MAYTAS 'DEAL': Satyam told to provide details of board meet

The Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA) has given Satyam Computer Services a week’s time to provide all the information on the December 16 board meeting that took a resolution to buy Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra for $1.6 billion. 

Though the proposed deal was called off within hours after it was announced, it raised concerns of corporate governance, attracting the attention of the Union Government. 

The MCA directed the RoC office in Andhra Pradesh to carry out the probe. Sources told Business Line that the office sent an order to Satyam’s corporate office on Monday (December 22), seeking the complete information on the board meeting. The RoC report will be ready by January 10. 

Interestingly, the purview of Registrar of Companies (RoC, Ministry of Company Affairs) generally doesn’t include issues related to board meetings and resolutions the boards pass. Companies are required to submit this information to SEBI and not to the RoC, which mandates corporates to submit only periodic financial announcements. 

But the RoC has reportedly invoked a Section in the Companies Act that it does not exercise often. The Section 234 gives the RoC power “to call for information or explanation” he thinks required for the probe. 

The MCA hopes that the company would respond to help the smooth conduct of the probe. 

Meanwhile, a Satyam spokesperson told Business Line that the company had received the RoC notice. “We have received it as expected. We will respond to it as required,” the spokesperson said. 

The MCA order is learnt to have called for information on Sections 372A, 299, 300, 301 and 108A of the Companies Act. These sections look into whether companies followed good corporate governance practices while taking important decisions. 

“When they take a decision to invest, they have to follow certain procedures. Whether they conformed to these sections is the crux of the issue. The RoC would look into whether the Satyam board complied with these Sections,” sources said. 

“It can’t take a decision that goes against public policy and shareholders’ interest,” they said.

Source: The Hindi Business Line

Designer hopes to plug into intelligent fashion!

By Claudia Gaillard

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Tired of running out of batteries and having to find a socket to charge your cell phone or iPod? An Argentine fashion designer may have the answer: a timeless jacket with a built-in solar panel.

Julieta Gayoso's line of "intelligent" clothing acknowledges technology's constant presence in the modern world and the annoyance caused by dead batteries.

"Today, technology is more and more mobile. It has the freedom of wireless connection, but when batteries run out you have to plug into the grid. So this is a way to have mobile energy and, of course, it's clean," Gayoso, 36, told Reuters Television earlier this week.

Enter Gayoso's innovative solar-panel jacket. A cable runs from the panel to a battery in the inside pocket where up to eight electronic devices can be recharged at the same time whenever there is sunshine.

That's not all Gayoso has come up with. Her Indarra.dtx (http://www.indarradtx.com) clothing line includes pants and jackets with wireless control devices that let users skip songs or pump up the volume with their MP3 players stowed safely at the bottom of a backpack.

It may sound gimmicky, but her clothes are not futuristic catwalk creations. They are deliberately classic in style -- utilitarian garments built to be worn over time.

"We're focusing on products that are not seasonal, that can be used during the winter, during the summer," she said. "It's a classic style. The pants aren't too tight or baggy, but made so you want to wear them for years."

Gayoso started the project in late 2006 and launched the first line of clothing earlier this year.

She is now working on a second collection and hopes to export next year.

(Writing by Brian Hagenbuch)

Clint Eastwood give up acting? Don't count on it!!

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Clint Eastwood spends more time behind the camera these days directing films. But anyone who believed him a few years ago when he said he had given up on acting, can think again. Clint has changed his mind.

The Academy Award-winning director, who was promoting his latest film "Changeling" at the New York Film Festival on Thursday, began acting more than 50 years ago and gained fame playing tough-minded cowboys and cops.

But in recent years, the 78 year-old Eastwood has perfected his skills as a director, winning Oscars for directing "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby" and earning nominations for "Mystic River" and "Letters from Iwo Jima."

Yet, Eastwood said that despite past declarations against returning to acting, if he likes a role, he will gladly act again. In fact, he has a new film, "Gran Torino," coming out in a couple of months in which he does just that.

"Since this picture ('Changeling') was completed this year I have done another film in which I have performed, even though I said I wasn't going to do that anymore," Eastwood told reporters.

"I think I started saying that back a few years ago, I said 'I don't think I'll act anymore, I'll stay behind the camera'" and then 'Million Dollar Baby' came along and I liked that role," he said. "Now I've done 'Gran Torino'."

It is his first acting role since 2004's "Million Dollar Baby," but the Hollywood veteran joked that after directing several young actors in "Changeling," maybe he should go ahead and quit acting -- again.

"I'm always amazed at how good some of them are at such young ages because it took me forever to learn how to say my own name," he said.

"It's a great thing, that's one of the reasons why, in my senior years I do this sort of thing, I stay behind the camera and let the young people out there jump and run," he said.

"Changeling" is a gripping 1920s drama based on the true story of a woman whose search for her missing son forced her to confront the Los Angeles police and a serial child killer.

The film is due for release in the United States on October 31, after a world premiere at May's Cannes film festival that drew mostly good reviews. The movie debuts at the start of Hollywood's award season, and industry watchers are wondering if it will bring Oscar directing nomination No. 5 to Eastwood.

But if not, there's always "Gran Torino," which Eastwood not only stars in, but directs. He portrays a Korean war veteran forced by his immigrant neighbors to confront his racial prejudices after his Gran Torino car is stolen.

That movie reaches theaters in December and for Oscar watchers who follow the race, Eastwood's backers at Warner Bros. have a history releasing his movies late that month in time to qualify for the Oscar race.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

User interface design!

User interface design or user interface engineering is the design of computers, gadgets, appliances, machines, mobile communication devices, software applications, and websites with the focus on the user's experience and interaction.

