Unified Communications

While cost saving has been the primary driver for the adoption of converged communications, the concept of unified communications - the ability to communicate in real-time from any location, to access any application using any device delivers the productivity gains many organizations have failed to see before.

A rapidly connecting real-time world creates challenges and opportunities that the chief executive needs to understand and embrace. Unified communications will fundamentally change the way in which organizations serve their clients.

Technology and the evolution of the virtual organization
Since the 1990s, the world has grown 's maller' as advances in communication technology have closed the geographical gap between people around the world. Telephony, fax, email, conferencing and now instant messaging enable 4/7 communication and impacting the way we look at interaction.

Technology has changed the way organizations communicate, resulting in fundamental changes to the way they structure their operations and business models. Structures have evolved from a top-down approach, through a horizontal model designed around processes, and on into a new 'adaptive era', made possible by new communication technologies.

As organizations evolve towards a virtual model, so communication technologies have become even more important. Convergence results from standardization and it started in the early nineties with the emergence of the Internet Protocol (IP) as the de facto network protocol. Today, IP has brought man advantages to communications applications. Standards make it possible to consider using a single network (IP network) to carry all types of communications traffic; voice, data and video.

It manifests itself across the communications spectrum right down to devices. Executive PDAs and corporate CRM systems highlight the blurring of distinctions between phones and computers. Dual-mode handsets that use voice-over-wireless networks do the same for fixed and mobile telephone technologies. And the mobile device is getting more powerful by the day with multiple functions being performed on a single device which enables collaboration on a real-time basis.

The Presence phenomenon signifies a step change in the usage of new tools and technologies in the corporate sphere. Presence provides the means on integrating the numerous forms of communication into a single integrated environment associated with the individual, not the device (laptop, office phone, mobile phone, etc.). A fundamental shift occurs when we are no longer reliant on email addresses and telephone extensions for identifying people, but identify people and associate a mechanism with them base don their preference. Be that on their mobile phone when they travel or Instant Messaging because they are in a meeting.

Transforming business effectiveness
Business effectiveness increasingly depends on having communications tools and an infrastructure that can harness diverse talent, knowledge and skills across boundaries of time and space. Virtualization enables an organization to leverage 'connectedness' to generate significant gains.

These business effectiveness gains play out in different ways across a range of business functions. We take a quick look at the implications for: maintenance of business services; offshore manufacturing; customer contact; and home working.

Maintenance of business services and continuity
Tragic events in recent history have highlighted the need for an effective business continuity plan. Arguably the most critical portion of this is the ability to maintain communications with customers, staff and suppliers. By deploying a robust, integrated communications and collaboration infrastructure organizations are able to maintain these communications and business activities. As these environments support communications from any location, organizations are able to divert staff to branch offices or have them work from home with no effect on how they communicate with customers, colleagues and suppliers.

Offshore manufacturing
Virtualization was pioneered by the aerospace industry back in the 1970s. Then it was all about coordinating teams around the world to build new aircraft. Today, many organizations design their products in one country and manufacturing them in low cost production centers like China and India. So there is a pressing need to connect teams across continents.

The new communications infrastructure enables individuals and organizations to work together more effectively. It delivers feature-rich, real-time communications using video conferencing, instant messaging, and collaborative applications that can be accessed at any time and from any location. And the fact that information is stored online in a common repository rather than in a team or individual 's file means that those with clearance can access this as and when required.

Customer contact
Voice portal solutions allow users to access online services using a telephone. The user might use his mobile phone to dial in and request information using voice or touchtone keys. The information is sent back using a special voice-producing programme on the website. Alternatively it could be provided as a visual display and/or email on a 's martphone'.

This new technology which takes convergence to a new level offers business enormous benefits. Self-service through voice portals cuts costs and streamlines processes, allowing customers to automatically access information and perform transactions that are captured by the providers' database. This saves operator time and provides customers with a new channel for interacting with suppliers.

Home working
The virtualisation of the workspace means that it doesn't matter where you are based. So people can continue to work on projects whatever their physical location, whether it is home, a satellite office or a hotel in another country. Using virtual private networks (VPN) employees can connect with the office and use any of the tools or directories remotely.

This has considerable benefits for organisations who wish to retain key staff. Many families today may have two people with careers and it could be that one person has to relocate. In the old days that could have meant a change of job for the other and the loss of their talents to the organisation. Virtualisation allows employees to relocate without having to change jobs, or conversely change jobs without relocating.

What is damaka?

damaka® is the world's most comprehensive, peer-to-peer, SIP-based, secure communication, collaboration and multimedia software/platform. damaka provides voice, video, instant messaging, file transfer & sharing, desktop & application sharing, PSTN calling, IPTV, and other features in an easy-to-use, real-time environment on both desktop/laptop and wireless devices (such as smartphones). A technology pioneer in distributed softswitching, damaka offers its IMS ready white-label solution to Operators and Enterprises. The damaka platform is based on industry standards and uses patent pending technology to provide a very secure peer-to-peer environment for Internet users worldwide.

damaka® solutions integrate wired, wireless and mobile devices to deliver state of the art peer-to-peer hybrid Unified Communication and Collaboration solutions cost effectively, while dynamically boosting user productivity.

damaka is available for Windows desktop, Windows Mobile, and Web (For Linux and Mac users).

