Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Ferrari's F1 Team has fired its entire pit crew!!!
Ferrari's F1 Team has fired its entire pit crew. The announcement is
as follows:
Ferrari has decided to take advantage of India’s high unemployment
rate, and hire unemployed Indian youth from the Dharavi slums in
Mumbai.
The decision to hire them was brought on by a recent documentary on
how they were able to remove a set of wheels from a car parked in the
street in less than 6 seconds without proper equipment. (Ferrari's
erstwhile crew took more than 8 seconds with the right equipment.)
This was thought to be an excellent yet bold move by the Ferrari
management, and, as most races are won & lost in the pits, Ferrari
would have an advantage over every other team.
However, Ferrari's expectations were exceeded, as during the crew's
first practice session; not only were 'da boyz' from Mumbai able to
change the tires in under 6 seconds, but within 12 seconds had re
-sprayed the car, filed off the chassis number and sold the vehicle
over to the McLaren Team!
as follows:
Ferrari has decided to take advantage of India’s high unemployment
rate, and hire unemployed Indian youth from the Dharavi slums in
Mumbai.
The decision to hire them was brought on by a recent documentary on
how they were able to remove a set of wheels from a car parked in the
street in less than 6 seconds without proper equipment. (Ferrari's
erstwhile crew took more than 8 seconds with the right equipment.)
This was thought to be an excellent yet bold move by the Ferrari
management, and, as most races are won & lost in the pits, Ferrari
would have an advantage over every other team.
However, Ferrari's expectations were exceeded, as during the crew's
first practice session; not only were 'da boyz' from Mumbai able to
change the tires in under 6 seconds, but within 12 seconds had re
-sprayed the car, filed off the chassis number and sold the vehicle
over to the McLaren Team!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Nandan Nilekani in his new avatar as a Cabinet Minister!!
Nandan Nilekani in his new avatar as a Cabinet Minister, here is what he had penned after his first day in the Parliament.
The last entry stopped when the House was just about to begin. Let's see what happened thereafter...
The House was in pin drop silence as the Speaker to her Chair. I was brimming with anticipation and excitement!!!! Manmohan had informed me
that my introduction was one of the important points of the agenda. I hoped that I will be able to make my speech properly. After so many
interviews and conferences, I was nervous today!!!!
After the Speaker indicated that the proceedings of the House could begin, Manmohan formally introduced me to the entire House. He mentioned
that as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, I was responsible to ensure that each and every Indian had a digital smart
card as a proof of his existence. Manmohan spoke about why I was selected and also some references to the various projects executed by me
in Infosys were mentioned. The House listened with rapt attention. I was asked to say a few words and I did exactly the same!!! I thanked the
Government of India for having given me this opportunity and I assured the House that I would strive to successfully deliver this project. The
Speaker then formally inducted me into the House and before the proceedings could move any forward, there was a small commotion on the
other side of the hall.
It was Minister of Textiles who had a comment to make before the next point on the agenda. He made a request that I
should be attired in a more austere way instead of a flashy suit. It did not go well with the image of a minister who should live to serve the
common man and should be less ostentatious in his habits. I stood up to reply. I offered my apologies to the Honourable Minister and assured
that I shall be in a more acceptable dress next time. I felt that he was right. We also used to have corporate dress code in Infosys. So it s
here as well!!!!
I sat down and felt somebody nudging me. I turned around and to my surprise; it was the former Indian skipper and one of my favourite
batsman Mohd. Azharuddin. I remembered that he had recently won the elections. I smiled at him and mentioned to him that I used to like his
game very much, shaking his hand. No Rolex, I noticed.
Azhar told me that he would "fix" me an appointment with an Italian designer who had designed his dapper Kurta suit. An Italian designer in
Milan doing Kurtas!?!?!?!
I made a note of this and reminded myself to give this example to Friedman for his next book," The World Markets are
Flattened. Since there was no doubt about the "Fixational" capacities of Azhar, I told him to give me the details and I would consider.