Unlike traditional design where the goal is to make the object or application physically attractive, the goal of user interface design is to make the user's interaction experience as simple and intuitive as possible - what is often called user-centered design.
Where good graphic/industrial design is bold and eye catching, good user interface design is often subtle and invisible..

Cancer Doctor Issues a Warning About Cell Phones, and Causes Panic!

The director of a cancer research center in Pittsburgh issued a surprising warning to his staff yesterday, advising them to avoid using cell phones as much as possible, because of the possible risk of brain cancer. The memo was promptly leaked to the media, igniting a firestorm of debate over whether the ubiquitous devices are dangerous.

The claim from the Pittsburgh researcher, Ronald Herberman, was particularly unexpected because numerous academic studies have found no connection between cell phone use and the risk of brain tumors. But Herberman says he’s basing his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now — especially when it comes to children. “Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn’t wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later,” Herberman said [AP].

The focus of debate is the small amount of electromagnetic radiation that cell phones emit. Some researchers argue that chronic exposure to this radiation may raise cancer risk, perhaps by heating brain tissue or damaging DNA. Many researchers worry about children’s exposure, because their skulls are thinner and their brains are still developing [Baltimore Sun].

But so far, large-scale studies have found no evidence to support this theory. An analysis by the University of Utah this year of thousands of brain tumour patients found no increased risk as a result of [cell phone] use, but added that the effects from long-term use “awaits confirmation by future studies”…. Recent Danish and French studies also found no increased risk of cancer [BBC News]. Still, people who wish to err on the side of caution can follow simple steps to minimize their exposure to cell phones’ electromagnetic radiation, like using a wireless headset and making longer phone calls from a landline.

“Why People Aren’t Hiring You Right Away”

Back in the ‘80s Tavares sang a song called, “It Only Takes a Minute, Girl.” (I’m dating myself here, but somebody’s gotta do it.)

Accustomed as we are to the speed and convenience of the Web, that seems to be the theme song for the vast majority of entrepreneurs these days when it comes to acquiring new clients.

Fast food, high speed internet, purchase decisions - We want it all to happen right now, in a minute.

When clients come to me for help with their Irresistible Free Taste (you know, the freebie I keep telling you to have on your website so you can collect visitors’ contact information), I always ask them what their top two goals are for the project.

Invariably I hear some version of “I want them to download the article (or audio) and then hire me.”

As Master Po told Caine in the 1970s TV series Kung Fu (my goodness, there she goes with the ancient history again!), “Patience, Grasshopper.”

I’d like to share a bit of wisdom with you today - Remember that leads often aren’t “sales ready” right at that moment.

That’s why we call them “potential” clients.

Your job at this point is to be welcoming, helpful, and patient. You need to create a sense of rapport so they feel connected to you. To do that it’s important to be both curious (about their situation and the challenges they’re facing) and informative (about how they can solve those problems, possibly with your help).

The other unpleasant aspect of wanting clients to hire us right now is that it often springs from a sense of lack. The resulting anxiety is not especially attractive. Clients can smell desperation a mile away – and they tend to steer clear of it.

If you stop expecting that one exposure to your brilliance is going to turn every prospect into a raving (and paying) fan, you’ll take the pressure off both of you. Embrace the mantra, “Everything in its own good time.”

In my experience, education is the foundation of quality marketing. And most learning happens over time, not in one sitting. Don’t worry that you’ll run out of things to share. You have a lot to offer. And they have a lot to learn!

You don't need a big budget, but you do need to be willing to learn as much as you can about your clients and your field of expertise. And you need a desire to share what you've learned with others.

The Future of Green Computing

What is Green Computing?

Global warming and environmental change have become big issues with governments, corporations and your average Joe alike all seeking out new ways to green up their daily activities. Computers certainly make up a large part of many peoples lives and traditionally are extremely damaging to the environment, which begs the question: What is Green Computing?

Green Computing is the study and practice of minimising the environmental impact of computers through efficient: manufacturing, use, and disposal.

Problems of Electronic Waste

Electronic waste is an increasing problem globally due to the quick obsolescence of electronics, which make up a staggering 70% of all hazardous waste. Computer waste is high in many toxic materials such as heavy metals and flame-retardant plastics, which easily leach into ground water and bio-accumulate. In addition, chip manufacturing uses some of the deadliest gases and chemicals known to man and requires huge amounts of resources.

In an average year 24 million computers in the United States become obsolete. Only about 14% (or 3.3 million) of these will be recycled or donated. The rest - more than 20 million computers in the U.S. -- will be dumped, incinerated, shipped as waste exports or put into temporary storage to be dealt with later. We never stop to consider what happens when our laptop dies and we toss it. The reality is that it either rots in a landfill or children in developing countries end up wrestling its components apart by hand, melting toxic bits to recover traces of valuable metals like gold.

Wasting Electricity

The manufacturing of a computer consumes 1818 kw/h of electricity before it even gets turned on and when running, a typical computer uses 120 watts. Research shows that most PC’s are left idle all day, and many of them are left on continuously. Every time we leave computers on we waste electricity without considering where that electricity comes from. The majority of the world’s electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels which emit pollutants such as sulphur, and carbon dioxide into the air. These emissions can cause respiratory disease, smog, acid rain and global climate change.