Desktop Client can be downloaded from http://www.damaka.com/consumers/download.htm
Web Client can be accessed from http://web.damaka.com.

Connect, Communication and Collaborate from anywhere, anytime.

What motivates an investor to say "yes"

I read a wonderful article by Tim Westergren, founder of the popular music service, Pandora yesterday night. Wanted to capture the key points...

What causes an investor to shift from looking for ways to say ‘no’ to looking for ways to say ‘yes’? The shift happens when three things come together for the investor:

1. They personally believe in the entrepreneur(s);
   
2. They have a sense (and it’s often just a gut feeling) that the idea could be very big; and
   
3. They have a personal interest or background in the industry that gives them a leg up the diligence curve.

Microsoft’s Ballmer: MSFT will acquire 20 companies a year

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco that the software giant will acquire 20 companies a year for the next five years, ranging from $50 million to $1 billion.

This steals from the playbook of News Corp, the media company that generated excitement among Internet companies after it acquired MySpace and others. There's a tactic here: By declaring you are hungry, you get entrepreneurs coming to you to show you their wares -- letting you get a glimpse of emerging technology even if you're not going to buy it.

Read the rest of the story...

Things You Don't See Every Day

(From: bambooflexible)

Apple Promises SDK for iPhone: Step in the right direction...

The software industry gave a hearty cheer to Apple's announcement that it will provide a SDK for the iPhone by Feb next year. I am also excited about it. I have a few apps in mind that I'd like to develop related to Video, RSS, VoIP and Social Media Convergence.

Steve Jobs said the company is trying to do two things at once -- provide an open platform to developers while protecting iPhone users from viruses, Trojans and other malware. This is no easy task, he said, arguing that the iPhone will likely become "a highly visible target" for malicious attacks.

I can't wait...

damaka web client released

We released a new Web-based version of damaka yesterday. damaka web client gives all users - from professionals and travelers to students and Internet café visitors - access to instant messaging via the Web, from any browser, anywhere, anytime.

Mac and Linux users will benefit from this release. They can now connect and collaborate with their friends using damaka client (on Windows).

Currently users will be able to:

- Chat with their friends
- Track their friends with Buddy Presence
- Organize all instant messages in tabs, rather than separate windows
- Enjoy Free TV (IPTV) and Radio
- Check Offline Messages, Call Logs and voicemails

damaka \ damaka news \ damaka web client

Enjoy!

Fantastic Pictures

(From: meisterjoker)

Google To “Out Open” Facebook On November 5

Michael Arrington of TechCrunch reported last month of a highly confidential meeting at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View to discuss the company’s upcoming plans to address the “Facebook issue.” Google’s goal - to fight Facebook by being even more open than the Facebook Platform. If Facebook is 98% open, Google wants to be 100%.

Google is planning to announce a new set of APIs on November 5 that will allow developers to leverage Google’s social graph data. They’ll start with Orkut and iGoogle (Google’s personalized home page), and expand from there to include Gmail, Google Talk and other Google services over time.

This is a potentially killer strategy. Facebook has a platform to allow third parties to build applications on Facebook itself. But what Google may be planning is significantly more open - allowing third parties to both push and pull data, into and out of Google and non-Google applications.


Read more...

Cowboys' win takes bizarre to another dimension

Cowboys didn't crack Monday night, despite plenty of forehead-slapping moments - from Tony Romo throwing five interceptions to Romo losing a fumble, from Terrell Owens dropping a tying 2-point conversion pass to Owens dropping a long pass that might've set up a short field goal for the win, from the special teams allowing a kickoff return for a touchdown to blazing-but-injured cornerback Terence Newman getting caught from behind on an interception return.

They hung close enough to make a last-minute push, then had to keep hanging on when Nick Folk's 53-yard field goal to win it was called off because the Buffalo Bills sneaked in a timeout just before the snap.

Forced to do it again, the rookie did, giving Dallas a stunning 25-24 victory and a 5-0 record for the first time since 1983.

DAL v BUF 10-08-07 (Source: NFL.com)

Video: I am India

This film is a journey through emerging India," the fastest growing free market democracy in the world". It celebrates the relentless spirit of the people of India, who through their karma give it a place amongst the leading economic nations of the world.

Conceived and produced by Bharatbala Productions (BBP) for India Band Equity Foundation (IBEF)

Cool Images

Check out the cool images posted by Peeti

Back after a long break...

- Closed the house in March
- Moved in in April
- House Warming party - May 5
- Went to India in June/July
- Got really busy with damaka (new clients, platforms, features & challenges)

Busy closing the house

Sorry for not posting anything new.... I am really busy with closing of my new house - it was scheduled to be on 3/29, but since the lender did not get all the paperwork, it is going to be on Friday 3/20. I have been busy with home inspection and walk-through. A lot of work is still left to be done, but the builder is confident that he'll get it done.

Here is a picture... this is a 2 weeks old picture...

Woh bhi kya din the

Jaane kahan gaye woh din...





Jaane kahan gaye woh log...





