• Registration of Complaint in a written form to the local police station to procure the FIR
• At least half-a-day and a minimum payment of 1500 Rs (depends on the mobile cost)
• FIR will be given only after 1- 2 days and it will cost you at least Rs 500 to Rs 1000
• You will have to lodge one more complaint with the Assistant Commissioner of Police and get it registered after showing the FIR to them. Time taken will be one or two days with a minimum cost of Rs 2500
• With the letter from Commissioner, you approach the service provider to block your mobile. It takes at least half-a-day to meet the person. But wait, now they will ask you to wait for 72 hours to get your mobile blocked!
  

Do any of these ring a bell?

Chances are that you are sitting next to computer, wondering why a corporate blogger is concerned about your health. With MGL’s Health Week concluding last Friday, I felt a strong urge to stop being callous about my health. It’s the simplest of matters yet also something that is ridiculously overshadowed by project deadlines and coffee breaks.

By no stretch of the imagination am I a health freak. I am just as uninspired as the guy sitting next to me (only difference being that he is averse to tobacco while I am quite the fan of it) when it concerns fitness or heath issues. Being a joint coordinator for an internal Health Week event teaches you valuable lessons. One is to smile more often at people if you are going to bother them later for getting their help. More importantly, it gives you the benefit of constantly thinking about health issues. Doesn’t sound too exciting, does it? Well, four days later…it feels good (I would love to say ‘exciting’ but then I would be lying).

With four days allocated for the event, we organized an eye camp, a blood donation camp, a fitness workshop and a stress management session. With tremendous response from everyone at office, it truly seemed like people were starting to give their daily health schedule a bit of serious thought.

The good people, who conducted all those seminars and workshops, were also kind enough not to impose themselves on the MGL employees. They parted with condensed advice about what we could do to make a body a healthier one. Cutting down on two cigarettes a day or sticking to vegetables during lunch didn’t seem like too much effort. Taking regular walks, using the staircase to reach your office floor and doing basic stretching exercises to break the monotony of staring at your computer – all seemed to be perfectly fair things to ask of a corporate employee.

And the best part is that you don’t have organize a Health Week at office to understand any of this.

TAGS:
healthy, fitness, Health Week,calories, stress

I have had trouble sleeping ever since I discovered how engaging the human mind and late night television can be. That was over a decade ago. Fast-forward to now, I came across a survey conducted by the Sleep Council (I am not making this up, it actually exists!). The fine people at Sleep Council have come to a conclusion that many people are losing sleep thanks to technology advancements. They even go on to claim that this disrupts relationships.

Granted that only 1,400 people were polled, I really find it hard to associate too much accuracy to these results. But it did get me wondering about another pertinent issue. A lot of my fellows IT-ians complain about not having the time these days to stop and smell the roses. A few sentimental ones have even disclosed to me that they no longer smile at their neighbours (why aren’t they on Orkut, my friends quizzically wonder).

I neither talk to my neighbours nor do I care about roses, but it would be obstinate of me not to admit that time is slowly slipping away from our hands, especially from IT-ians. With the new wave of corporate culture blurring the lines between work and social behaviour, the results of that survey seem all the more practical.

I guess priorities change and along with it, habits change too. With the mix of hectic work schedule and cutting-edge technology products, where’s the time for anything else? Quite a scary thing it is to notice how people’s preferences have evolved. Product launch parties over politics. Late night conference calls over a laidback dinner. Facebook over facials. Apple iPhones over asking your mom if she had a pleasant day.

While I don’t completely subscribe to this logic, I must say that it’s spreading fast.

So go home late after work today…put your mobile on charge after sending the obligatory messages, change the playlist on your iPod, analyze your social status on Orkut or Facebook and check your blog to see if anyone has commented on your recent post.

Have a cup of milk and honestly tell me…do you have time for anything else?

TAGS:
sleep, surveys, corporate culture,Facebook, Orkut

I have often heard that women are from Venus and men are from Mars. Beyond planetary discussions, the differences and similarities between the genders have always been a matter of fascination to me. I can safely say that from a corporate perspective, it shows up in many ways too. From office etiquette to approval forms, the corporate sector is faced with a lot of gender dissimilarities. While surfing the net casually on Women’s Day (not to say that I don’t work on Women’s Day), I got the feeling that I have been missed out on a huge trend that has already taken off in full spree.

I am talking about “Women’s Entrepreneurial Business" trend. Heaving a sigh of triumph (every effort taken not to sound like Arundati Roy!), I started and browsed through the Entrepreneur site and found a tiny link that took me to this website.With excitement and elation, I eagerly anticipated this website to be an action packed one, especially tailored to cater to the “female niche”.