The Future of Green Computing

A Canadian company, Userful Inc. (www.userful.com) have come up with a solution that turns 1 computer into 10 - DiscoverStation. Quickly becoming the standard for green computing worldwide, DiscoverStation leverages the unused computing power of modern PC’s to create an environmentally efficient alternative to traditional desktop computing. Multiple users can work on a single computer by simply attaching up to 10 monitors, mice and keyboards. This makes it possible to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 15 tons per year per system and reduce electronic waste by up to 80%. Userful has recently stated that in the last year their software has saved over 13,250* tons of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of taking 2,300 cars off the road. (More info at: http://userful.com/greenpc)

The European Union

The European Union is tackling the problem twofold. Companies are now required to produce computers free of the worst toxic materials and are responsible for taking back their old products. Faced with disassembling parts and cycling them back into the fabrication process, companies are making more careful decisions about how those parts are assembled in the first place. In 2002 NEC came out with the first computer to use lead-free solder, a fully recyclable plastic case, and which contained no toxic flame-retardants. Since then many computer companies worldwide have started selling lead-free PCs and it is becoming common practice for companies to offer their customers free recycling of their old computers.

Go Green

Here are some suggestions that will help you reduce your computer energy

Don't use screen savers. They waste energy, not save it.

By computers & monitors labelled “energy star” which can be programmed to automatically “power-down” or “sleep” when not in use.

If you are using more than 1 PC, Userful's 10 to 1 advantage can save electricity and your wallet.

Turn your computer and peripherals off when not in use. This will not harm the equipment.

Use flat panel monitors, which use about half of the electricity of a cathode-ray tube (CRT) display.

Buy ink jet printers, not laser printers. Ink jet printers use 80 to 90 percent less energy than laser printers and print quality can be excellent.

If all of us did this every day, we could make a small difference. We only have one earth; let's treat it right.

Firefox download record official!

Mozilla has officially made history with a new Guinness world record for the largest number of software downloads in a 24-hour period.

So far there have been more than 28 million downloads of Firefox 3.0

The final record breaking 8,002,530 downloads for Firefox 3.0 took place in June with parties in over 25 countries.

"The enthusiasm and creativity of Firefox fans was key to making this happen" said Marketing head Paul Kim.

Gareth Deaves of Guinness World Records called it "an extremely impressive accomplishment".

The official figure was confirmed after logs from download servers were audited and checked to ensure duplicate and unfinished downloads were not counted.

Mr Kim told the BBC: "The notion of going for a world record, as gooky and nutty as it may have sounded, was a really sticky idea.

"It was an idea that translated really well across national borders and to all different kinds of people around the world."

Marketing manager Mary Colvig said no party is planned to celebrate the record until the actual certificate is presented by Guinness World Records in London next week.

"Here at Mozilla headquarters (in Mountain View) I think most of us are just going to try and get to bed early now that we have the confirmation. We are all tired."

Security flaw

On launch day some of the shine was taken by security firms claiming to have found the first flaws in the new software.

Within five hours of Firefox 3.0 making its debut, DV Labs/Tipping Point reported a flaw that potentially let an attacker take over a PC if a user clicks on a booby-trapped link.

Mr Kim told the BBC "Firefox users are safe. We have a patch in the works and hope to release it very soon."

Mozilla says the number of downloads surpassed their expectations

Another potentially disastrous glitch ahead of the world record attempt came when servers handling the downloads collapsed under the weight of visitors checking to see if the new version of the browser was available.

Once they were all up and running the clock started counting down.

At their busiest the servers were handling more than 9,000 downloads per minute. Within five hours the number of downloads for Version 3.0 exceeded the 1.6 million set by Firefox 2.0 in October 2006.

Market share increase

Another boost for the open source browser comes with the announcement that it has boosted its market share to over 19% making it the second most popular browser after Microsoft's Internet Explorer, or IE.

Net Applications says a chunk of the gain seems to have come from rival IE, although much of the growth came in users upgrading.

The company said while IE reached a record low last month, it predicted Firefox will break the 20% share bar sometime this month.

Mr Kim said "We offer the best browsing experience and this shows people are getting the message and voting with their browser choice."

Meanwhile Mozilla has shipped a high priority update for Firefox 2.0, warning that there are at least five serious vulnerabilities that could lead to code execution attacks.

Mr Kim said Mozilla will continue to support Firefox 2.0 until the middle of December.

After that users will be expected to switch over to Firefox 3.0 which since its launch over two weeks ago boasts 28 million downloads and counting.

Medical Records on Your Cell Phone!

Computer Scientists Turn Cell Phones into Health Care Resource

SAN DIEGO--Imagine if your medical records were lost or misplaced. It can cause more than aggravation; it could impact the care you receive. Now, imagine being able to download your own health records -- even X-rays and diagnostic scans -- right into your cell phone or PDA.

The same technology that brings games to life in your cell phone can also help you and your doctor keep track of your health. Gregory Quinn, a computer scientist at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego, says, "We can do quite amazing things in terms of presenting information."

Many of the newer cells phones and PDAs have a graphics chip like the one in your PC. The chip can turn your phone into a virtual medical library, complete with stunning 3D computer graphics and medical scans.

Quinn is developing a program that will allow doctors to view a patient's medical history on mobile devices.

Cardiologist Michael Wright believes mobile medical records will not only help doctors, it will simplify things for patients. Dr. Wright, who is medical director at the LifeScore Clinic in San Diego says: "Right now your medical records are scattered here and there. You don't really have easy access to them."

With Quinn's program, medical notes and patient tests can be downloaded onto a cell phone in just minutes. "Let's say, for example, I had done a scan here and had picked up a narrowed blood vessel coming down the surface of the heart. That would be visible on this 3D model," Dr. Wright says.

All the data on a phone is stored in the memory expansion slot. In these medical phones, however, Instead of music and digital pictures, it could hold a virtual scan of the body and much more. "It really does provide a, an on going, growing medical record that they can always have with them," Dr. Wright tells DBIS.