The proceedings of the House went on with numerous bills being debated and passed as I sat as a passive audience waiting for my project's turn
to come up. After the lunch break, it was the moment for me!!!!
MY PROJECT"S FIRST REVIEW CAME UP FOR PRESENTATION. I was at sea. My laptop did not have any reserve power. I went to Manmohan and apprised him of
the situation. I was sweating. He calmly replied that this would not be a cause of concern. I was flummoxed!!!!
The Speaker asked me to explain to the House on what were my plans for the Unique Identity Project. I replied that I have a plan prepared for
30-60-90-120 days' milestones and I have presentation to make for which I need a power socket, a projector and a screen. I had no idea what was
going to happen after this. The next couple of minutes were a complete jolt for me. I was completely in a tizzy. Let me just summarize what happened.
A Joint Cabinet Secretary Committee was set up to judge the feasibility of my request. The Under Secretaries for the Ministries of Power, IT and
Broadcasting will prepare a Viability Report after scrutinizing National Security threats to my request. This was because the power socket comes
under Power, laptop comes under IT and projector comes under Broadcasting.
I have also been told to reconsider my timelines of 30-60-90 days and start thinking in terms of years. Probably, they are right. I did not
have the foresight in this matter. The summary of the issue is that I need to come up with a more inclusive, democratic, comprehensive long term plan for this project to
be executed over the next five years. I have also been given a presentation slot 3 months from now (by which the issues related to the power cord etc will also be resolved).
I am filled with mixed reactions. I was planning for a quick resolution; the management wants a strategic solution.
I come out of the House and text Murthy,
"You won't believe it but these guys work just like us. I am on a NATIONAL BENCH for the next three months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The last entry stopped when the House was just about to begin. Let's see what happened thereafter...
The House was in pin drop silence as the Speaker to her Chair. I was brimming with anticipation and excitement!!!! Manmohan had informed me
that my introduction was one of the important points of the agenda. I hoped that I will be able to make my speech properly. After so many
interviews and conferences, I was nervous today!!!!
After the Speaker indicated that the proceedings of the House could begin, Manmohan formally introduced me to the entire House. He mentioned
that as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, I was responsible to ensure that each and every Indian had a digital smart
card as a proof of his existence. Manmohan spoke about why I was selected and also some references to the various projects executed by me
in Infosys were mentioned. The House listened with rapt attention. I was asked to say a few words and I did exactly the same!!! I thanked the
Government of India for having given me this opportunity and I assured the House that I would strive to successfully deliver this project. The
Speaker then formally inducted me into the House and before the proceedings could move any forward, there was a small commotion on the
other side of the hall.
It was Minister of Textiles who had a comment to make before the next point on the agenda. He made a request that I
should be attired in a more austere way instead of a flashy suit. It did not go well with the image of a minister who should live to serve the
common man and should be less ostentatious in his habits. I stood up to reply. I offered my apologies to the Honourable Minister and assured
that I shall be in a more acceptable dress next time. I felt that he was right. We also used to have corporate dress code in Infosys. So it s
here as well!!!!
I sat down and felt somebody nudging me. I turned around and to my surprise; it was the former Indian skipper and one of my favourite
batsman Mohd. Azharuddin. I remembered that he had recently won the elections. I smiled at him and mentioned to him that I used to like his
game very much, shaking his hand. No Rolex, I noticed.
Azhar told me that he would "fix" me an appointment with an Italian designer who had designed his dapper Kurta suit. An Italian designer in
Milan doing Kurtas!?!?!?!
I made a note of this and reminded myself to give this example to Friedman for his next book," The World Markets are
Flattened. Since there was no doubt about the "Fixational" capacities of Azhar, I told him to give me the details and I would consider.
The proceedings of the House went on with numerous bills being debated and passed as I sat as a passive audience waiting for my project's turn
to come up. After the lunch break, it was the moment for me!!!!
MY PROJECT"S FIRST REVIEW CAME UP FOR PRESENTATION. I was at sea. My laptop did not have any reserve power. I went to Manmohan and apprised him of
the situation. I was sweating. He calmly replied that this would not be a cause of concern. I was flummoxed!!!!
