch a promising 'R' series performer after the long long break. I am sure it is going to give the current bikes in the 150 - 200 cc segment a tough competition. Needless to talk about the RX series which ruled the roads few years back. Coming to R15, I need to wait a few more months before I go back and have a look at the machine. But, the specs look apetising.

Now, that s a comeback!

A 'sporty' weekend

2008-05-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

Had a really really great 'action-packed' weekend. Played a fast paced football match on Saturday and ended the day in a birthday party of my colleague. Returned home a bit late, at 3 in the night, or rather on Sunday early morning :-p, and again started to Durbuy at 6 in the morning!

Reached Durbuy Adventure at around 11 after missing a couple of early trains. Due to the delay, we could indulge ourselves in only Kayaking and Quad biking.

Since it was the first time I tried my hands at Kayaks, it was a bit tiring; but was really interesting and a nice experience overall.

Quads were GREAT! It was a guided tour across the mountains and fields for an hour and I just loved it. We were in a group of five, including the guide, and this was the first time I relished being the last in the line :-P Being last allowed me to slow down, let others go a long distance in front of me; and then I would test the quad's power. Though a bit expensive, these Quads are something I will try yet again if there s an opportunity! [Quads are referred to as All Terrain Vehicles in the US].

Durbuy is a place people in and around Belgium must visit. The region itself was scenic and there are umpteen number of adventure sporting events there.

Above pics ve been taken from the web.

Barcelona

2008-04-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

The word ‘Barcelona’ ....... Spanish city, Olympics and FC Barca team. These were the only things that I knew about the shore city and hence my expectations about the city was not so high when I toured the city. But, Barcelona has much more. Thanks to the legend, Antoni Gaudi. Barcelona is undoubtedly Gaudi’s own city. Every other building that manages to grab your attention will almost invariably have his touch in it.

Gaudi was the famous architect who started off with numerous projects between 1878 and 1926. He went on to complete only a part of them. Nevertheless, works of Gaudi are collectively listed in the World Heritage Sites List! Anyone who is not fed up with architecture, museums and the heritage of an ancient city will surely find it worthy to spend a weekend in this city. I was there for just two days & had to hurry up to cover the places. In fact I could not cover even Gaudi's work. Three to four days would do justice to the travel freaks and two would be a minimal necessity.

Regarding the worthy places .. La Rambla is one of the most happening place/ street in the city. One can enjoy the walk down the 1.2 kilometer long street from Placa Catalunya upto the Columbus statue at Port Vell.

The Columbus statue was good.

The aquarium at Port Vell was just OK.

The musical fountain at Espanya was a treat to watch at night.

Olympic stadium - just a nice feeling that you are 'there'. I did't find it interesting. May be I should have explored more.

Football stadium - The stadium will delight anyone who follows international football to even a small extent.

Beach - I was able to make it to the beach only after sunset. I missed the Mediterranean beach experience :(

And now to few of Gaudi’s wonders:

1. Park Guell - My favorite. It has the Serpent's Bench, which is the longest bench in the world till date!

2. Sagrada Familia - the Church that is still being constructed. Since 1882.

3. Casa Mila/ La Pedrera - What an apartment! Whew! Massive. State of the art. Modern, considering that the apartment was constructed a century ago. And you will genuinely appreciate the greatness of Gaudi when you step out of Casa Mila. Do not miss the apartment's terrace. The chimneys of the apartment are really cool, different and attractive. Kandippa Gaudi ukkandhu yosichirukkaru.

Public transport - metros, roads, restaurants, climate, ... everything adds up to the nice feeling. Just be careful of pickpockets, especially in crowded metros/ tourist places.

Barcelona was the first city that I toured outside India, apart from Brussels of course, and I do not regret going there at all. I liked it. Enjoyed it. See if you get an opportunity to visit this beautiful city.

Pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/shrimankalyan/Espanol

Tiene un buen tiempo en la ciudad de Gaudí!

Retail in the Flat World

2007-11-12T08:06:00.001-08:00

The general buying trend has changed over the years. Customers nowadays look for more value, dedicated service, better variety, more user-centric convenience and apt price. This is when the super markets and retail chains sprung up. Retailing and supply chains are common man’s terms in developed countries. But the system is slowly making its presence in India now.

Basically the retail chain system is based on the one stop shopping where in you get a range of products from a matchbox to electronic products all under one roof. Reliance Fresh, Bharti – Walmart JV and the likes are the ones in India now.

What s happening here in India?

When we had Food Worlds and Subikshas a decade ago, there were no apprehensions from the general public. People had a better shopping experience at these super markets that had pretty cool ambiance. Local sellers did not feel much of an effect due to this new supply-chain-retail concept. May be they were not taking it seriously. The initial growth was silent. All these were happening without much hype across the nation.