The 3D mobile medical data program should be available within a year. Quinn's program isn't limited to medical information. He says students will be able to retrieve science and other information on their cell phones during class.

BACKGROUND: Half a billion cell phones are sold each year, and within two years most of these will be inter-connected devices and contain built-in 2D/3D graphics accelerators. Scientists may be able to use these devices to disseminate visual information and scientific data, such as real-time molecular and medical data. For developing countries in particular, the cell phone will become their first and/or primary computing device. It's high-end data visualization for the masses.

MAKING PHONES SMARTER: So-called "smartphones" relate to a single device that can take care of all your handheld computing and communications needs in a single small package, integrating digital photography, cellular communication, calendars and address books, GPS navigation, email, and even play music or games. The biggest advantage is that smartphones allow users to install, configure and run their favorite applications, creating individual, tailor-made service. In contrast, most standard cell-phone software offers only limited configurations for personalizing the device.

ABOUT GRAPHICS ACCELERATORS: A graphics accelerator is a type of video adapter that contains its own microprocessor, enabling higher performance. It has its own memory for storing graphical representations. Among other advantages, graphics accelerators free up the computer's central processing unit. The CPU can do other tasks while the graphics accelerator is processing the graphics. When computation tasks are divided in this way, it is known as "load balancing." Today, graphics accelerators are not just an enhancement, but a necessity, and are bundled automatically into mid-range and high-range computers.

GOING DIGITAL: Digital cell phones use the same radio technology as analog phones, but unlike analog signals, digital signals can be compressed and manipulated to fit more calls onto a given bandwidth. It's also why more cable companies are switching to digital to gain more channels. Using digital cell phones, three to ten digital calls can occupy the same space as a single analog call.

Todays Headline :Private Forums in Drupal : Drupal Notes.

groups.drupal.org serves the Drupal community by providing a place for groups to organize, plan and work on projects. Real world local user groups in particular are encouraged to setup their online presence here.

http://groups.drupal.org/

Drupal Notes: http://www.group42.ca/drupal

Drupal Association : http://association.drupal.org/

Top 7 Useful Adobe AIR Applications for Bloggers!!

Adobe AIR aims to facilitate access to web apps and services from your desktop. I was introduced to Adobe AIR applications just a few days back and now I am totally addicted to them. Out of a number of Adobe AIR apps that I tried and tested, here’s a compilation of the top 10 which bloggers would love to have in their armoury.

But before that just make sure you have the latest version of Adobe AIR installed on your system. You can get it from here.

1. Google Analytics Reporting Suite

The Google Analytics Reporting Suite brings Google Analytics to the desktop. You can access your blog’s traffic statistics from your Desktop itself - you need not necessarily login to the analytics website.

2. ReadAir

As mentioned before, you can access Google Reader from your desktop using this Adobe AIR application. ReadAIR’s features include:

• Mac themed scrollbars and form elements
• Add/Remove/Manage tags
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe from feeds
• Search your feeds
• Auto software update

Another similar app is the Fresh RSS Reader

3. Twhirl

Twhirl is again a desktop twitter client, based on the Adobe AIR platform.

Some of twhirl’s features are:

• connects to multiple Twitter and Friendfeed accounts, cross-post updates to Pownce and Jaiku
• notifications on new tweets
• post images to TwitPic
• search tweets using TweetScan
• timeline filtering
• localized to English, German, Italian and Spanish

4. Webkut

WebKut is an Adobe AIR application that allows you to capture web pages, or parts of them in a very simple way. It provides you 3 capture options: the entire page, the current view, or only a selection.

5. AIRPress

AIRPress is rich blog editor. You can create new posts, and manage your WordPress blogs AIRPress. The only issue is that it requires an older version of Adobe AIR (i.e., Adobe AIR beta 2)

6. Color Browser

Colour Browser lets you create and organize your favourite colour palettes. Sets of colours are easily viewable in a clean interface. Edit them, rearrange them, create new sets, and make your own. This is a must have application if you are going to design your blog theme or redesign an existing blog template.

7. ShifD

With ShifD, you can create notes and bookmark websites. You can add content with tags that are easily editable. These are then synced, and you’ll be able to access them from your mobile too.

I hope you like the above mentioned applications. If you know any other apps that may be useful to bloggers, please tell us in the comments.

Think Today: What is the commonest problem we face today? Too much efficiency and not enough effectiveness.

Efficiency is based on doing what you already do — only faster and cheaper. Effectiveness comes from doing whatever you need to do to be a success. Since that is often something new and different, you’re usually not that efficient (at least at first). That’s why efficiency is what keeps dying businesses (and careers) afloat, while effectiveness is what launches new ones into the stratosphere.

Building effectiveness into your life
Look at your own life and work. Are you fixated on being more efficient: on doing more and more of what you already do (though perhaps more easily, cheaply, and with less effort)? Or are you looking to make yourself more effective: to learn new skills, add new experiences, become more creative, and follow your ideas wherever they may take you?
Many people rush about being efficient while strangling their effectiveness. They follow the latest fads in time management and personal productivity, yet cannot spare a moment to discover if what they are getting done so much faster and more easily is worth doing at all.
Here’s the fundamental difference: efficiency tries to save time to do more of the same. Effectiveness uses time to avoid doing only what you have done before, in favor of working out how to do something better. And since time cannot be saved — you can’t store it somewhere to use later — only redirected, saving time to do more of the same is no saving at all. Only by choosing to use your time in new and different ways can you let go of the past to find what the future will offer you.

India's best-known soldier dies!