A look at the two entrepreneur websites also indicates that they are quite similar except for few cosmetic changes. As I went further comparing randomly selected articles, I found to my dismay that that the “women’s website” is a little shallow and never really addresses the point directly, while the regular site (which links to articles of both websites) has some solid content, which actually giving practical tips for successful entrepreneurship. The women’s website looked more like a search engine, giving anything but relevant information!

Then a burning question sprang to my mind - why do women need a special website to explain business to them? My humble feeling is that women entrepreneurship definitely commands much more professionalism than is actually given. It is absolutely necessary for the marketing departments to actually delve deeper into the specific online preferences of the female niche before going ahead with their related activities.

TAGS:
corporate gender, Women’s Day, Women Entrepreneurs,entrepreneurship, genders

“The next generation DVD format war is over. Blu-ray wins.”

I stumbled across this bit of news during my daily battle to combat self-ignorance (it’s amazing how well informed you feel when you read Google News…or maybe it’s just me). I felt a little outdated since I had no clue that a technology war not involving Microsoft or Yahoo was going on. I decided to bit more research.

In one corner, we have the HD DVD format. HD stands for High Definition and this high-density optical disc was widely touted to be successor to the normal DVD format. In the other corner, we have Blu-Ray disc. It uses a blue-violet laser to read and write data.

I’d rather not bore you technical details regarding the size of their respective surface layers and apertures. I am going to assume that you don’ want to hear me ramble on about the fact that Blu-ray, unlike HD DVD, is fingerprint resistant since it requires a hard coating on its discs and because it's 0.5m closer to the surface.

Let me just say that because of Blu-Ray’s shorter wavelength, more amount of data can be stored on it. And that’s also why Blu-Ray costs more than HD.

Apparently the year 2000 was when the DVD format wars as various companies started experimenting with new blue lasers in optical disc systems. By 2005, Blu-ray Disc Association and DVD Forum attempted held talks to reach a decision that could have ultimately prevented the format wars. However, negotiations got stalled and eventually got dropped. One of the issues was that Blu-Ray intended on using Java-based platform for interactivity but the DVD Forum was hoping for them to use Microsoft’s HD Interactivity platform that they were promoting at that time. Even Hewlett Packard’s last- ditch attempt to make peace by issuing an informal ultimatum to Blu-Ray association fell through. HP had demanded that they stick to the HDi platform, but of course, Blu-Ray would have none of this. They declined.

And fast-forwarding to now…Toshiba, the leading partner in the HD DVD corner, has announced that they are “withdrawing production of HD DVD hardware and software, and that sales and support of existing products will end sometime in March.” Toshiba’s resignation as one of HD’s supporters has apparently signaled the end of the format wars, as now Blu-Ray can proudly showcase its technical and commercial superiority.

A bit more digging into this issue had me thinking that whether or not this victory is a major surprise. Not too long ago, global giants like Warner Bros, Wal-Mart, Sony and Netflix left the HD way and jumped on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, which I am sure was a key factor in drawing the curtains on this battle. Also, Wal-Mart’s decision to withdraw HD DVD software and hardware certainly swung the momentum in Blu-Ray’s favor.

Wasn’t it a few months ago that HD DVD were promoting their Christmas sale of sub $100 players, hoping that the consumers would be drawn in for the sheer cheapness of it all! And now, I’m sure that the prospects of buying sub $100 Blu Ray DVD players will give the American consumer what they have been hoping for since the iPhone – high technology at a low price.

From a personal point of view, one particular aspect bothered me. A colleague of mine found out that I was writing about this topic and stood right behind my cabin, sighing heavily. “This sucks because Blu-Ray discs cannot be cracked. And now we might have to start paying original prices for DVDs. We, the customers, are the losers in this war.”

A few minutes later, I found out that he was right. I stopped typing and went to the pantry to drown my sorrow in a cup of coffee.

I really ought to change my stance on poetic justice in the consumer market.

TAGS:
HD DVD, Blu Ray, Toshiba, Wal Mart, DVD format war, HD vs Blu Ray

I have provided these two passages just to give you guys a glimpse of the language barriers that the Indian traveler normally faces while visiting USA or UK.  You could find at least 15 words in about 5 sentences, which are different between these 2 passages. Hence I opined that before our fellow professionals reach abroad, they should be exposed to such of those commonly used words, which are different from our existing conventions.