Jaane kahan gaya Cricket

May the above pictures give strength to you all

Worst day for India and Indian Cricket

I usually sleep in on Saturdays. I stay busy the whole week and I cherish the sleep on Saturdays. But today - March 17, 2007 - was different! There was excitement since last night. I wanted to sacrifice my sleep to get up at 8:00 am to watch India play their first World Cup game.... WoW!!!! I got up correctly at 8:00... turned on my laptop, connected it to my TV and made me some coffee anticipating a great opener. Honestly I wanted India to bat first and expected them to make more than 300 runs ---- Now I feel like a fucking fool. Forget 300, Indian team could not even make 200 against (a much improved) Bangladesh.

There was NO aggression, NO passion, NO grit, NO determination, NO character, NO talent, NO CRICKET!!! Basically India team DID NOT show up for THE game. It almost felt like they didn't even want to play. It was lackluster, boring, drab, unimaginative, uninspired, muted and JUST PLAIN DEAD. Indian cricket team should officially apologize to all of India and Indian fans all over the world for falling waaaaaaaaaaaaaay below the expectations and playing such a lifeless game at the biggest stage of International cricket --- What a fucking Shame!!!! Infact they should all be FINED and BANNED form participating in ANY Fashion-Show or Ads --- Enough is Enough --- there's gotta be some BASIC STANDARD, some BASIC LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE.... Is that too much to ask?????

Something needs to be done... we deserve better than this! Strong, result-oriented actions must be taken! Hiring an international coach will not SOLVE anything!!!!

It was the worst day for India and Indian Cricket - not because they lost a game, just the way they lost it!

Damn you!

A depressed, dejected and really really sad cricket fan....

Indian definition of Customer

customer --> Kasht de-de-kar Maar

Why Cisco paid $3.2B for WebEx?

GigaOm says that Cisco's move (a smart one) to buy a company that had sales of $380 million, and a net income of around $47 million is actually part of a bigger chess game the company is playing against Microsoft. GigaOm has this chess game all figured out.

Cisco gobbles up WebEx for $3.2 billion

Cisco Systems Inc. agreed to buy WebEx Communications Inc., the largest provider of Internet teleconferencing services, for $3.2 billion to counter Microsoft Corp.'s expansion in the market.

WebEx investors will receive $57 a share in cash, the companies said in a statement today. The offer is 23 percent higher than the Santa Clara, California-based company's closing share price of $46.20 yesterday.

Cisco will add WebEx's services to products for making phone calls, sending messages and holding meetings over the Internet, allowing for integrated communication. The company and Microsoft, which bought WebEx rival PlaceWare Inc. in 2003, are battling for corporate customers who want to simulate face-to-face meetings.

"It's a very attractive market, a growth market,'' said Ari Bensinger, an equity analyst at Standard & Poor's in New York. He has a ``hold'' rating on the shares and doesn't own any. "We like the video conferencing aspects of this deal. Cisco provides the corresponding pieces for this.''

Cisco, the world's biggest maker of computer-networking equipment, said the purchase won't affect earnings excluding some items in fiscal 2008. The companies said they expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of Cisco's 2007 fiscal year.

Shares of San Jose, California-based Cisco rose 4 cents to $25.89 at 12:03 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. WebEx shares surged 22 percent to $56.49 in Nasdaq trading. The stock had gained 32 percent this year before today.

Cricket World Cup Frenziness

An Indian cricket fan gets hair cut prior to the start of the first match between Pakistan and West Indies,Kolkata, March 13, 2007

Microsoft Executive Makes VoIP Predictions

A senior Microsoft executive predicted last week that the average cost of VoIP service for businesses will tumble by a staggering 50% over the next three years.

Jeff Raikes, President of Microsoft’s Business Division, said that the falling prices will be apparent as VoIP systems make the shift from hardware to software. He went on to say that 100 million people will be able to make calls from Microsoft Office applications during this same time period.

“Software is set to transform business phone systems as profoundly as it has transformed virtually every other form of workplace communication,” said Raikes.

“Over time, the software-based VoIP technology built into Microsoft Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator will offer so much value and cost savings that it will make the standard telephone look like that old typewriter that’s gathering dust in the stockroom.”

Raikes indicated that Microsoft plans to distribute the public beta version of Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft’s VoIP and unified communications server, and Office Communicator 2007, to testers later this month.

Read the rest of the story

Craziest week of the year...

I am sorry for not posting something last week... Last week was the busiest and craziest week of the year so far... Not only the work was hectic, but there are million other things I had to take care of on the personal front (like trying to work with the lenders for the mortgage of the new house I am building, trying to get things straightened with the builder, and doing other stuff with my GF, and not to mention paying bills that have been starring at me for the last 2 weeks)....

Anyway so yeah, I had a crazy, busy week. Work was split up in the middle by working with a client - my most important account - trying to help them setup Ruby/Catalyst web framework and also trying to release new features of our product.

On the personal front exciting things are happening but its really draining - trying to build a house is extremely strenuous - especially when its 45 miles from work and 25 miles from my current place. But I am so looking forward to it - it is very special to me and my GF and thats what keeps me going.... and right I need to go eat my dinner... more laters... bye for now.

Nike: Just DID It... Awesome ad

This is an awesome ad...

In pictures: Holi: Hindu festival of colors

The Hindu festival of Holi marks the start of spring. The colors signify the blossoms of the season. Below are some colorful pictures. You are more than welcome to send me your Holi pictures....

Enjoy....

Holi - Hindu Festival of Colors

An Introduction

Holi - the festival of colors - is undoubtedly the most fun-filled and boisterous of Hindu festival. It's an occasion that brings in unadulterated joy and mirth, fun and play, music and dance, and, of course, lots of bright colors to make a festive graffiti on every heart.