The Indian general who commanded the military campaign that led to the creation of Bangladesh has died at the age of 94.
Sam Manekshaw, whose career spanned four decades, was one of India's best known and well-respected soldiers.
Under the British, he was decorated for gallantry in World War II for his part fighting the Japanese army in Burma.
After India gained independence, he became chief of the army in 1969 and in 1973 was made field marshal.
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw: Hero or villain?

http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/field-marshal-sam-manekshaw-hero-or-villain/

Flexible working attracts IT staff - 25th June 2008

Flexible working is second only to salary in attracting IT professionals to accept a new job.

Despite the attraction of working for home or part time, research by UK online recruitment site www.theitjobboard.co.uk revealed that the IT industry has a long way to go to truly embrace flexible working. Although 61% of IT professionals said they worked flexibly, almost half believed their company had yet to adapt to the whole flexible working culture. For that reason, a fifth of the respondents to the survey thought that flexible working affected their chances of promotion.

Alex Farrell, managing director of www.theitjobboard.co.uk, said that offering flexibility could be a key to attracting staff and combating the skills shortage.

"A flexible working policy is essential to many female IT professionals because it allows them to balance the demands of their career with family and childcare commitments. Employers have no time to lose in introducing this practice," said Farrell.

New Blog arrived : http://steps2invest.blogspot.com/

http://steps2invest.blogspot.com

This blog is an attempt to learn and share about Personal Finance.

I’ve tried to run away from finance. Maybe because I was not able to understand the jargons and the maths. But I guess ignoring personal finance worsens the situation. And the only way to get maximum out of your personal finance is to look it into its eye and grapple with it. You will come out stronger.

Check this out!

Top Story : Indian students are the best,rates Oxford University!

The Oxford University considers Indian students among the best in the world and would like more of them joining its campus, Chancellor Chris Patten has said. The university, which produced the likes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has presently 257 Indian students on roll.

Todays Head Line : What are Stocks and should you invest in Stocks?

When you buy a share of a company you become a shareholder in that company. Shares are also known as Equities. Equities have the potential to increase in value over time. It also provides your portfolio with the growth necessary to reach your long term investment goals. Research studies have proved that the equities have outperformed most other forms of investments in the long term

This may be illustrated with the help of following examples:
a) Over a 15 year period between 1990 to 2005, Nifty has given an annualised return of 17%.

b) Mr. Raj invests in Nifty on January 1, 2000 (index value 1592.90).The Nifty value as of end December 2005 was 2836.55. Holding this investment over this period Jan 2000 to Dec 2005 he gets a return of 78.07%. Investment in shares of ONGC Ltd for the same period gave a return of 465.86%, SBI 301.17% and Reliance 281.42%

Therefore, Equities are considered the most challenging and the rewarding, when compared to other investment options. Research studies have proved that investments in some shares with a longer tenure of investment have yielded far superior returns than any other investment.

What precautions must one take before investing in the stock markets? Here are some useful pointers to bear in mind before you invest in the markets:
# All investments carry risk of some kind. Investors should always know the risk that they are taking and invest in a manner that matches their risk tolerance.
# Do not be misled by market rumours, luring advertisement or ‘hot tips’ of the day.
# Take informed decisions by studying the fundamentals of the company. Find out the business the company is into, its future prospects, quality of management, past track record etc
# Sources of knowing about a company are through annual reports, economic magazines, databases available with vendors or your financial advisor.
# If your financial advisor or broker advises you to invest in a company you have never heard of, be cautious. Spend some time checking out about the company before investing.
# Do not be attracted by announcements of fantastic results/news reports, about a company. Do your own research before investing in any stock.
# Do not be attracted to stocks based on what an internet website promotes, unless you have done adequate study of the company.
# Investing in very low priced stocks or what are known as penny stocks does not guarantee high returns.
# Be cautious about stocks which show a sudden spurt in price or trading activity.
# Any advise or tip that claims that there are huge returns expected, especially for acting quickly, may be risky and may to lead to losing some, most, or all of your money.

Though direct stocks have the ability to give the best returns, please see the time and effort required to be able to get the best out of it.

ICANN to vote on internationalized domain names! Tuesday, June 24, 2008 !

The organization that manages the world's most important Web address extensions--what goes after the dot in a URL--is to hold a vote on Thursday that could see an entire new generation of URLs made possible.

Proposals that could be voted through at the board meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) include the introduction of internationalised domain names--those that do not use Latin characters--and companies being allowed to create their own top-level domains (TLDs) instead of using, for example, .com or .net. The highly contentious .xxx domain extension could also finally become a reality.

The policies that are to be voted on have taken around three years and US$10 million (£5 million) to formulate, ICANN president Paul Twomey told ZDNet Asia's sister site ZDNet UK on Monday. "This is the first time [ICANN will be voting on] the detail of how [such] applications would work," said Twomey. "The vote on Thursday will essentially be the board saying 'yes' or 'no' as to whether [these new domain extensions are] implementable."

Twomey said a 'yes' vote on the proposals would be followed by more work to turn them into legal propositions, which would then need further approval before turning into reality. There would also need to be a four-month public notification period, so applications would probably only be invited from the end of the first quarter next year, he added. "The excitement [on Thursday] is the confirmation of the policy, potentially, and people seeing how the whole thing will work," he said.

If the proposals go through, almost any extension will theoretically become possible, as long as it is 64 characters or less. Therefore, the .xxx domain extension could become possible as long as a suitable registrar is found--ICANN sunk the last such application in 2007, considering ICM Registry's application to be unsuitable. Companies or other organisations with trademarked names, however, will gain priority.

Guiness World Record Certificate in your name - Firefox 3!