AMERICAN WAY

In the early morning during the fall season, being a legal holiday, I packed up our items in the trunk of our automobile and set out to catch the flight to enjoy the vacation.  Since the check-in line was lengthy, I bought chips & cookies for a tenner bill and spent time in munching them.  I was quite comfortable in my pants, slack and sweater.  My wife had kept our baby’s diapers in the cart while moving up the line. While waiting in the line, I received many calls in my cell.

BRITISH WAY

In the early morning during the Autumn season, being a bank holiday,  I packed up our items in the boot of our car and set out to catch the flight to enjoy the holiday.  Since the check-in queue was lengthy, I bought crisps & biscuits for a tenner note and spent the time in munching them.  I was quite comfortable in my trousers, shirt and jumper.  My wife had kept our baby’s nappies in the trolley while moving up the queue.  While waiting in the queue, I received too many calls in my mobile.

Download the full list of commonly used words in both US and UK

TAGS:
American, British, traveler, language

Ever heard the expression - it's a tough job but somebody has to do it? Well, cold calling is the epitome of this! Don't believe us? Just take a listen to MGL's very own Jungle Raja as he sweats blood, bullets and nerves to rap out the Cold Caller Anthem.

He puts the hip in the hop and comes out on top and with your support, he ain't never gonna stop.

Here's JUNGLE RAJA!

Here we go again…another battle to fight for getting my thoughts posted on MGL Unplugged. I have promised the Webmaster that I wouldn’t sound too anarchistic…oh well I can safely say that I tried!

It is one 'o' clock in the afternoon, and one can hear loads of grumbling noises in and around office pantries (lunchrooms) in Indian IT organizations. Eager stomachs battling hunger are in direct conflict with employees’ minds as their sad faces make that "oh no not again" expression.

Of course, every now and then, the lunch providers at our desi corporate canteens decide to surprise us and change the menu. And this could only mean that the good people at the canteen have decided that they should no longer serves us tasteless curry…instead they start serving tasteless pepper water (yeah I am talking about that cup of hot water with slice tomato in it).

There is a famous management quote that says, "Every product produced can be sold no matter what, if you know to present and sell them well". This is probably the first thing that comes to people’s minds when they see such changes in the lunch menu.

There are other subtle changes too. New varieties of soup, Russian salads (which are vile enough to wipe out hordes of Russian mobs) and little cups of unrecognizable substances that at some point or other grew on trees. Let me make a special mention of the soup. Containing flavors would make Dr. John T. Dorrance regret why he came with this idea.

Now I ask you, dear friends…what's the point?

Despite all these supposed changes, I am quite sure that foodies working in Indian IT companies still end up eating stuff that should rightfully be on sale at E-bay under “canned exotic food that sucks”.

And I wonder, are we asking for too much? Is it really too much to expect curry to taste like curry or the soup to taste at least half of how an actual soup should taste (what can I say, I have low expectations!). The proverbial icing on the cake is the fancy sweet that corporate caterers often provide at the end of the meal. Needless to say, the only thing that employees can be sure of is that sugar played a role during the preparation of this dish…sounds yummy right?

The one and only good thing that permeates most Indian IT canteens is the curd. Sweet, blissful, simple and tasty curd. A few offices are even known to ruin this too by serving curd rice with pieces of fruits (mostly pomegranates). This tastes like ketchup on banana. Yeah it’s that bad. I sincerely hope that you guys take my word for it and not try this out. What you guys can try out is consulting your canteen committee and initiating a change that is likely to save thousands of taste buds.

Am I alone in this endless battle against crappy corporate food or is anyone out there willing to fight it out with me? Or are we asking for too much when we only pay subsidized rates? Share your comments with us.

TAGS:
office food, bad food, lunch menu, soup, Indian IT, crappy food

With nothing but boring soap opera re-runs, repetitive humour and comical music with loads of eye candy, the television has been rapidly losing its charm. Every time I search for the remote to switch the mode from AV2 to TV (cough cough…I am addicted to the Sony Play Station 2), there is nothing on there that alters my opinion. The TV is definitely on the decline. I am sure that this is a common opinion as numbers on the Internet show me that more and more people are reducing the time spent with the tube and are spending more time online.

These numbers stimulated the more recent thoughts – What is on the Internet today!! Having made a living so far in the IT field, I am pretty sure that on the corporate level, it is quite simple: companies just spin the websites and then wait for consumers to visit them. In other words, most of these websites out there are boring imitations of what they want to represent online (and I am sure also hope to close a sale).

This is not how I would want my mind to corrode. I would want to stimulate it with food for thought. Or more so, some level of interaction with the websites. In one word…Web 2.0.