Happy Days Are Here Again!
With winter neatly tucked up in the attic, it's time to come out of our cocoons and enjoy this spring festival. Every year it is celebrated on the day after the full moon in early March and glorifies good harvest and fertility of the land. It is also time for spring harvest. The new crop refills the stores in every household and perhaps such abundance accounts for the riotous merriment during Holi. This also explains the other names of this celebration - 'Vasant Mahotsava' and 'Kama Mahotsava'.

"Don't Mind, It's Holi!"
During Holi, practices, which at other times could be offensive, are allowed. Squirting colored water on passers-by, dunking friends in mud pool amidst teasing and laughter, getting intoxicated on bhaang and reveling with companions is perfectly acceptable. In fact, on the days of Holi, you can get away with almost anything by saying, "Don't mind, it's Holi!" (Hindi = Bura na mano, Holi hai.)

The Festive License!
Women, especially, enjoy the freedom of relaxed rules and sometimes join in the merriment rather aggressively. There is also much vulgar behavior connected with phallic themes. It is a time when pollution is not important, a time for license and obscenity in place of the usual societal and caste restrictions. In a way, Holi is a means for the people to ventilate their 'latent heat' and experience strange physical relaxations.

Legends & Myths

Like all Indian and Hindu festivals, Holi is inextricably linked to mythical tales. There are at least three legends that are directly associated with the festival of colors: the Holika-Hiranyakashipu-Prahlad episode, Lord Shiva's killing of Kamadeva, and the story of the ogress Dhundhi.

The Holika-Prahlad Episode
The evolution of the term Holi makes an interesting study in itself. Legend has it that it derives its name from Holika, the sister of the mythical megalomaniac king Hiranyakashipu who commanded everyone to worship him. But his little son Prahlad refused to do so. Instead he became a devotee of Vishnu, the Hindu God.

Hiranyakashipu ordered his sister Holika to kill Prahlad and she, possessing the power to walk through fire unharmed, picked up the child and walked into a fire with him. Prahlad, however, chanted the names of God and was saved from the fire. Holika perished because she did not know that her powers were only effective if she entered the fire alone.

This myth has a strong association with the festival of Holi, and even today there is a practice of hurling cow dung into the fire and shouting obscenities at it, as if at Holika.

Radha-Krishna Legend
Holi is also celebrated in memory of the immortal love of Lord Krishna and Radha. The young Krishna would complain to his mother Yashoda about why Radha was so fair and he so dark. Yashoda advised him to apply color on Radha's face and see how her complexion would change. In the legends of Krishna as a youth he is depicted playing all sorts of pranks with the gopis or cowgirls. One prank was to throw colored powder all over them. So at Holi, images of Krishna and his consort Radha are often carried through the streets. Holi is celebrated with eclat in the villages around Mathura, the birth-place of Krishna.

Making the Colors of Holi
The colors of Holi, called 'gulal', in the medieval times were made at home, from the flowers of the 'tesu' or 'palash' tree, also called 'the flame of the forest'. These flowers, bright red or deep orange in color, were collected from the forest and spread out on mats, to dry in the sun, and then ground to fine dust. The powder when mixed with water made a beautiful saffron-red dye. This pigment and also 'aabir', made from natural colored talc, which were extensively used as Holi colors, are good for the skin, unlike the chemical colors of our days.

How to Celebrate

Colorful days, solemn rituals, joyous celebrations - Holi is a boisterous occasion! Draped in white, people throng the streets in large numbers and smear each other with bright hued powders and squirt colored water on one another through pichkaris (big syringe-like hand-pumps), irrespective of caste, color, race, sex, or social status; all these petty differences are temporarily relegated to the background and people give into an unalloyed colorful rebellion. There is exchange of greetings, the elders distribute sweets and money, and all join in frenzied dance to the rhythm of the drums.

Happy Holi

Today is HOLI. Wishing u and ur family a very happy and colorful HOLI !!!!!



Holi is all about Colors, Coming Together, Joy & Happiness...Celebrate the occasion with the true spirit....

The 20 Most Popular Websites That Capture 39% of Our Online Time

Yahoo! continues to be the number one online destination for U.S. internet users with over 131 million unique visitors in December, followed by Time Warner (AOL), Microsofft, and Google sites, each of them attracting over 100 million unique visitors, according to comScore. But the latest data from Compete.com show that none of these web properties in the top spot in terms of total time spent online.

No surprise -- MySpace.com tops the list with 11.9% of all time spent online (or 29 billion minutes in December 2006) by U.S. internet users. Here is a list of the top 20 websites, capturing 39% of all U.S. internet online time, according to Compete.com:

Tony Blair deliberates over his future in this fantastic music video

Positive proof of Global warming (funny)

Mind Your 'Mind'

I made another blog-friend this evening - Surjit! He writes a wonderful blog - "gurushabad". The following is from his blog. I wanted to post his post because I think its beautiful and I wanted my blog readers to read this wonderful piece too. Thanks Surjit.

Mind your 'Mind'

"The mind is amazing.It is a great mystery.Very few people have been able to understand its powers and potential.It stands between an individual and the Supreme Truth and is cause of bondage and liberation. If properly trained, the mind can help us attain enlightenment,but if misguided, it can leave us in the midst of confusion and bondage.