The Speaker asked me to explain to the House on what were my plans for the Unique Identity Project. I replied that I have a plan prepared for
30-60-90-120 days' milestones and I have presentation to make for which I need a power socket, a projector and a screen. I had no idea what was
going to happen after this. The next couple of minutes were a complete jolt for me. I was completely in a tizzy. Let me just summarize what happened.
A Joint Cabinet Secretary Committee was set up to judge the feasibility of my request. The Under Secretaries for the Ministries of Power, IT and
Broadcasting will prepare a Viability Report after scrutinizing National Security threats to my request. This was because the power socket comes
under Power, laptop comes under IT and projector comes under Broadcasting.
I have also been told to reconsider my timelines of 30-60-90 days and start thinking in terms of years. Probably, they are right. I did not
have the foresight in this matter. The summary of the issue is that I need to come up with a more inclusive, democratic, comprehensive long term plan for this project to
be executed over the next five years. I have also been given a presentation slot 3 months from now (by which the issues related to the power cord etc will also be resolved).
I am filled with mixed reactions. I was planning for a quick resolution; the management wants a strategic solution.
I come out of the House and text Murthy,
"You won't believe it but these guys work just like us. I am on a NATIONAL BENCH for the next three months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
More Powerful Than Facebook Or Twitter
Every political eruption around the world--the Iranian elections; this week's riots in the Chinese city of Urumqi--quickly produces news stories about how Internet sites like Facebook and Twitter have become engines of social change. But a technology that is much less glamorous and vastly more ubiquitous deserves the real star billing.
CMOS sensors ("complementary metal oxide semiconductor") are the cameras-on-a-chip that have become so cheap that they can now be put even in low-end cellphones. Just about everyone in the world by now has a mobile phone, and each one of them has become a witness to history. It's hard to smuggle around a movie camera, especially when tanks are rolling in. A cellphone, though, slips in a pocket, but its images can beam around the world in minutes. That makes every person on the street a documentary filmmaker.
A CMOS sensor is, in effect, a garden variety silicon computer chip, like a memory chip or a microprocessor, but which can convert photons of light into the electrical ones or zeroes of computer-speak. While digital cameras have been around for decades, until recently they required a complex part known as a charged couple device (CCD) in order to work.
During the 1990s, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere got the idea of trying to use generic computer chip technology, known as CMOS, to handle pictures. At first, CMOS-based cameras had extremely low picture quality; they were electrically "noisy," as engineers say.
But since so many engineers were familiar with CMOS and since basic CMOS manufacturing technology was used in so many places all over the world, a huge R&D infrastructure was in place to quickly make improvements to the devices. Around 2000, they became good enough to start showing up in digital cameras in place of CCDs. By now, CMOS sensors are good enough that they can out-perform CCDs for all but very high-end photography applications, usually for a tiny fraction of the price. (A CMOS sensor in a low-end cellphone costs less than a dollar.)
The story is another victory for Moore's Law, in which electronics double in capacity every year or so. In five years, says Ken Salsman, director of new technology for Aptima, a CMOS sensor maker in Silicon Valley, the area on a chip required to store a pixel of information has shrunk 10-fold, to a wee 1.5 microns. With advances in manufacturing, more pixels can be stored on the same fingernail-sized sliver of silicon chip. Which is why cameras now start at 8 megapixels, an unimaginable amount just a few years ago but enough to produce high-def video in even low-cost cameras. Some high-end cameras now have 25 megapixels.
Because CMOS sensors are so cheap, they are being designed into everything, the way flashing LED displays were in the '90s. Laptop covers, for one, and the rear doors of station wagons, giving drivers of some new models a view of what they are reversing into.
Even pills. One of the new fields in radiology is CMOS sensor-enabled capsules that can be swallowed. These capsules can take hundreds or even thousands of pictures as they move through the digestive system. They are then retrieved, and the photos off-loaded for a doctor's evaluation.