On June 17th 2008, Firefox decided to set the Guiness Book of World Record for the most downloaded software in 24 hours. Mozilla foundation urged its users the world over to update their browsers by downloading the latest version namely Firefox 3. And the response was so massive on the D-Day that, there was an outage at the Mozilla data center for several hours. Once the servers were back online, the downloading continued and Firefox set the world record well within the 24 hours.

The record is 15,067,570 downloads (15 Million). Country wise, USA tops the list with a whooping 4 million + downloads. Surprisingly, sans the US, relatively small countries like Iran and France clocked more downloads than its larger counterparts like India and China.

If you are one of the people who downloaded Firefox on June 17th, then congratulations !!; You are a part of the Guiness Book of World Records. And the people at Firefox are ever too grateful to forget your valuable contribution.

So go ahead and download your own personalized Guiness Book of World Records Certificate (Ahem ... Firefox 3 Download Day Certificate that is) for helping set the record.

Companies Can Make Money With Widget Ads!

Selling advertising on entertainment-focused widgets such as Scrabulous or Zombies is about as easy as spinning straw into gold, yet there are plenty of people trying. And there are ways of generating revenue through specially focused widgets designed solely to sell rather than toss sheep. Brand and comparison advertising done through ad-focused widgets is emerging as a viable way of using the ubiquitous applications. Widgets’ interactive features, their ability to be virally distributed and potentially be placed on a target’s own page makes the creations appealing to advertisers.
Where that leaves startups such as RockYou and Slide, which develop entertainment widgets, and the ad networks that cater to those applications, is still unclear. I’m waiting to see if enough users buy into ads shown on their fun widgets or click through enough transactional widgets to make a viable business. However, existing online ad networks and possibly a few new widget creation and advertising firms are already proving that widgets aren’t just fun and games.
WidgetBucks is one such widget-creation/ad network company making money with this approach. CEO and Chairman Matt Hulett says the company sees click-through rates of 0.5 percent to 1 percent with its ads, which resemble interactive, dynamic banner ads. The company expects to pull in $10 million in sales this year. The company’s approach, however, has come with its share of drama, as some publishers have complained about WidgetBucks’ rates and practices.
When it comes to making his widgets a success for advertisers, Hulett based his design on the theory that people using widgets for fun aren’t expecting to be engaged in commerce, but people in other venues (such as those reading a product blog, for example) might welcome widget advertising that shows the latest deals on a device.
“It’s kind of like pre-roll advertising,” Hulett said. “It’s really hard when the context is around having fun. People do not like monetization in front of those platforms and the CPMs are awful.”
A similar approach to using a widget as a more interactive ad rather than entertainment is Toyota’s new campaign for its Scion vehicles, which launched on Tuesday. This is an example of widgets as brand advertisement, which can be spread virally around the Internet. The idea is that consumers use the widgets on social media sites as an identification of their aspirations, much like one might wear a Nike shirt.
Adrian Si, an interactive marketing manager for Scion, says the firm is using widgets as an extension of the rich media banner ads it runs through Interpolls. Si is hoping to achieve the same 1 percent to 2 percent click-through rate Scion sees using Interpolls’ rich media banners. That translates to a 4 percent to 5 percent engagement rate. Scion will measure both click-throughs as well as the number of times the widget is installed on someone’s site.
“This could be more valuable [than banner ads],” says Si. “Obviously, it shows they have a lot of interest in the brand. On their MySpace pages they can put a whole bunch of stuff, so it must have meaning to them. It’s also an opportunity to get our brand in front of them every day.”
Listening to these two companies I realized that widgets aren’t a new business, but rather a new form of advertising and entertainment. Those focused on advertising are making money; the question is, will the ones focused on entertainment do so, too?

What’s Hot for 2008? by Kevin Wheeler.