A few things that I am hoping tomorrow’s websites and their designers would do:

Stay ahead of technology: Today the mantras are Ajax, Interactive and networking websites, virtual platforms and mobile access. There are changes that are happening by the minute and continual use of them surely would drive innovation and ensure bigger things happen. Besides, why not use technology that helps reduce workloads, makes the look better and increases the range of possibilities.

Research is primary: The web does play a large role in portraying most corporate strategies and organizations understand the need for research since they are increasingly focusing on online sales and marketing. Take professional help from interactive agencies and involve them in the strategic decisions on which your website is based.

Get a persona: Obsess about what a complete brand experience could be for your customers! Planning for this would reduce a ton of cost on customer interactions. Worry about organization processes and structures around the persona that you are trying to create to deliver a whole experience and create them to facilitate that. That would definitely help the company and increase the eyeball hits for the site.

Design is also King: Some of the top sites have flawless and attractive designs. Try to understand what they have done using UCD (User Centric Design) techniques. The organizations had defined their target customers and developed personas to cater to what the customer expects…not the other way round (Which most websites currently do). This would again take me back to the second and third point. Research and persona. Lots of it!

Evolve: Do this and also help evolve what the Internet currently has. Do not follow the footsteps of television. Oh and also try not to bore us and give us something that we would want to come back to.

I have not been able to elaborate my views on each approach due to the fact that the blog moderator is breathing down my neck and warning me about word count. So do leave me a comment on anything you agree upon or disagree and we would take this discussion further!

TAGS:
Web 2.0, websites, User Centric Design, Website sucks, Ajax, mobile access

                                                              
                                                                      (courtesy http://javiervallas.es)

Ever seen an image on the World Wide Web that made you tilt your head back in amazement? Maybe it has led you to question how much of a role do image editing softwares play in these photographs. Anyway, I stumbled across this website while surfing online and I was truly amazed by what I say. In fact, most of the week went by with me asking everyone I knew if they had heard of a phenomenon called Auroras.

Have a look into these images. Wondering what they are? It might look similar to fancy digital art or perhaps a tricky digital-camera shot. Well, guess what…it is in fact natural light display painted by Mother Nature herself. This festivity of lights can be feasted upon even by naked eyes. So don’t bother about investing in a new telescope!

Also known as Aurorae Polaris, it is a natural phenomenon seen only in the polar zone caused by “the collision of charged particles, mostly electrons but also protons and heavier particles, from the magnetosphere”. That might not sound terribly interesting, but if you take a look at it, you will be tempted to further explore why it appears the way it does. The sight of swirling colours dancing in the night sky seems like something that fell out of a fairy tale!

Just to give you a bit of info, let me add that that as our earth is drenched with the light from sun, it also receives something called solar wind. It travels at a speed of 400 km/second and as our earth is continuously immersed in this solar wind, this phenomenon occurs.

I find it restricting that most of us believe that there are only seven wonders in the world today. Nature is such an artist that it strikes us with awe every now and then. Now if someone could just buy me that ticket to Alaska.

TAGS:
Auroras, Mother Nature, solar wind, image editing

Take the money and log off: Just to get the fear factor rolling, let me tell you that about 5,000 machines (mostly Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 that were not fully patched) were found to be infected by the Mebroot virus program between 12 December 2007 and 7 January 2008. The vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s browser allow the Mebroot virus to infiltrate the system and steal confidential information. It has also been reported that it cannot be removed while a PC is active.

Lean, mean Apple machine: Clad in aluminum and three-quarters of an inch thick. That’s Apple’s MacBook Air - the thinnest PC notebook currently available in the market. Apart from looking chic, the MacBook Air seems to be beset with drawbacks. For starters, say goodbye to Ethernet ports, and Firewire ports. Gone are multi USB ports since this lean fellow only has one. Sadly, also gone is the optic drive, which means that you can’t burn DVDs or burn CDs of your personal playlists. What’s the other option, you ask? Well, download, watch movies on iTUNES and give more of your hard-earned money to Apple. The dubious icing on this not-so-appealing cake is that the battery is non-removable. Note to Steve Jobs: An Apple a day every day can be taxing on your consumers’ minds!

Zap it, play it: I was quite amazed while reading about this in the Guardian website. Apparently, Arizona-based company Taser International have launched the iTaser at annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The Taser stun gun, as many of you might know, is a defensive weapon used by law enforcement and security forces. And now it comes with an mp3 player and headphones. I guess it works better than throwing iPODs at criminals.

Smile and bark: Yahoo has awarded www.doggysnaps.com with their “Find Of The Year” award for pioneering social networking for our canine friends. In a nutshell, what Facebook and Orkut do for you, Doggy Snaps does the same for our pet dogs. Only difference being that they probably don’t yelp in joy as much as we do when somebody writes them a courteous testimonial. Who said social networking has gone to the dogs?