As Salsman says, "There is nothing that isn't being photographed these days." Dictators beware
Source: Forbes
CMOS sensors ("complementary metal oxide semiconductor") are the cameras-on-a-chip that have become so cheap that they can now be put even in low-end cellphones. Just about everyone in the world by now has a mobile phone, and each one of them has become a witness to history. It's hard to smuggle around a movie camera, especially when tanks are rolling in. A cellphone, though, slips in a pocket, but its images can beam around the world in minutes. That makes every person on the street a documentary filmmaker.
A CMOS sensor is, in effect, a garden variety silicon computer chip, like a memory chip or a microprocessor, but which can convert photons of light into the electrical ones or zeroes of computer-speak. While digital cameras have been around for decades, until recently they required a complex part known as a charged couple device (CCD) in order to work.
During the 1990s, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere got the idea of trying to use generic computer chip technology, known as CMOS, to handle pictures. At first, CMOS-based cameras had extremely low picture quality; they were electrically "noisy," as engineers say.
But since so many engineers were familiar with CMOS and since basic CMOS manufacturing technology was used in so many places all over the world, a huge R&D infrastructure was in place to quickly make improvements to the devices. Around 2000, they became good enough to start showing up in digital cameras in place of CCDs. By now, CMOS sensors are good enough that they can out-perform CCDs for all but very high-end photography applications, usually for a tiny fraction of the price. (A CMOS sensor in a low-end cellphone costs less than a dollar.)
The story is another victory for Moore's Law, in which electronics double in capacity every year or so. In five years, says Ken Salsman, director of new technology for Aptima, a CMOS sensor maker in Silicon Valley, the area on a chip required to store a pixel of information has shrunk 10-fold, to a wee 1.5 microns. With advances in manufacturing, more pixels can be stored on the same fingernail-sized sliver of silicon chip. Which is why cameras now start at 8 megapixels, an unimaginable amount just a few years ago but enough to produce high-def video in even low-cost cameras. Some high-end cameras now have 25 megapixels.
Because CMOS sensors are so cheap, they are being designed into everything, the way flashing LED displays were in the '90s. Laptop covers, for one, and the rear doors of station wagons, giving drivers of some new models a view of what they are reversing into.
Even pills. One of the new fields in radiology is CMOS sensor-enabled capsules that can be swallowed. These capsules can take hundreds or even thousands of pictures as they move through the digestive system. They are then retrieved, and the photos off-loaded for a doctor's evaluation.
As Salsman says, "There is nothing that isn't being photographed these days." Dictators beware
Source: Forbes
Friday, July 17, 2009
IBM taking Oracle database share
IBM taking Oracle database share
IBM software breaking away in UNIX database growth
Why did Oracle buy Sun Microsystems? Perhaps to stem the steady flow of database customers using UNIX to IBM DB2 and Informix software.
Maybe bundling its database with Sun's Solaris operating system and hardware might retard IBM DB2 software and Power System growth.
While both Oracle and IBM have claimed to be taking database share from one another on recent earnings calls, the two top industry studies of 2008 market results agree IBM has the momentum.
This is not a fluke, but the result of a solid client-centric information agenda contrasting sharply to Oracle's customer gouging with high maintenance fees.
Reality check
The truth is, it's not a huge landslide of customers going IBM's way, but a significant demographic trend. Oracle still holds nearly half the total Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) market to IBM's 22 percent, according to Gartner
But Oracle client defections are real and measurable. Gartner places IBM RDBMS growth at 12.5 percent overall for 2008, while IDC pegs it nearby at 12.0.
Gartner says IBM took .1 percent from Oracle's total RDBMS share, while IDC says we took three times that amount. Either way, the tide is in our direction.
UNIX matters
Numbers are much more dramatic within the Windows, Linux and Unix environment. While Gartner reports that IBM finally pulled even with Oracle in Linux revenue growth percentage, IBM clearly outsold Oracle with 18.2 percent revenue growth in the UNIX space, compared to Oracle's 2.2 percent loss of share.