As we all know that the mind, like the wind, can move in any direction i.e. negative or positive ,creative or destructive, and has a power of creating and weaving world of illusions around us.So peace, strife, confusion, happiness etc are all reflection of the state of mind.

The mind,therefore, has to be exercised daily, just as the body, in order to discipline it.As we are aware, our mind is the source of thought energy and thoughts emerge ceaselessly and create worlds of its own. It becomes, therefore, important not only to control it but to divert its energies to positive and constructive direction.The mind has to be reminded continuously that world out side is unreal and ever changing. Human body is also perishable.Pursuit of this world will only bring sorrow and emptiness.Once it realises the fallacious belief about the ever changing world, it starts becoming aligned with the self within.Once this happens, positive and nobler feelings of love and compassion start emanating from the mind and this is the sign that our higher self, i.e. the soul, is now in control of our being."

Credits: Surjit gurushabad

Does Management Knows their Staff?

On walking into the factory, the MD noticed a young guy leaning against the wall, doing nothing.

He approached the young man and calmly said to him, "How much do you earn?"

The young man was quite amazed that he was asked such a personal question, he replied, none the less, "I earn $ 2 000.00 a month, Sir. Why?"

Without answering, the MD took out his wallet and removed $6000.00 cash and gave it to the young man and said, "Around here I pay people for working, not for standing around looking pretty! Here is your 3 months salary, now GET OUT and don't come back".

The young man turned around and was quickly out of sight.

Noticing a few onlookers, the MD said in a very upset manner, "And that applies for everybody in this company".

He approached one of the onlookers and asked him, "Who's the young man that I just fired?"

Reply: "He was the pizza delivery man, Sir...!!"

How to get noticed in the blogosphere?

Divya has a really nice post about blogging to fame! I highly recommend it.

Here is a small list of what all should do to get your blog noticed:-

1. Try to get fame for others, the more you give the more you get.
2. Search engine optimize well.
3. Comment on others blogs, create a conversation.
4. Provide RSS feeds for your blog.
5. Be an expert of your field and provide quality content.
6. Get yourself listed in major directories.
7. Pick up products and provide first hand user experience.
8. People do not talk about you if you are a part of the crowd. You need to be innovative and creative.
9. Get yourself noticed by the A-list Bloggers(I’ll soon tell you how)
10. Add a viral effect to your blog, be contagious.
11. Try Linkbating.
12. Use Social Network Sites to your benefit, without depending on them(Atleast they will help in Branding).

Check out her blog! And don't forget to thank her for the post... (Item #1 and 3)

79th Academy Awards

Highlights:

• The Departed wins four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Directing, giving director Martin Scorsese his first Academy Award.
• "An Inconvenient Truth" wins former Vice President Al Gore the first Oscar given to a senior politician
• Loved the performances by Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce
• Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. She was funny... I enjoyed it.
• Forest Whitaker's speech was awesome!

Major winners

Feature films

Category	Winner	Producers/Country
Best motion picture	The Departed	Graham King
Best foreign language film	The Lives of Others	Germany
Best documentary feature	An Inconvenient Truth	Davis Guggenheim
Best animated feature film	Happy Feet	George Miller

Acting

Category	Winner	Film
Best actor in a leading role	Forest Whitaker	The Last King of Scotland
Best actress in a leading role	Helen Mirren	The Queen
Best actor in a supporting role	Alan Arkin	Little Miss Sunshine
Best actress in a supporting role	Jennifer Hudson	Dreamgirls

Complete list of winners

ICC World Cup 2007: Schedule for Indian Cricket Team

The Indian Cricket Team has participated in all the ICC Cricket World Cups since 1975, and has won the 1983 World Cup. It reached to the World Cup semi-finals in 1987 and 1996, and were runners-up in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa. India is placed in Group B of the ICC World Cup 2007 groupings, along with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda.

India will play its first warm-up match against the Netherlands on March 06, 2007 at Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica, and it will start its Group Stage matches against Bangladesh on March 17 in Trinidad and Tobago. India will play a total of 3 matches in Group Stage, and if it qualifies for the Second Stage - Super 8, it will contest in 6 matches to enter semi finals and then finals on April 28 at Kensington Oval, Barbados.

India Match Schedule – ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

India Warm-up Match Schedule*

Date	Matches	Venue
06 March, 2007	India vs. Netherlands	Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica
09 March, 2007	India vs. West Indies	Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica

* No points will be awarded for these matches.

India Group Stage Match Schedule

Date	Matches	Venue
17 March, 2007	India vs. Bangladesh	Trinidad and Tobago
19 March, 2007	India vs. Bermuda	Trinidad and Tobago
23 March, 2007	India vs. Sri Lanka	Trinidad and Tobago

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

The two time winner of the ICC Cricket World Cup, West Indies, will be hosting the ICC Cricket world cup. The event will take place between March 11 to April 28, 2007, where 16 nations divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each will contest in a total of fifty-one matches.

The Opening Ceremony of the tournament will be hosted on March 13 at Sabina Park, Jamaica and ends with the final on April 28 at Kensington Oval, Barbados.