But that is not the scenario now for the past few months. Reason - Globalization in retailing. People have started to raise their voice against the hyper-market culture. Mind you, it is not the common Indian man fearing the change; it is the local merchants who think that they will be ousted from the business. Are the local businessmen so low in self-confidence? I am really taken back by the way the scheme of things are politicized and blown up. There are umpteen numbers of ways for them to find ways to collaborate with the giants, thereby making it a win-win situation.

Where there is quality there will be success and hence profit. How is it that the retail chain outlet is able to give the same chocolate bar for few rupees lesser than the MRP [Max Ret Price] where as the local merchants always bill you as if MRP stands for Minimum Retail Price? Why are the sales people at the local departmental stores always acting as if you were cursed to be shopping at his shop? Why are there no proper marketing systems followed? No billing. No refund of things sold. No variety. No self-service. The traditional retail segment has not changed over the decades and a section of the community feels that the system is fine for the future too. It is NOT future proof. At a period where you order for your socks online, how can you expect a guy to go to the departmental store and buy biscuits in a not so professional set up? Again, I can name few local stores that offer ultimate overall shopping experience and also few hyper markets that make you frown. Generalization matters and local vendors need to stand up and face the world.

A kid cannot still aspire to become a high school grad, as was the case few decades back. We have greater aspirations now. Students from remote villages are getting into IIMs and IITs. What I mean to say is that, one side we make sure that we are at par with the global standards; but fail to compete in all fields. Indian population is our strength. Retail, transport, telecom, housing, you name it and we can reach heights. Population is the strength here. Being populated helps at least in this way J.

Whatever, it is time to shun our fears, have confidence on our service, and provide better quality to the customers – be it the local vendor or the multi nationals, and they are ought to succeed. Healthy competition between two systems should be a gain to the customers. Else no one is going to win.

SE to Nokia - the transition

2007-10-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Bowled over by the trouble-free and user-friendly performance of Sony Ericsson [K700], I ve finally moved over to the Nokia Family [N73-M] after a long thought process. It's actually a 'back to square one' situation. This is my fourth mobile in the past four years - Nokia 3315, LG 3550, SE K700i and now Nokia N 73 M.

I expected the transition from the SE to that of Nokia to be tough. But I am totally wrong.
It is just one week since i got my new N73 and it looks as if it has been with me for the past few months. The simple reason is that, Nokia is like what MS Windows is to a kid; and a SE is like a UNIX based or LINUX based OS for that matter. Yes, performance wise too, my prediction is that my new Nokia smart phone will not match SE in performance/ durability. Features wise, there are SE models to match N73. Then why Nokia N73? Mainly because i wanted a change and I felt that all SE phones more or less looks the same. Be it a low end model like W200i or a high end model like W8** series. The large display and the 3.2 MP cam in N73 specifically grabbed my attention. Initially i narrowed down to this model quite easily. I wanted a bar type model without the flips and the slides. If there was a cam in the mobile, it shd be damn good. This is my principle. And after facing data transfer issues with my SE, I wanted to try the well proven Finn. And finally the memory size. And N73 had all these plus a decent big screen. Clarity is good. Ease of use is decent. Nevertheless, SE was rock solid. Fast. Handy. But, data management seems too easy in N73 [with blue tooth, usb, suite, infra red].

Overall okay, just that this Nokia is no different. It s slow. At least for me. May be i ll get used to this. The mobile is SLOW. Yes. It has an OS and supports 2GB of memory. Hence slow. But the real consolation is that there are people who use even slower versions of N series phones.

N73. Lemme read his mind and get the best out of him.

Subtle points overlooked

2007-09-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

1.

We tend to get carried away by the media hype and the sense of excitement. 2 million dollars + a Porsche for six sixes in an over, a million dollars from BCCI and another million dollars for someone who did his best to give away 40 runs in 4 overs.. mind you he just played two matches, houses worth 25 lakh rupees for all members from Sahara Parivar... Cool. Good encouragement to these cricketers. Btw, kudos to the Indian team to have won the 20-20 World cup. So what are we overlooking here?

Consider this:-

Goals For: 46; Goals against: 2. Yes. Just 2 goals conceded and scored a whopping 46 goals to win the Asia Cup 2007. This feat achieved by none other than the Indian Hockey team is still fresh in our mind. So what did these heroes get? In fact, Sharukh Khan was appreciated for the hard work of the hockey players citing the effect of the film 'Chak De India' to have influenced the win. And needless to tell: Hockey is the National game of the country. Is this the way we respect and encourage the game when the game is hitting an all time low compared to the Indian teams of 1970's and 1960's? Is anyone listening?