I am always looking for trends or emerging practices that are changing, or at least influencing, the way we source and recruit talent. The Internet is the engine that drives all the innovation we are seeing and has already, in little more than a decade, revolutionized how we attract, find, assess, and even communicate with candidates and how they interact with organizations.
Over the past year, several applications and new tools have appeared that are both exciting and a little frightening. Some of them will most likely go nowhere. They are just too edgy to ever become mainstream. Others may turn out to be the dominant tools of the next few decades.
Here is a look at some that I see as significant. Please send me your ideas on what other tools, applications, or practices may emerge as key.
Web 2.0 Interactive Websites
The emergence of Web 2.0 websites is going to change the face of recruiting. We are finally seeing some really cool tools that allow any size organization to put up a great recruiting website. One of the best of the tools is provided by Standout Jobs. By using a flexible modular approach, a recruiting team can put together websites with video, pictures, blogs and many other applications. Take a look at Yoonew or Zurb for some examples of what they provide. Some organizations are also putting together career sites using Ning, which also uses a modular approach to website design.
Simulations for Screening
For a long time now, organizations have used paper-and-pencil tests to assess candidates’ personality, cultural fit, intelligence, and aptitude. Some of the tests have been adapted for the Internet, although they still emulate the old paper-and-pencil tests. Recently, online simulations have emerged, especially in assessing call center staff and other positions where skills are straight-forward and success measurable in quantitative ways.
Firms offering simulation advice or tools include Rocket Hire, a consultancy led by Charles Handler in New Orleans, a simulation for real estate professionals provided by Real Estate Simulator, Previsor, and FurstPerson, which specializes in call center screening simulations. The Shaker Consulting Group in Ohio is also developing some very interesting Flash-based simulations that mark the beginning of creating simulations for management and other positions. Some clients include CVS, Starbucks, Diebold, and National City Bank.
Candidate/Position Matching Tools
Right along with an increased interest in assessment are tools that will attempt to match candidates to positions. There are several similar tools in this category including JobFox, which has been around for several years, Itzbig, which I wrote about last July, and QuietAgent, which has also been available for several years now. The tools offer anonymous matching where neither the candidate nor the organization know each other until each has expressed interest. They all urge candidates to create extensive profiles that include screening and assessment data. The more complete the candidate’s profile, the more successful the matching process.
Over the next five years, we will see a steady increase in the number of tools and the amount of energy that will be used to apply more stringent competency criteria to positions to meet legal requirements and to improve the quality of hires.
The continued growth of social networks sped to the forefront of the news in 2007, and this year, it will continue to evolve as a useful recruiting tool. LinkedIn is the largest and most well-known among professionals, but young candidates are being wooed through Facebook and MySpace. Lots of younger folks gauge your brand and your “coolness” factor by whether or not you have a profile on these social networks.
The U.S. Marine Corps has a profile and has easily met its recruiting goals this year. KPMG’s video-based profile showcases the capabilities. Many hundreds of other American and international organizations have profiles as well. Individuals are also creating their own recruiting-oriented profiles, in effect online resumes, and are assuming that recruiters will search through them.
MySpace and Facebook are examples of “destination sites,” or websites that are visited every day. They become portals to connect with friends, to share ideas and communicate, to set up collaborative work spaces, to meet new people, and to look for employers. Smart recruiting organizations will be designing profiles and will be experimenting with ways to use these types of destination sites more effectively.
Recruitment Processing Outsourcing
RPO has grown in popularity this year as recruiting management figures out what should be outsourced and what shouldn’t be. Last year, many organizations made the mistake of seeing RPO as a cheap solution to their recruiting dilemmas. This year, there is a better understanding that RPO can be a real help in filling specific types of positions, may improve the speed to present a candidate and time to fill, but it may not result in lower costs. Small organizations are finding that the right RPO provider can replace their recruiting function and deliver great results. Like all outsourcing efforts, choosing an RPO requires good planning, specific goals, and a careful search for the right RPO firm.
RPO is becoming better defined and a non-profit association, The RPO Association is attempting to define and apply standards to the industry to improve acceptance and quality.
Emergent Worlds
Other areas of excitement include the use of virtual or emergent worlds, for example, Second Life. Manpower is an example of an attempt to use Second Life as a recruiting tool. The jury is still out on how this will evolve, but hats off to Manpower for leading the effort!
While this list is far from comprehensive, I hope it provides some food for thought and a bit of introduction to what is coming.

The pros and cons of SharePoint !!

PROS:

• Biggest strength: collaboration features and forcing compliance with information management policies.

OTHER STRENGTHS:

• Blogs are built into every My Site
• Wikis are out of the box
• Reports – the ability to display and work with data from an Xcel worksheet.
• Simple to use out-of-the-box
• Search is very fast
• Contributing content is simple
• Direct integration with Office (XP to 2007)
• Most functionality “exposed” through web services (e.g. all content can be subscribed to via RSS)
• Mobile views via a PDA or phone is out-of-the-box
• Alerts and workflow (though limited to email notification)
• WSRP and SAP integration is included

I would add that if you’re an enterprise Microsoft customer, you can get MOSS for very cheap if not free (but the licensing typically represents 10-30% of the total cost). As well, simple out-of-the-box SharePoint management needs little to no training.

CONS:

• Biggest weakness: Records management and digital asset management (non existent).

OTHER WEAKNESSES:

• The wiki piece is a little weak (“The rumor is that the wiki and blog components were very late additions… they work very well, but the functionality is considerably lower than what you would expect from an enterprise deployment.”)
• Sharepoint does not support AJAX (though there are work-arounds, MS will not support AJAX)
• Customization can be expensive and complex (and limited)
• Content management (“It’s very average content management… its not very fabulous.”)
• Analytics are very, very simple
• Non-Active Directory authentication capabilities
• Social networking built into MySites
• Search returns documents and people
• WSRP and SAP integration is not terribly strong, but it works.

I would add the following weaknesses: immature technology, weak templates, and a reputation for weak service and training.

Shawn’s recommendations when considering or implementing SharePoint:

• Understand information quantities and needs
• Don’t just throw collaboration tools out there (he cited one client with “out-of-control” team sites and SharePoint sprawl)
• Establish & enforce standards for use
• Establish and closely monitor metrics for content creation
• Continually evaluate and adjust approach to match reality
• Enforce workspace use metrics
• Notify of non-use after 60 days
• Four notifications
• Delete after fourth notification
• Use workflow to suspend assets
• Re-map and migrate intranet sites into Sharepoint
• Use Search to Capture Outlying Sites
• Create a controlled vocabulary (taxonomy and meta data)
• Measure and measure again
• Track search requests against workgroup assets

Shawn’s advice of what not to do:

• Enforcing standards inappropriate for collaborative environment (ditch the Big Brother persona)
• Repeat monolithic hierarchy (reduce the red tape)
• Exclude active participants / authors
• Ignore advantages of “competing” tools (e.g. Lotus SameTime)
• Search results must be validated and in context

By the way… the next version of Sharepoint will be released in 2010 along with Office version 14 (MS is superstitiously skipping version 13).

10 best excuses for coming to work late!