TAGS:
Mebroot, Windows, Macbook Air, Apple, Taser, Doggy Snaps

As a part of the Marketing team at MGL, I was asked to research the use of Second Life as a marketing tool. Being an ardent (also read: obsessive) gamer, I was thrilled at the new undertaking, even though I was not able to comprehend the need for a game or a platform that did not have a quest or a mission to complete (what do you expect…I am obsessive, people!).

It took a little getting used to, but complete in its existence, Second Life is a world by itself. A world created by people like you and me proclaiming their dreams, aspirations, insanity, themselves and even their businesses onto reality on a completely different plane. A world created by people like you and me to recreate, endear, destroy, bond, isolate, survive, rule and live as they fancy, that is deemed and proved impossible in the real world with the defined social structures, physical needs and the being in itself. The way I saw it, Second Life or its evolved form was definitely going to integrate itself with daily existence, the distant future in itself.

To understand what a company like ours can do in the game, I visited the Islands created by other corporate organizations. The entire experience of searching for a fellow missionary on the desolate plains of spectacular design artistry was actually creepy. After I left the training Island to review a small list of coordinates that I wanted to understand, I did not see another person. As a marketing guy, it hurt to see all the effort that was put into the structures go to waste, especially when there was no one visiting the locations.

Surprisingly, after ruling out marketing as the primary objective, there were a lot of uses that vied for the top spot. Though most of them are internal uses, there is definitely a lot of credibility and potential for Second Life to become the next operating system. With the space and leverage it gives us, we can create a word void of boundaries.

TAGS:
Second Life, MGL, Islands

Reaching half an hour early to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the venue for the Dance Festival, I had some time to walk around the nearby lane, which led me to the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore. The streets nearby the temple were buzzing with the sound of music. Looks like the music and dance season in Chennai has taken roots in every nook and corner of the city!

The inauguration for the Dance Festival started at 5:30 p.m. as per the schedule, as the first event was the invocation on Devi Sharadha, sung by Isai Chudar Amrutha Murali. This was followed by the welcome address by Mr Sabaratnam, Chairman of Kartik Fine Arts.

The traditional Kuthuvilaku was set alight by Chief Guest Mr M.Srinivasan, Chief Operating Officer of MGL, 19-year old dance artiste Aishwarya, and her guru Anitha Guha. Mr Srinivasan also awarded the title Natya Chudar on Aishwarya Narayanaswamy, after which he started with his address to the gathering. In his speech, he showered praise upon Aishwarya’s natural flair for dancing, saying that it was “God-gifted”.

He even quoted an excerpt from Bharathiyar poetry - “Seiga thavam, seiga thavam, nenjey! thavam seidhAl, eidha virumbiyadhai eidhalam meiyulagil (In a nutshell, this means ‘Concentration and hard work will lead you to the victorious path’). He also said that even though 4,000 MGL employees are spread over four continents, we still ensure that they do not drift away from our traditional culture. I guess art does indeed cross boundaries! The inauguration of the dance festival came to an end with a performance by the Aishwarya Narayanaswamy.

Dance: Aishwarya Narayanaswamy
Natvangam, Concept, Choreography: Anita Guha
Vocal: Nandini
Mridangam: Vijayaraghavan
Violin: Muruganandam
Flute: Ramesh
Lighting: Venkatesh

The first performance - Anjaneya Kare Thu Ram - in aadhi thaalam was about Lord Anjaneya (who is Vaayu Deva’s son). An excellent performance in which, she showed the power and strength of Lord Anjaneya himself in her crisp movements.

Next up was the song Swamiye Azhaithodiva in the nava raga malika ragam. This dance spoke of the love that Nayika nurtures for Lord Shiva. The Nayika is deeply in love, as she tells her friends that the Lord has promised to marry her. The dance movements told the story better than any eloquent speaker could ever recite!

The third performance of the day was a slow melodious composition (ponnammal romba polladhaval) by Kalaki. It definitely was an entertaining piece, as Aishwarya got a very good reaction from the crowd.

The last performance of the day was an Abang in jodhpuri raagam. This was a fast paced song. The sync that was needed between the dancer and the singer was conspicuous by its absences and a few missteps here and there hurt the finale a bit.

All in all, the first day of the Dance Festival proved to be a success, more so with the dance purists in the audience, as the rest walked away filled with vivid memories of tales of love told by the dancing feet of South India’s most graceful 19-year-old.

TAGS:
Dance Festival, Chennai dance, Aishwarya, dancer