2.

Lord 'Rama' is a fictitious character.
Where did Lord Rama do his engineering?
It was NDA (BJP alliance) that approved the 'Sethusamuthiram' project. So why are they opposing the same project now when the UPA (Congress Front) is carrying it forward?
Economic development is of foremost importance than the myth. The Sethusamuthiram project will save time and money. So why stop it citing religious reasons that are not proved scientifically?

Ok. Here are the counter 'facts' that we overlook:

Lord 'Rama' is a fictitious character.

Nuts. Flashback to 14 June 1972. Information sourced from this page.

Karunanidhi wrote as follows: 'To those policy-makers, scholars and public interested in ascertaining authentic and reliable information related to social, political, economic, and traditional lives, this district-wise gazetteer has been compiled as an encyclopedic reference'. By publishing this Ramanathapuram District Gazetteer, a means will be provided for researches on this district's social history.
In this Gazetteer, the following details have been furnished about SETHU BRIDGE (Sethu Palam) or Adam's Bridge. Adam's Bridge is a name which evokes Islamic traditions. Adam banished from heaven, travelled walking on this bridge to reach Sri Lanka. This is also referred to as Nala Sethu and as Tiruvanai (Sacred dam) in Tamil. This is also referred to as RAMA SETHU. There is also another name called ADI SETHU. This bridge is 110 miles east-south-east of Madurai, 43 miles along the same direction from Ramanathapuram. The bridge is 15.5 miles east of Rameshwaram. This is called Ramar Palam because this bridge was built under the leadership of Hanuman and with the participation of Vaanara Sena (Kuranguppadai) and facilitated the crossing by Rama to reach Sri Lanka and to attain victory. Up to 1480 AD, this bridge had served as a land bridge to Sri Lanka. Thereafter, a severe cyclone created fissures changing the dimensions to 30 miles long and 1.25 miles wide....During the south-west monsoon season, severe ocean currents and surges impact on the Adam's Bridge.
In the same Gazetteer, it has also been stated 'Sethu is the bridge that has linked India with Sri Lanka for centuries from times immemorial. According to Karna Parambarai (Karna Tradition), in order to render continued help and assistance to the countless pilgrims visiting Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka, Lord Rama appointed Raja Rama Sethupathy of Ramanathapuram as Trustee and Guardian to guard the Rama Sethu Bridge'.

Where did Lord Rama do his engineering?

I need not counter this point made by Dr. Karunanidhi. Any steady, rational mind that can think rationally will not expect an opposing explanation from me.

It was NDA (BJP alliance) that approved the 'Sethusamuthiram' project. So why are they opposing the same project now when the UPA (Congress Front) is carrying it forward?

Yes. The NDA approved the Sethusamuthiram canal project way back in 1998. But what goes unnoticed is that the project that they proposed was a bit different. Just a little bit different. The proposal did not disturb the Adam's bridge or the Ramar Palam however you call it. NEERI has till now proposed six different possible proposals for the canal project. The path chosen by NDA takes into account the plan #5 that does no harm to the present bridge. Let us not get into the argument whether the bridge is a natural or artificial formation. Let the archaeologists sweat it out. But the current controversy is all about cutting across the land mass connecting Indian subcontinent and SriLanka. So, Dr. Karunanidhi or Ms. Sonia Gandhi has no base in comparing the proposals of NDA with that of UPA.

Various options for implementing the canal project: http://sethusamudram.gov.in/Images/Map1.jpg

Economic development of the nation is of foremost importance than the myth. The Sethusamuthiram project will save time and money. So why stop it citing religious reasons that are not proved scientifically?

Few simple facts regarding this:

Out of the six possible ways of linking the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar, the option #6 that UPA has chosen now is the most expensive.

Any modification to the present formation of the 'bridge', be it natural or Rama-made, will have adverse effects on the coastal Tamilnadu and Kerala. Be it Tsunami or the cyclones, the general wind pattern will play havoc across the southern states of India. This has been voiced by many environmentalists.

The project that is under perusal will make the extraction of Thorium from the coastal Tamilnadu and Kerala impossible.

Corals. Whew. Politicians of the largest democracy of the World surely need to be given a crash course on the importance of Environment, flora and fauna. The construction of this canal means disturbing the coral formations in the region. A small info about coral reefs in general from wiki: "Reefs are extremely diverse marine ecosystems being host to over 4,000 species of fish, massive numbers of cnidarians, molluscs, crustaceans, and many other animals".

If interested, please go through this page here that cites the scientific inconsistencies of the proposed canal.