Eight venues have been selected to host the final tournament and four additional venues to host the warm-up matches. For the first time in the history of ICC Cricket World Cup, the tournament will be hosted by the West Indies and will be spread across several Host Venues. It will be played in 9 beautiful Caribbean countries. They are: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.

ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. (ICC CWC WI 2007) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). It has its own board of directors vested with the responsibilities of planning, managing and executing the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the Caribbean.

Starting Date: March 13, 2007.

Ending Date: April 28, 2007.

Host: West Indies.

Teams Played:

Group A : South Africa, Australia, Scotland, The Netherlands.
Group B : India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bermuda.
Group C : England, New Zeland, Kenya, Canada.
Group D : Pakistan, Zimbabwe, West Indies, Ireland.

Gamers make better surgeons ??!!!!! huh!!!

Came across this interesting article on CNET News.com covering the study published Monday in the February issue of Archives of Surgery that says "Playing video games appears to help surgeons with skills that truly count: how well they operate using a precise technique"

The study also mentions: "There was a strong correlation between video game skills and a surgeon's capabilities performing laparoscopic surgery".

I, for one, don't want my doctor to practice his game skills on me!!!! Jokes apart, its an interesting study!!!!

Read the story: Gamers make better surgeons, study says

Back from my vacation...

Sorry for not being to post for almost a week.... I took a small vacation and went to San Antonio, TX. This was my first trip to SA and it was a lot of fun. Went with my best friend and his wife... walked & enjoyed a nice boat ride @ River Walk, saw the The Alamo, shopped at Market Square and Prime Outlet mall. It was a lot of fun... I will post some pictures later.

Its good to be back!

Happy Valentine's Day

Wish everyone a sweet and love-filled Valentine's Day!

Shripriya, I did help the economy with cards, flowers and chocolate. Happy V-Day day to you too!

Have a great one! :D

US Telecom Market Grew 9.3% to $923B in 2006; Worldwide Market Hits $3 trillion

According to TIA’s 2007 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast, the U.S. telecommunications market grew 9.3% in 2006, the fastest rate since 2000, to $923 billion in revenue, while the worldwide telecommunications market grew 11.2% to $3 trillion in revenue.

Microsoft Launches “PlayReady”

Amid industry-wide speculation of where the DRM technologies will be heading in the next few years, Microsoft yesterday anounced a new DRM system “PlayReady” at 3GSM Conference.

The concept of “PlayReady” is a system- or platform-agnostic technology that does not hide access keys for individual devices. Rather, it holds a common key to a set of devices (defined as “a domain”) and content providers and device manufacturers can decide how many and what types of devices the key can unlock. From Microsoft’s press release, it appears that the technology is designed for the ultimate convergence experience: consumers will be able to enjoy multimedia content across PC, TV, and mobile phone.

Press Release: Microsoft Announces Breakthrough Technology Enabling Simple Access to Broad Set of Digital Content, Including Music, Games, Video, Ring Tones and Pictures

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2007 when...

1 You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15 You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself....

About a week ago, here's what Boston actually thought...

Osama Team Hunger Force (ATHF terror freakout parody video)



Terrorist guy 1: "What if people don't see it?"
Terrorist guy 2: "We light it up..."
Terrorist guy 1: "But what if people still don't see it?"
Terrorist guy 2: "We make it BLIIIINNNNK!"
Osama: "Genius!"

(Source: collegehumor.com)

Impact of SecondLife

An interview on Channel 4’s Richard & Judy show with three Second Life residents: Fizik Baskerville (aka Rivers Run Red’s Justin Bovington), Slim Warrior (aka musician Leo Wolff) and Errol Mysterio (aka author Tim Guest who’s written a book about his Second Life experience).

IIT Delhi guys video of omkara song Beedi jala le

Check out this funny video - very funny!!!

Dallas Mavericks hammer Houston Rockets

The Mavericks outmatched the Rockets with stifling defense en route to Friday's 95-74 triumph. Josh Howard recorded 22 points for Dallas, which has now won a franchise best 17th straight at home. Jason Terry added 18 points.


PS: Oh and this Wiki thing is catching on like wild-fire... our own Mavericks also have a wiki now:

The Official MavsWiki is a collaboration of Mavs history, official stats and the all important FAN perspective. Editing of this site is open to all and we encourage everyone to share thoughts, comments and photos of their experiences with Mavs.

Why I love Fridays...

Friday is my favorite day of the week... specially when I get back home from work.... I can finally relax, think about and give some serious time to other things are important to me - like sleeping hard and being totally lazy in the most efficient manner... and, of course, abuse, yell and scream at myself for not paying that bill on time... and for not being able to make it to the gym more regularly....

Life is going so fast... work is hectic... too many things going on at this time... I am building a new house so I have to visit that once every week (that reminds me I have to post some pictures - I have a freaking busy sleeping schedule, so if I get some time I will do the needful)... and then there is other stuff(!!!).... but I made a resolution that this year I will be a better blogger... and I think I am doing reasonably ok!!!

(PS: My ultimate favorite evening of the week happens to be WEDNESDAY! :-) That is when I see mi vida)

Forget Second Life. Get a First Life

TechCrunch points to this really funny parody site called “Get a First Life” created by Darren Barefoot who is bemused by the amount of hype and attention the game…er…virtual world has been receiving.