Some people wake up each morning before the alarm rings, glad to see the glowing sun and excited to start the day.
They arrive to work whistling and are hard at work before most people even arrive. These rare creatures, also known as "morning people," are incomprehensible to those of you whose morning routines are exercises in panic and frustration.
A lot more people belong in that latter group than you might have guessed. Fifteen percent of workers admit to arriving late at least once a week, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey.
Why are so many of us running late?
You might be surprised that the snooze button is not the primary culprit of tardiness.
Thirty-two percent of workers attribute their late arrivals to traffic gridlock. Seventeen percent claim a lack of sleep is the reason, and 7 percent have trouble arriving on time because they need to get their children ready for school or day care.
Other issues, like forgetting something at home or not feeling well, are also popular.
Fortunately for late arrivers, 43 percent of hiring managers won't count tardiness against you as long as you meet deadlines and turn in good work.
Of course, some managers feel differently and will hand you a pink slip if you're late several times within a year.
Use your imagination
More than 27 percent of hiring managers say they are skeptical of employees' excuses for showing up late. It turns out their doubt is warranted: 24 percent of all employees decide to make up a fake excuse rather than tell the truth.
What does this mean to you?
If you're sitting in a traffic jam watching the minutes tick away and you've decided honesty isn't the best policy for you, think of a believable and acceptable reason you're walking in late.
After all, if you were a hiring manager who heard any of these 10 real-life excuses for being late, you'd be suspicious, too.
1. While rowing across the river to work, I got lost in the fog.
2. Someone stole all my daffodils.
3. I had to go audition for American Idol.
4. My ex-husband stole my car so I couldn't drive to work.
5. My route to work was shut down by a Presidential motorcade.
6. I have transient amnesia and couldn't remember my job.
7. I was indicted for securities fraud this morning.
8. The line was too long at Starbucks.
9. I was trying to get my gun back from the police.
10. I didn't have money for gas because all of the pawn shops were closed.
Be a crowd-pleaser
When it comes to punctuality, your best bet is to take cues from your company's culture. If everyone is diligently working when you drag yourself through the door each morning, then you probably stand out.
However, if everyone filters in at their own pace between 8:45 and 9:15, then an occasional late arrival will probably go unnoticed.
Habitual lateness, on the other hand, will help neither your career prospects nor your workplace relationships. For one thing, your boss and co-workers are relying on you to be at work when you're scheduled to arrive; you don't want to disappoint them.
Also, just because nobody confronts you about your tardiness, that doesn't mean no one's watching the clock and forming an opinion about you or your work ethic.
These judgments can damage you when it comes to performance reviews and promotions. Don't let a few extra minutes of sleep cost you your reputation -- or worse, your job.

Orissa wants to be called Odisha!!

Orissa wants its name to be changed to Odisha and the state's language from Oriya to Odia.The state Cabinet has passed a proposal to introduce a bill in this regard during coming monsoon session of the Assembly, chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy said.It will require making an amendment to the Constitution, he said on Monday.According to Home Secretary T K Mishra, the state's name has been wrongly spelt in the Constitution. Ever since the BJD-BJP government came to power in 2000, it has been demanding the change.Mishra said that though the state's name is written as Udisa in Hindi and Orissa in English, the real name is Odisha.Similarly, the state's language is written as Udiya in Hindi and Oriya in English while it should be Odia.''We hope that the Constitution will be amended accordingly to effect the changes in this regard by end of this year,'' Mishra said.The government's move to amend constitution was praised by all many, including former Chief Minister and leader of opposition J B Patnaik.It should be done soon, he said while noted novelist Santanu Acharya complimented everybody associated with the move.''It is the question of state's pride,'' said Acharya.

Obama seeks Hanuman's blessings in race to White House!

It's unusual. But, it's a fact. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic party's presidential nominee, is seeking the blessings of Lord Hanuman in his battle for the White House.The 46-year-old senator from Illinois, who defeated his rival Hillary Clinton in an epic 17-month long electoral battle for Democratic party nomination, carries a ''tiny monkey god'' apparently representing ''Hanuman'' with him for good luck.A recent photo posted on Time's White House Photo of the Day collection shows the first ever Black-American nominee in the race to the White House carries with him a bracelet belonging to an American soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler's lucky chit, a tiny monkey god, tiny Madonna and child.That ''tiny monkey god,'' of course, appears to be a statue of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman, says the posting but editors and the photographer has not identified it as such. Obama, whose father was a Kenyan and mother a white woman from Kansas, spent initial days of his life in Indonesia where Hinduism is a popular religion.In addition to a lucky penny, Republican candidate John McCain carries a lucky nickel, and a lucky rubber band, which he wears around his wrist.

‘The Happening’ is set to release on June 13!

Manoj Night Shyamalan , the Hollywood director of Indian origin, says his upcoming film ‘The Happening’ is his scariest film yet.
Presently in India to receive the Padma Shri, one of the country's highest civilian awards, Shayamalan spoke to reporters in Mumbai about his next film starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel in leading roles.
The film, a dark, paranormal thriller, tells the story of an estranged couple trying to survive a global crisis.
“It is an extremely scary movie. This is meant to scare you,” Shayamalan told the curious reporters in Mumbai.

Mark (Wahlberg)
“The emotional center of the movie is if you knew you were going to die, if that was a fact, what would your conversation be like? What would be the last thing you would say to your loved one?” Shyamalan said.
Like some of Shayamalan’s previous films like ‘The Sixth Sense’ (starring Bruce Willis), ‘Unbreakable’ (Willis again) and ‘Signs’ (Mel Gibson), ‘The Happening’ too stars an action hero in a non-action role.
“I like to cast action stars and then not let them do action roles. They still bring an energy to the movie…You would never have seen Mark (Wahlberg) in a role like this. He's human, sweet and funny. He plays an ordinary school teacher who is not going to come up with a genius plan to save the world,” says Shyamalan whose last film ‘Lady In The Water’ was a flop.
‘The Happening’ is set to release on June 13. The date 13, considered unlucky by many, is reported to be deliberately chosen by Shyamalan.