These are just a few points that a person relatively rarely exposed to the so called mythology, politics, land formation, etc. and sitting in a remote corner in Chennai knows. Just imagine how harsh the reality would be.

October 1st. Ruling party of Tamilnadu has called for a state-wide strike. Holiday. All that comes to our mind is happiness and to our face is a smile. But why has this strike been called for? Is it not insane that we are losing a day's productivity and life for the sake of a single person' s illogical interests? All that I can do is blog. Any enlightened soul with a better way of letting me be a responsible citizen, do drop me a comment. As I ve titled this, these are the things even I was overlooking till today.

To be continued, surely, on a variety of topics.

Blog 4 Job

2007-09-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

Blog yourself to a job.

Don't get it? If you are not sure whether you are well off blogging, this information is just for you.

Companies are recruiting by reading through prospective employees' blogs. The strategy is simple. Google for the topic of field (e.g. advertising, media, photography, journalism..). Go through the blog. If you find it persuasive enough, contact the blogger. There s a new job in the area of ur interest! As cool as it can get.

So the next time you blog, and if you want a career shift, let your blog be the winning blog!

My few cents: But, there are many geeks (including me) out there blogging to keep their mind relaxed. Blog is a great place to vent one's suggestions/ views on topics that are nowhere restricted and defined. An art? A skill? Whatever, Blog s cool!

Here I am

2007-09-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here I am after a long hiatus. Took the GMAT last week. Scored 710 [on 800]. Am satisfied with this score. So the next is the school selection and apps. Had to take the test twice. First was a bad day. No more excuses. :-)

Detailed score: 710 [M-50, V-36]; AWA-6/6

For the detailed description of my prep/ strategies, please click here ---> My GMAT

Expect more posts. Ciao till then.

GMAT saga

2007-06-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

Try this --> My new blog: http://enjoygmat.blogspot.com/

Bench - To be or not to be

2007-06-15T02:28:00.000-07:00

'Are you on bench?' Sounds weird?

Then you are not a software engineer. Refresh your IT jargon.

Almost all companies invariably maintain a pool of engineers on 'bench' ~ read it as buffer, so as to support any unforeseen man power requirements. Concept is fine and good. But the magnitude of it is far from what you may assume it to be.

Every engineer goes through this buffer, after the (unnecessary) training. In fact, freshers initially love to be in this 'no-work, no-tension, come late, start early' routine. But for how long? At a later stage, many of them (some of my colleagues are a part of this ill-fated group), find it difficult to come out of this pool to join any productive project. Their questions go unanswered, and their concerns go unnoticed. But, months go by. And of course, they get their salary. :-) ? :-(

So, why this unnecessary big pool? Anticipatory hiring techniques and fears of losing competent cheap labor (yes, I mean the college grads from local colleges) lead to excessive, i would say, unplanned hiring. Take for instance, company X that recruits you on-campus when you are in your final year of UG takes 18 months, from the date of recruitment, to give you a joining date (this was my case :-)). This is what i mean by 'unplanned' recruitment. Over the years, this has brought the HR managers to a tricky spot. They need to hire more; yet maintain the man power utilization. What a sad state. Statistics show that Satyam and Infosys are the leaders (in this too), with bench resources accounting for around 25-30 percent of the total workforce. [A simple calculation - Infosys strength: Approx 80000. 25% of this itself gives us a 'bench' resource pool of 20000 employees.]

It is high time either the companies take proper measures or the employees find better options, once they feel that they are under utilized.

So, the next time some one says he s a software company, just ask him if he s on 'bench'. He ll give a 'how-did-u-come-to-know-that' stare.

Ref this for more on this topic: Link

Ghost Rider, I am

2007-06-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Kick start the bike, speed down the lane for a few minutes, and the special effects begin one by one.

First to show up is the drop of sweat that runs down cautiously on your forehead. Then its the face that faces the music. Hot air blown at your face. Your bloodshot eyes are a testimony to this. By this time, the sweat starts to boil. Finally, your shirt goes up in flame, literally. Yes, to be a ghost rider, you need to be in Chennai, in May/June.

The five minutes that I spend on my bike to reach office is the most thrilling part of the day. With Yamaha's power and the almost deserted Medavakam-Shols link road, I try to kill the time to reach office as fast as I can, lest my position would be that of my shirt's :)

Mood: Feeling Sleepy. Music: Fan sound :)

Star Gazing

2007-06-14T06:49:00.000-07:00

Having a nice time after my test :)

Had a nice time last night: star gazing.

Its a great feel. Just lie down flat on the terrace or on the garden, and watch the magnificent show unfolding in front of you, that almost all of us overlook everyday.