Super Bowl Ads

My favorite ones:

1. Fist Bump (I still can't stop laughing)
   
2. Class Mencia
   
3. CareerBuilder - Promotion Pit
4. CareerBuilder Performance Evaluation
5. Snickers
6. Reception
7. Emerald Nuts "Boogeyma n"
8. Coca-Cola Videogame
9. Dalmatian - Spot Wink
10. Live the Flavor ($12 User-Generated Ad)
    

Congratulations, Indianapolis Colts -- SuperBowl XLI Champions!

The Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl for the first time since the franchise’s relocation to the Circle City in 1984 with a 29-14 win over the Chicago Bears in super-soggy Miami.

I am so happy for Payton & specially for coach Dungy - not because he is the first ever african-american coach to win, but for his personality, for the way he coaches. He calls it the "Gods way" - with faith in God and each other. WoW! I respect him so much. The team does too and I think that is reflected in his teams performance year over year and now the well-deserved championship. Payton manning is a future hall-of-famer. He is the best in the business. Well done Payton.

So, after the congratulations, let us go over the game:

Chicago’s Devin Hester put the Colts in a hole early, returning the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. The first quarter was most exciting and was full of turn-overs and drama.

The Colts answered at the 6:58 mark of the first quarter when Reggie Wayne broke loose in the Bears’ secondary for a 53-yard TD reception. Indianapolis settled for six points, however, when the extra point snap was bobbled.

Set up by a 52-yard run by Thomas Jones, Chicago went up 14-6 when Rex Grossman hit Mushin Muhammad in the end zone from four yards out.

The Colts pulled to within five at 14-9 with 11:17 left in the second quarter on a 29-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri, and took a 16-14 lead on Dominic Rhodes’ 1-yard TD run with 3:08 remaining in the first half.

After turnovers on consecutive plays by both teams gave the Colts the ball back in Bear territory, Vinatieri missed from 36 yards out on the final play of the half.

Vinatieri came through on the first possession of the second half, hitting a 24-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 56-yard drive that ate 7:34 off the clock and put the Colts up 19-14. He then made it an eight-point lead with a 20-yarder with 3:20 left in the quarter.

Robbie Gould ended the Bears’ scoring drought with a 44-yard field goal with 1:18 left in the quarter.

With 11:44 remaining, Kelvin Hayden intercepted Grossman and returned it 56 yards for a score — one that held up after the play was reviewed — to put the Colts up 28-17.

The Colts’ defense intercepted Grossman and forced a turnover on downs on Chicago’s next two possessions, and kept the Bears nowhere near the end zone to end the game.

The Colts had the ball just over twice as long as the Bears, and dominated most every statistical category. Peyton Manning was named MVP after hitting on 25-of-38 throws for 247 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

With the win a lot of milestones were reached for the Colts:

1. It’s the second time in 35 years that they won the Superbowl.
2. It’s the first time they’ve won it as the “Indianapolis” Colts.
3. The Colts became the first “dome” team to win in an outdoor stadium.
4. Tony Dungy became the first african-american coach to win the Superbowl.
5. Dungy (Player - Steelers, Coach - Colts) became the only 3rd person in NFL history after Tom Flores (Player - Chiefs, Coach - Raiders) and Mike Ditka (Player - Dolphins, Coach - Bears) to have won the Superbowl both as a player and head coach.
   

80M IPTV subs by 2011 (Strategy Analytics)

According to a report from Strategy Analytics, over the next five years IPTV subscribers will grow to a staggering 80 million worldwide from just under 6 million IPTV households today. Additionally, the number of households worldwide that pay directly for IPTV service will rise from 3.3 million in 2006 to 40.9 million in 2011. Currently, about 55 percent of IPTV households pay directly for IPTV services while most of the remaining subscribers receive IPTV service as part of a bundle. In five years, we can look forward to a decline in the percentage of direct-paying IPTV households, as the industry increasingly favors service bundles.

For more on this report:
- see the write-up over at TVover.net

ConvinceMe - arguing oline

For all the compulsive argue-ers, now there is a website where they can go all out and argue all they want... without getting bitch-slapped or knocked-down. Honestly I can't believe that someone would think there is a business model around something like this. If it becomes popular, then yeah maybe some ads revenue. But would that be enough to sustain the company? I don't know if there is a huge demand for something like this, but it sure looks interesting...

ConvinceMe is a new competitive arguing site launching tonight. It will let debaters carry out public debates, head to head arguments, and a “King of the Hill” free for all about any subject they like. Other argument sites, like Hot Soup and LoveToLead, have focused on sobering issues, like political or philosophical debates and polls. Comment threads and forums have also been great places for people to argue. Just look at the comments for Do the Right Thing.

ConvinceMe lets members talk about anything and ranks them based on how many “convince” points they get from user voting for their argument. Private debates are issued as public challenges from one member to another and end when one site has gained the agreed number of votes for their side. For public debates, each side’s arguments are ordered by the number of votes the arguments have. “King of the Hill” is a twist on the challenge debate, with each member only able to submit one argument for their position. The first argument with 100 votes wins. The final type, public debates are ongoing, with the votes for one side or the other marking the overall opinion of the community on the subject.

ConvinceMe just launched and hopefully they will convince me...