This gives IBM a relative growth of 20.4 percent over Oracle in this segment, and some real velocity.
What's happening in a challenging economy to fuel such a differentiation? First of all, IBM is winning in head-to-head competition. There are many examples (see sidebar for one recent example).
Why? Our Information Agenda provides a solid roadmap while Oracle is two years late with it's Fusion middleware solution to integrate disparate application data repositories. DB2's handling of "pureXML" provides great flexibility while its data compression provides a real cost savings in the short term. Informix's speed is also a key differentiator.
Compounding the trend
Oracle is seeing a decrease in database revenue while IBM DB2, for example, has been growing in double digits for the last few years. Oracle management needs to make up for this loss to shareholders.
From where is this revenue coming? From its clients base! Not only did Oracle greatly increase its license fees one year ago in June, but the company has been jacking-up the maintenance on its acquired offerings to match ts already-high Oracle software maintenance fees, 22 percent of its license fees.
When a client buys DB2 or Informix, IBM provides the routine software fixes and security patches for free to all licensees, even if the customer hasn't signed an ongoing support agreement.
Oracle customers don't get this support without payment of its steep maintenance fees, and adding maintenance after the fact has proven more expensive than buying them up front. According to IBM business analysts, clients who challenged these high fees ended up paying more than they would have had they not complained.
IBM is working to make companies smarter, but Oracle customers are already wise enough to question high maintenance fees. In the mean time, Oracle appears to be making its staff dumber.
Brain drain
Oracle gets high marks from industry analysts and stock analysts alike for running companies it acquired at high profitablity. Oracle ran its business at a 51 percent operating margin in its most recent 4Q09 quarter, and that's even higher than Microsoft.
But from where do these Oracle savings come? It appears that many savings may come from reducing headcount at the software companies Oracle continually acquires. Reviewing Oracle staffing on a case-by-case basis, IBM analysts see Oracle letting go of as many as 60 percent of the employees of the companies it acquires.
Layoffs provide Oracle shareholders with great value, but what does it do for Oracle clients who are paying a huge premium for support when the company gets rid of huge chunks of its expertise? Even Sybase took some share from Oracle last quarter in the UNIX space. Oracle customers are angry.
In the few hours since this story was originally posted, LSI, a leading provider of innovative technologies, has agreed to replace Oracle's database with DB2 not only for SAP, but 40 different custom applications over the next nine months. The deal includes software, IBM Power Systems hardware and IBM Migration Services to replace LSI's HP and Oracle environment.
Lessons from Windows?
Interestingly, in the Windows market, both Oracle and IBM outperformed Microsoft SQL Server. So much for having an advantage by marrying the operating system and database sales. But, in this case operating system issues might be more of a liability than an asset.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Economic Crisis: Is there a catch?
It is August. In a small town on the South coast of France, holiday season is in full swing. But it is raining so there isn’t too much business happening.
Everyone is heavily in debt.
Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks to see a room and puts a Euro100 note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the second floor.
The hotel owner takes the note in hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes E100.
The butcher takes the money and races to his wholesaler to pay his debt.
The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for goats he purchased some time ago.
The farmer triumphantly gives the E100 note to a local prostitute who gavehim her services on credit.
The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owes the hotel for her room use to entertain clients.. She pays the hotel owner.
At that moment, the rich Russian comes down to the reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100 back and departs.
There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the
small town people look optimistically towards their future.
COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE Global Financial Crisis? Or, is there a catch here?
Everyone is heavily in debt.
Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks to see a room and puts a Euro100 note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the second floor.
The hotel owner takes the note in hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes E100.
The butcher takes the money and races to his wholesaler to pay his debt.
The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for goats he purchased some time ago.
The farmer triumphantly gives the E100 note to a local prostitute who gavehim her services on credit.
The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owes the hotel for her room use to entertain clients.. She pays the hotel owner.
At that moment, the rich Russian comes down to the reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100 back and departs.
There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the
small town people look optimistically towards their future.
COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE Global Financial Crisis? Or, is there a catch here?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)