Afterall, earth is just a peck in this Universe.

Higher studies in the UK

2007-06-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

I came across this piece of information that might be of help to those who aspire to do masters in the UK and worry about their chances of employment after their course completion.

It is called -> Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme

Info here: LINK

Mood: Bored. Music: Jesus to a child

Where was this guy?

2007-06-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

Long time since I posted. Many dreams, many days, many weeks. Few good things happened, few not so good things too.

It was time well planned, off the normal routine. Squeezing some study time into the every day office work is not that easy. To get your mind adjust so easily to the 'plan' itself is a task by itself. :-)

To be short, over the past few months, planned well for the GMAT, put in around 300+ hours of study over 2 months and took over ten full length tests ... to score 640 (this is quite interesting since my scores in GMATPrep and PP tests were all over 700). Nothing to get 'shattered'. Afterall, the reason for this unexpected score lies within me.

So, many options in front of me - challenge it again and lose a few more hours of sleep and peace or accept defeat. I ll think over these and come up with the better option. And my next few months rely completely on this.

My, me , I , myself, bla bla bla apart, many interesting happenings around me to appreciate too: in my friends circle, in my pro team, in Madras, in the state, in movies, in sports, in the country, in this world and in Atlantis too!

Mood: Contemplative. Music: June Ponal ... (:-))

My GMAT - Planned vs Actual

2007-04-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

20 days into the serious prep. Things are mostly going as per the plan.

I had intended to finish off with the GMAT Quantz - comprising of the PS and DS, by the weekending April 8th; and to start with the Verbal section soon after that.

Assumptions that I had: That I was good at PS and DS in the QA and CR in the verbal section.

This is what I have done till date - in order:

Phase1: Started off in March20s

OG11EdPS Finished
GMATPrep01 Took the GMATPrep Test #1 - fussed up in the closing - did t see the score properly - came up with the score calculation of 650. Nyways I cannot rely on this score.
OG11Ed DS Finished
Kap PS Finished
Kap Section Test - PS1 20/20
Kap DS Finished
Kap Section Test - DS1 11/20 time constraint did me in. Worse than what I had expected.

Phase2: April09 onwards

Kap CR Finished

Analysis:

PS - Better than what I had expected. Still, need to finish it off in style by mastering the topics like Permutations, Combinations, work/time.

DS - Need to improve my speed and technique a lot. Better to practice any material that I can get in this regard.

SC - Can make a decision based on completing the OG11Ed SC only. As of now, above average. If i am fresh, I am able to hit it on spot. So try to be fresh and concentrate.

Good Points:

Maintaining the complete log of error problems in the practice note. So that I can go thro these special ones in the round 2.

Installed the PowerPrep test software. I was looking for the installable in the Internet but could not find it. Finally I had it in one of my college CD collections. !!

Bought the Kaplan Premier 2007 Ed - happy with the stuff - especially the strategy that they provide for the CR and DS.

So this takes the total number of Practice tests that I have to:
GMATPrep - 2
PowerPrep - 2
Kaplan - 4
Kaplan Diagnostic - 1

BIG things in near future:

Book the GMAT test date.
Take the Kaplan online course and the Kaplan section wise tests simultaneously.
Finish off the Verbal by April end. May shd be full of improvisation and Practice tests.
I need to take a standard test to see what my score ll be near to.

Keep going . . .

I.M.H.O

2007-03-29T05:17:00.002-07:00

A lot is being talked about and criticised about India's pre-mature exit from the Cricket World Cup 2007. Here are my few cents on it. Though I wanted to write as and when the misfortunes were happening that spanned across just two days, I could't since, I did't want to give more hype to the already hyped up team. Yes.

On Paper?
Could any one of you out there explain me what this phrase - 'The best team on Paper' means? I am surprised when the captain, coach, team selection committee, and even those who blast the team for its losses say the same. When they say that its a team that's good only on paper then it directly signifies that people/fans should not expect much out of the team's talent and that only luck or some unexpected conditions like oppositions' inexperience, like that of Bermuda, would help the team to win a match. If they had confidently said that its at least a moderate team 'On the Ground', it would have showcased their genuine faith on the players' capability.

Form
So the team that we sent was the best - no doubt; but most of the players, if not all, were not in 'form'. Talking about 'Form' its another finest excuse that no sportsman ll utter (i don't see SL and AUS talking about 'form'). With this, I personally did not expect India to go to the Semis. I think many would agree with this point, given that we had a bad ODI record in the tours prior to the world cup. Less expectation from me. So, less disappointment.