9/11 Mysteries (Full Length, High Quality)

Interesting video:

This is what happens when you gossip at work

Predictions for Superbowl 2006

Bears vs Saints : NFC Championship Game

Saints win this one... They deserve to. They have the best offense, coached by last year's Cowboys offensive coordinator - this year's coach of the year - Sean Payton - and are by far the most creative and exciting team to watch - and they play with so much emotion! (very much required to win playoff games)

Colts vs Patriots : AFC Championship Game

Colts better win this... they became my favorite team after Cowboys lost. I think this is going to be a thriller. This can turn out to be a more exciting game than the Superbowl 2006. Payton Manning deserves to play in the Superbowl (and win it).

Superbowl 2006: Colts vs. Saints

COLTS WIN IT ALL!!!

Go Colts...

Skype founders name new video start-up Joost

Company executives had referred to the new company for months by the codename "The Venice Project." They chose Joost because they like the ring of it, according to a spokeswoman. The word doesn't have any meaning in Danish.

CNet has the story

Why damaka is good for Enterprises?

A friend asked me this question last night... Some of the key points of my response are listed below:

damaka is great for enterprises that are looking for a secure, standards-based communication and collaboration application, to provide productivity features but keeping the costs down.

Benefits of damaka

• End-to-End Secure:
  
  One of the biggest concerns, Enterprises have is Security. Skype, with its supernodes can be an IT admin’s worst nightmare. But damaka’s solution is “end-to-end secure” (signaling and media) and allows administrators to have “complete control” over the network.
  
  
• Standards-Based (Peer-to-Peer, SIP - Session Initiation Protocol):
  

  With damaka’s SIP-based, P2P enterprise solution, businesses of all sizes can combine voice, video, data, real-time presence, instant messaging (with cross over to other protocols), and various applications for richer, more integrated communications on one converged IP network.

  Enterprises can streamline system administration, desktop and endpoint management by integrating their IP PBX for conferencing, unified messaging, and other media on the same SIP network, and eliminate multiple admin interfaces as well as the need for separate IT voice teams and data teams.
  
  
• Save Money - damaka-to-damaka audio & video calls are completely free. Enterprises can also enjoy free audio & video conferencing. damaka PC-to-Phone feature DialOut allows businesses to save a lot of money on phone calls. They can save a lot of money with reduced cost of operation as damaka is peer-to-peer. Enterprises can go with either fully managed, damaka-hosted or in-house-network solution.
  
  
• - Increase Productivity – Real-time Presence, Instant messaging (with IMConnectivity you can connect to MSN, Yahoo, AOL, GTalk and ICQ from within damaka) , Group chats, conference calls, video conferencing, Desktop sharing help improve productivity.

damaka website
damaka's enterprise offering
Features list of damaka
ELSUA thinks damaka is fun to use and helps improve team building

Go ahead download damaka and add me as your contact if you want to test out the features:
My damaka id: chandan

A closer look at iPhone

Apple, Inc's iPhone is here

So it’s official: Apple now is a phone manufacturer. With the announcement of the Apple iPhone, we can now finally assess that new product and I have to say, color me impressed. The company has managed to overcome a lot of the problems surrounding existing mobile phones and created a device that is close to what geeks like myself want: 2 megapixel camera, MP3 player, video player, phone with integrated address book, calendar, email, web browser, SMS, notepad, google maps, and support for other widgets, which makes the whole platform more extensible.

It’s a very smart move on the part of Apple, which highlighted the change in the way the company is operating by changing its name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. , reflecting the fact that they are no longer just a computer company.There were a few interesting items of interest, though.

For starters, no mention of how the phone will sync up with a computer. Are we to assume that it’s Mac Only or will it synchronize with computers running Windows too? If so, does that mean that a new set of applications will be available to Windows users to sync their address book, calendar and email with systems like Outlook or will the device require to manage those things specifically using Apple applications on Windows?

The other thing that was interesting is the announcement that the phone will run on quad-band GSM and will be using EDGE network. This means that the phone will get decent but not great data service. Perfect for email and light web browsing but not quite fast enough for video streaming. However, the introduction of WiFi in the device, which many other companies have avoided for fear of losing battery capacity, could take care of that.

The other interesting thing is that the operating system on this device is OSX. This seems to point out to two possible issues: First, what does that mean for PortalPlayer, which has traditionally provided Apple with the operating system (embedded on a chip) for the iPod? The second question is what does it mean in general: What Apple has introduced is basically a mac in a small form factor, which could easily compete with the UMPC specifications introduced by Microsoft. It’s pretty clear that Apple has a lot of plans in the future for that device but they didn’t say much about the significance of OSX, providing it almost as an aside (and what does it mean for the next version of OSX, which was not mentioned during this keynote at all, a surprising omission in itself.)

Palm (makers of the Treo), RIM (makers of the Blackberry), and Motorola and Nokia will obviously not be thrilled with the entrance of Apple in this market. Below is a comparison on how they fare against iPhone:

What do space aliens watch on TV?

Is there intelligent life on other planets? If so, what do space aliens watch on TV?

Astronomers want to know what aliens might be broadcasting for their TV-viewing pleasure.
Check out the story @ CNet: Space life search turns to TV, radio signals

Wouldn't it be funny if we discovered Alien YouTube?!! Imagine aliens rapping traffic reports... or funny aliens cats and dogs.... or alien porn - bet this will sell on eBay like hot cakes! hummmm.... what if they are also looking for TV, radio signals?

I badly need a coffee!!!!