Google and Firefox are a killer combination if you are doing an involved search, and want to retain the information for later. Here’s how:

•  Perform the search. Open interesting results in new tabs
• Save all tabs which you find relevant, using Bookmarks->Bookmark all tabs (Ctrl+Shift+D). This saves all tabs in a different folder, so that you can do  “Bookmarks->Right-click on a folder->Open All in tabs”
• If you do not do the above, you can still use Google’s Web History feature to search for the search again at a later date, and get some of the results

Was a lifesaver a few minutes back ! And BTW, Firefox 3’s Beta works great, and is a LOT faster on Windoze !

Students of PGSEM at IIMB hosted Convergenz ‘08, an annual business event, on Sunday, 13th January 2008. The theme for the event was “Innovation and Product Management”

The events organized were :

• Symposium, with a competition for IIMB students, who presented their take on strategic initiatives for various companies
• Corporate Quiz, with registrations from around 100 teams across Bangalore
• Keynote Address on Innovation and Product Management by Mr. Aravind Sitaraman, VP, Cisco India
• Panel Discussion on “Building an Innovation Ecosystem”, with participants being top leaders from the industry and academia.

More details here

Oracle, the database and apps giant which is also on an acquisition spree these days, turned 30 recently.

 This article provides some interesting insights into the history of Oracle, the evolution of the Oracle Database, and Oracle’s entry into the Apps arena

Here’s a nice poem to which I was introduced last week during a lecture for the course “Managing People and Performance” by Prof. N M Agarwal :

[more…]

I have been getting a lot of job opportunity related mails these days. Strange thing is, I  have not even accessed any job site or upgraded my resume since joining my present organization. So, my resume has been lying dormant for past 2 years and I still get offers for opportunities ranging from Mechanical Design to TIBCO.

Isn’t it time that HR firms came of age and did some basic research on the profiles before an all-out broadcast of every opportunity to everyone ? Most of them also come with a reply-to address of a yahoo or gmail account, which is a glaring indicator of unprofessionalism (cmon guys, if you can’t have your own email domain, get out of the business !). In addition, the mails are so poorly worded that had the mail been an application from a candidate to a firm, it would have found its way to the trash even before the resume is opened.

I got the Nokia 1110i as a gift recently, which replaces my 2-year-old Nokia 1108. Both are pretty much the same, though I miss the 1108’s handy torch. However, there is a wierd problem in the Nokia 1110i : Whenever I switch on the phone, the display shows “Message Sending Failed” with options to “Show” and “Exit”.

I would assume “Show” to show the details of which message failed and why, but it shows a blank screen and then returns to the normal display - and the error disappears. Of course, there was no message to be sent in the first place, so I am not sure how the message is appearing.

The same message also appears in Hindi if I change the language. (1110i has support for Hindi and Marathi, and I use Hindi as my default language of interaction. I even send sms’es in Hindi, though unfortunately many people reply back saying they got “junk”.)

How could basic, functional testing have missed such an easily and consistently reproducible issue ? I do not have another handset to see whether the bug is present on all handsets, but a google search indicates that many users have encountered this problem.

IIM, Bangalore is conducting an open house session for people interested in pursuing the PGSEM Business Management course for working professionals, offered in Bangalore and Chennai.

The sessions will be held on

Sunday, 17th December 2006 (Bangalore)

Sunday, 7th January 2007 (Chennai)

Registration for the session can be done via this link.

The PGSEM 2007 Application Form is also available. Details here.

Via /usr/games/fortune :

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

-- Blaise Pascal

There are a few classic bengali songs which are such classics, that even a non-bengali Calcuttan like me just can’t get enough of them. Some of the most soothing numbers in the Adhunik (modern) Genre are Nilanjana (A set of 4 songs, of which Song 3 is ultimate), 2441129 (yes, that’s the name of the song - good potrayal of a plausible real-life event), Anirban (1 & 2). Some older songs are “Akdin” by Kishoreda,  “Ekiholo kano holo” (translated from the Hindi song “Yeh Kya Hua”), etc. Recommended even for people who cannot undestand bangla !

It’s holiday season here in Bangalore - and a somewhat unexpected one at that. Monday being a national holiday on account of Gandhi Jayanti, it was already a long weekend for some. With Wednesday (4th) having been declared as a Karnataka Bandh day, it didn’t take long for people to extend their weekend to encompass this day. So everyone who can, and wanted to, have taken off today and will be back in office only on Thursday.

Which means that the office will be empty these 3-4 days - an ideal time to get some work and study done