Uncertainty of the team composition, lack of aggression, pressure, mismatch of plans between the coach and the selection committee, and many more being the reasons for the poor run. I do not want to just talk about the two matches that did us in - the ones against Bangladesh and S.Lanka. They are just instances of a team that has been continuously performing below its capability. So no use of getting irritated and tensed with the way we were sent out of the competition.

Hype
So why this hype? Why is it that a Cricketer on whom the people vest their hopes shd perform always, failing which, lot is done in the most unethical manner possible? Its only in countries like India and Pak where Cricket is given so much importance. I understand that we all like cricket, we have been playing cricket in at least one of the forms - be it street cricket or the school level/zonal/ranji - why I am just a mere spectator, whereas there are real players out there, representing their states and aspiring to represent India, who are sure to get frustrated seeing the Indians play like this. I am sure Sachin or Dravid cannot take a stroll around their streets for the next few weeks for security reasons! Man this is tooooo bad. That's the respect we give them. The moment a player gets to hit centuries, we name streets on them, perform pujas, or even build temples. This is the hype that surrounds the team. And this is the sole reason for the unrest that's on now.

Publicity
News channels need stories to increase their TRP (Television Rating Point). They need just a spark to start off a hot war - be it a controversy or a scandal or public opinion poll or anything. Ten years back, I was advised to read news papers and watch news on the television. And those who advised me did the same - be it my parents or teachers. I doubt if anyone can give that piece of advice today. It makes us feel that these players are in deed not worthy, and that they are there just to earn (coming to that point shortly). May be true. But supporting when one is down is the definition of encouragement. If those who say 'but he should have played better' or 'they were the seniors in the team. they ought to have played more responsibly' are really worried about Indian cricket, they should have had these public opinion when Ganguly was sent packing home an year back or when Sehwag and Kaif were given chances aplenty or when the Coach had the so called long term plan to groom youngsters was not respected by the selection committee that finalised on a team whose average age was over 27 years! News channels are entitled with more maturity/ responsibility than they seem to appreciate.

Ad mad
Then comes the most interesting accusation. India is out of the competition because the players are concentrating in making more money through advertisements. Cooooool.
Lemme just go a bit in detail - skip this if u want -
{
I am not supporting the players in this regard, but just give it a thought. Tomorrow morning Mr.X (some talented player representing his college/city) wakes up to find that his name has been selected in the State team list. Wow. Great. He packs up to join the team practice. He plays ranji matches; scores blistering centuries against some mediocre opposition. Wait, he has more surprises, he gets offers from local companies to promote their soap and shampoo :). Within a month, if he has the kind of influence that is needed, he ll land up in the Indian team. Here comes the media. 'Next Sachin', 'India has found the future Kapipl Dev', 'India's answer to Ausies' and what not. He is made to believe that he has a great future. Captain/coach say he was selected because they are grooming youngsters for 2xxx world cup and that his batting style and technique (!) is awesome and that he has a cool look (see any link?). Then comes the automobile, textile, FMCG sectors - am not talking about Ambani, these are some of the industries that ll want him to promote their products. Meanwhile, we tour say WI, Eng and he scores moderately well. Years pass. (They are grooming youngsters right?). In this process he is in and out of the team. he does not know if he is a wicket keeper or a opener or an all rounder. Then the fantastic days. He faces the likes of Shane Bond and Murali and scores sub-double-digit scores. Still, the hyping game continues, he is given chances for months to perform. Finally the media/team management/fans (read this as 'fanatic billion') that hyped his performance go for the kill. He s the slayed. Tell me where the mistake is.
}

Another accusation that Indian players are wasting the common man's tax is a gross misunderstanding. As far as I understand, BCCI is a non-Govt organisation and it earns through telecast rights, ticket sales, endorsements, fund raisers; and not through tax. So, no need to panic in this regard. Instead if you are very much concerned with the tax that you pay, voice your thoughts in the media. There are many a ways to do it. Again, I say the media is underplaying in this regard.

Sport
We have Vishy - Vishvanathan Anand - World Number One in Chess. We have the likes of Paes, Bhupathi, Sania(tennis), Saina(Badminton) , Joshua(Squash), Sharath(Ping Pong) who are top ranked players at the world level. Cricket sidelines all these. Pity. Shame.

I will not be surprised to see headlines like 'Master Blaster Strikes again' or 'Bengal Tiger Roars', few months down the line. Did they ask you to call them like that? Let them be at peace. One bad patch. We go to the extreme.

Relax. Be a Sport. :-)

Note: I neither watched the matches that India played nor am I distraught with the results. Am writing this just to share my thoughts on the plight of players who represent the Nation.

Finally, thanks for being so patient. :-)

Go Shriman Go

2007-03-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

Stop dreaming Shriman. If I start dreaming, i ll delightfully do so for months, with 'planning' turning out to be the easiest excuse i can give for not doing it. Something that happened in case of OCA too. Now that s history. Isn't it?

So after months of those excuses, here i am, well into the GMAT journey thats going to stretch across the next 2 months.

I took the first GMAT Simulated test - Powerprep #1 and expected to score something over 600. I took this test mainly to identify my weak areas and probably little curious to see what this Shriman can score. So when i saw the score of 650, i was more relieved than happy. I am sure i can improve this to over 700 by working on the funda.
I did the dumbest thing after the test - i closed the test score report screen thinking that i ll be able to go back to that page again. But i was stranded with just the overall score. I wanted the section wise split up which was why i took the test today - to analyse my weak areas. But anyways, i browsed thro the net to find the scoring strategy and came up with an almost correct figures (i guess so) - V: 39 / QA:041. I was able to come to this stats since i had the number correct/wrong figures with me. Anyways sheer waste of over an hour just to calculate this score. :) I learn from mistakes. I learn everyday :)

So you may ask if this is my first day of The Great GMAT Journey. Nopes. I have been eating sleeping drinking GMAT since last aug - sep. But as i said, i am into the serious stuff only for the last couple of days. Miles to go. ...

Planning to give a good two full months' prep concentrating mainly on my not-so-strong areas to get my scores up to 45/45 . Am sure i can do it. Shriman, no over confi. See the Indian Cric Team. Never get complacent. :) They must be having sleepless nights. Thats another story. I ll get back on that shortly.

Time to sleep now. :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Time: Midnight. Mood: Happy. All smiles.

Keep running

2007-03-18T03:07:00.001-07:00

Quite a long time since I wrote. I go with 'If you do it, do it whole heartedly; else keep thinking abt it, plan for it, scold yourself for not doing it and then indulge yourself in it'

Finished off the Oracle Certified Associate level one exam (OCA 1Z0-007) yesterday. Cleared it with 42 on 52. For those of you who are interested in knowing about the preparation that I had put in, here goes the details.

Again, the score that I have is nothing to boast of, but atleast I know what went wrong than a guy who has 50 on 52(many of my friends have that :) ) , not knowing the other side of it. Better still for you if you could find someone who has failed after serious prep, so that you know something that he did was COMPLETELY wrong. That was tooooooo bad. Lets pray that everyone clears it in the first go :)

My preparation goes back to Jan if I am not wrong. I sat through the full 5-day-leave I had in the middle of the month. I had the Official Certification Guide by Jason Couchman with me, and I finished it in one go and felt like taking the test in Jan itself. I never attempted any dumps or even the sample papers that came with the book.To be frank, if I had taken the test at that time, I d have wasted a lot of money and also self-confidence. I just let go the whole certification stuff for almost a month, enjoyed a lot, roamed here and there and what not.

Then came the phoenix in me to finish it off this time(Thank God, with me, its just a matter of When rather than What). I went straight to the nearest Prometric test centre on March 10th and booked the slot for the 17th. I had exactly one week for it. There was always the possibility to reschedule the test. But I did not want to do it. I did not want yet another postponement. I just browsed thro the various dump and also got tips from my friends who had taken it. I made use of that weedend to go through the book again completely.

I started attempting the papers after that and found that I was continuously scoring in the 46-50 on 60 range. I thought I ll improve with time. But I did not. So I decided to take a day off from my official work, the day prior to the real test, and work on my test prep. I did just that. That helped a lot in building the right amount of confidence in me. For those of you who are interested in OCA, you can easily narrow down to a question bank of 200 - 300 questions from all the dumps and I don't that s difficult. And, these will surely give you the right idea as to how the real questions ll be.

On the D-Day, I just had a hands-on practice at office with the difficult sections and went to take the test in the afternoon at the Prometric test centre, NIIT, Adyar, Chennai. The next 2 hours was not so difficult in terms of service/help/environment or even the test for that matter.

The rest is in Paper - 'PASS' - certified by ORACLE.

Next --> 1Z0-031, so as to get the OCA tag by my name.

So keep running. Chase yourself. Keep Rocking.

CEO's Jargon

2007-02-01T00:05:00.001-08:00

Do you want to write some business junk? Check out this useful (??) site:

link

Congratulations

2007-01-31T06:29:00.000-08:00

This is what the certificate in front of me says.

Our project team has been awarded the 'Most Spirited Team' under EMEA - Europe Middle East and Africa unit of Infosys.

Feels good when appreciated. Isn't it?
:)

Chennai

2007-01-28T08:07:00.001-08:00

Chennai has its own charm amidst the irregularities that are bound to catch our eyes. Be it the beaches, theatres, over crowded buses, people or the food, Chennai is simply simple and self-sustained. The MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System – suburban train as referred locally) needs mention here. I am greatly attracted by the short transits in those suburban trains. I feel great traveling in all three sections: Beach - Thiruvanmiyur, Beach - Tambaram, Park Town - Avadi. Just taking a to and fro ticket from one end of the city to the other is enough to spend an otherwise gloomy day, in an interesting way. Even more, if you have a cam with you, you can pamper the right side of your brain. I cannot forget the days when I used to take an MRTS to reach the beach station and have a fill at Saravana Bhavan (first floor overlooking the harbor section) all alone…. : )
All these at a price – u need to overlook the crowd, pollution and climate. If you can not do that, get used to all these, and then Chennai is a place that ll suit your appetite.

Babel - Review

2007-01-26T10:07:00.002-08:00

Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett,.. Direction: Alejandro Gonzalez

Babel, filmed across the World including Morocco, Mexico and Japan, is a film that needs appreciation for the intricate linking of various concepts like drugs, terrorism, borders/ immigration and sex. The story is as simple as it can get, but the realism that has been rendered throughout is outstanding. The star cast, political subject yet so smooth screenplay lets you get the apt dosage of the theme. Be it Pitt's emotional performance or Blanchett's conversation without words (she fights for her life through out the film) or the deaf-dumb Japanese girl's portrayal of loneliness (dunno her name) or the Moroccan cast in general, the characterization has been given extra care. Everyone needs special appreciation here. The film goes well with Brad’s global approach in real life (His adoption of Maddox).

I went to the movie with out any prior knowledge about the story or its background. Later, I came to know that Babel has been nominated and also won many awards in diverse categories. I watched the movie at Satyam cinemas (and was not quite happy with the speakers that were faulty I suppose - went on giving buzzing sounds now and then, and the staff did not bother to correct it even after we lodging a complaint!) But, the movie rocks. Do not expect action, romance or masala. Good filming. Good characterization.

Watching such films among the Indian films itself is a relief - Indian films seem to give importance to song sequences, scenes/ dialogues tailored for the cast's star status rather than the concept.

Anyways, two good films Guru (Abhishek/ Mani Ratnam) and Babel this month for me. I would suggest you watch both.

2007-01-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

Chk out some of the snaps that i have added today in my pics collection @
Pics

Welcome 2007

2006-12-31T10:55:00.001-08:00

Wish you all a very happy and memorable new year 2007
(The time is 00:01 hrs IST Jan 01, 2007; but i think the server ll take the US timing - so no confusion plz :) )

At last

2006-12-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

A day that ll linger in my mind for ever.. my friend visited my company this weekend - today to be precise, after one after another of my invitations that spanned across an year almost. Some of the pics here:
http://shrimanpics.blogspot.com/

Apart from that, hectic work load at office. The more i try to squeeze the work with in the office timings, the better the task allocations get; with no one to be blamed. hmmmm waiting for the respite - the pro deli deadline of c'rse...

PROVE III

2006-12-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

Reached the semis of the DC level Quality Quiz - PROVE III - thanks to my teammate (my PM :-) ) ... and the best part - got a certificate for it, reminding me of college and school days...

Reward

2006-12-14T04:13:00.000-08:00

One of my snaps taken at Yercaud featured in my company intranet (Sparsh)...

Have a peek at it: Yercaud

Howzaat!!

Small dosage of encouragement to amateur photographers like me (if i can call me so) ....

:-)

engineer is a student :-(

2006-11-10T03:57:00.000-08:00

still...
had a hectic week, srry, month. serious prep for the technical certification and i was able to clear the cut off by miles. feeling so gr8.....

Week-end?

2006-10-28T05:03:00.000-07:00

Sitting in my office..
preparing for the certifications planned for next week..
its damn cool in Chennai with heavy rain..
more soon
:-)

( i )

2006-10-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

Time changes... ?? Nopes. We change, adapt, do this and that and time goes by that s it...
long since i blogged. Many a memories scripted. My bro has left to Oregon, US to take up his Masters in Computers. I have moved to a new apartment in Chennai itself. Same old feel-good settings - PC that too now with broadband, home food, bike, hectic week days, relaxed weekends, hmmm .... What next?

Residency Towers, Chennai

2006-08-24T23:18:00.000-07:00

the Project Party treat @ The Residency Towers, Chennai

Off from 'IT' to the Shervaroys

2006-08-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

had a series of project parties, treats and a trip to yercaud.... few pics ...

this one
@ yercaud

2006-04-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

Hi .... started off 2 day with this .... c u on more ....