Readers - Thanks to all those who commented/mailed/tweeted me their comments on my Twitter-Toons.
Here comes the last one.
I dont really wanna make tonnes of them... so here we go:
{Click the image to enlarge}
Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
Friday, May 8, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Is Twitter doing any value addition to you?
An average techie will be (atleast) using the following websites on a day to day basis:
- Office mail
- Personal Mail (Gmail / Yahoo)
- Blog (Blogger / Worldpress)
- Social Networking (Facebook / Orkut)
The question is : considering the fact that social networking not being the main or solo purpose of life , how much time can be allocated to such activities on a day to day basis with out affecting productivity (Or simply put, "Productivity = Performance in the job which is paying us" !)
Remember , there are still avenues for communication left which are inevitable; like personal meetings, telephone and SMS. A portion of available time shall be allocated for these activities also.
Companies like Google are coming up with a single user account for multiple services. Yahoo! also provide similar service, but not as good as the way Google does it! I am a Google user and I do like their approach. I have chosen Google as my preferred service provider for:
- E-Mail (Gmail)
- Chat (Gtalk or Chat inbuilt with Gmail)
- Networking (Orkut)
- Blogging (Blogger.com)
- Photo sharing (Picasa)
Now , I must agree that Facebook is far advanced than Orkut. It has developed itself as a robust platform.Features and applications are incredible. How ever , too many features may turn any application annoying. Thankfully Facebook provide great tools for managing features and applications.
Now, back to the Twitter business. What special Twitter is offering, which others dont ? What value addition it is providing to our daily lives? Are we using it just because its free and many of our friends got it?
The honest answer from me is Twitter is just another tool for status update/messaging and its not inventing anything! Status updation and notification is available in most of the platforms : Google & Facebook. I think Facebook offer the best 'Status updation' and feed in social networking industry. This make Twitter, just a 'Sub-Application' in social networking.
Take a look at status updation service in some of the websites, which I am using.
1) Gmail:
Very simple status updation. Links can be used and visible to any one who is in your 'Contacts' using Gmail / Gtalk.2) Orkut:
Simple status update text box provided on the top pane of Orkut. Links and smilies are allowed. (Links are controlled by Orkut script, though). Published updates are visible to other buddies as given below:
Simple status update text box provided on the top pane of Orkut. Links and smilies are allowed. (Links are controlled by Orkut script, though). Published updates are visible to other buddies as given below:
3)Facebook :
The best status update available among all networking websites. There is an option for you and your friends to discuss on the update as well. And it is presented in a neat & tidy manner. Take a look:
I am sure Google & Facebook guys can very well provide (I think they may already have) API's to transmit such feeds to other applications - most importantly - including mobile devises (Like iPhone).
I started using Twitter and started following a few. To be honest, I am not able to follow or read all the tweets. It is too much information which is piling up and i dont wanna spend all my time reading all these stuff. Personal messaging is the best way for me to reach people and if at all I wanna know what our buddies are doing , I can just check out their Google/FB account status update.
I am not against Twitter , but I just cant see any value addition from Twitter to my daily life. If anybody ask me what will I suggest for networking websites,my reply would be "Building a common platform for data sharing (atleast status updates)".
Tech Gurus shall think about "Universal user ID's" which can be used to login to mail application provided by any. Like 'Internic' a global body can be formed where master user login data is stored.
Possibilities are unlimited, its upto the innovators to get the best deal out of them!
Lets stay finger crossed to see what 2009 has to offer for the web arena!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
PMK on PM Blogsphere
Today I was Googling for some stuff and got surprised to see my name in some blogs and checked them out.
I would like to mention 2 major ones.
The first one is Mr.Paul Ritchie's PM blog "Crossderry" .Mr.Ritchie is Head of Global Project Management Operations at SAP. He is discussing about my article on skills of Project Managers, here.
My blogger friend Alec has mentioned about my blog and my recent presence in 'Twitter' here. He has mentioned me under "Project Managers to follow in Twitter" along with Raven.
{ I think , I should also write something on Twitter and Tweets ;) }
Thanks Ritch and Alec for linking to my blog.
I would like to mention 2 major ones.
The first one is Mr.Paul Ritchie's PM blog "Crossderry" .Mr.Ritchie is Head of Global Project Management Operations at SAP. He is discussing about my article on skills of Project Managers, here.
My blogger friend Alec has mentioned about my blog and my recent presence in 'Twitter' here. He has mentioned me under "Project Managers to follow in Twitter" along with Raven.
{ I think , I should also write something on Twitter and Tweets ;) }
Thanks Ritch and Alec for linking to my blog.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Being Busy
"Sreejith , are you busy now?"
"Oh no, never, go on"
This was used to be typical communication pattern in my life....
Well, things got changed in last few months... I broke my wow to my friends of not saying "I'm Busy!"
I must confess that I have told many people that "Oh god I'm busy like hell!" ..in last few weeks.
Being readers of PMK , you might have observed that last 2 months were the period when I was least active in blogsphere!
My view on being busy and working overtime is :
- You are highly unproductive
- There is some serious resource deficiency in your company/department
Even if you beat me to death I wont agree that I am unproductive in my work ;)
So the second one is the only left out option .. and its true.
Business scenario can change dramatically at any time. You may win new contracts or venture into new business avenues. Recruiting right talent for the new assignments may take months. Apart from the responsibilities of setting up systems and managing learning curve , managers may have to take up some additional load to make up the resource deficiency.... well read it as "rolling up sleeves and taking shovel by oneself " ;)
Dont take this note as a notion that I got free from the seasonal load and back to usual stuff. I anticipate couple of hard months ahead.
I have lots of pending commitments including few software review and magazine articles.
I have also found few people mailing me asking for detailing some of the techniques detailed in various articles. I request all of them to discuss such things in the "Comment" section , so that others also will benifit from the same. I really dont have time for 1-to-1 consultancy. You may also catch me up on "Planningplanet.com"
Promising all my readers that I will come back soon with some interesting articles.
Till then , signing off!
Cheers!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Aftermath of global recession hype
Image Credits : http://cache.daylife.com
Is recession conveyed by the media is on its right size? People are still debating over it. Some people feel its about right and some feel its exaggerated.
But one doubt is still haunting me. Is there exploitation happening globally taking advantage of the “Recession” buzzword? I feel it's true.
It was not only the banks who met bankruptcy responsible for the huge unemployment generated worldwide, recently. Almost every sector is cutting down their staff.
It is a true fact that companies increase their manpower while they perform well. The increases in the manpower usually lower the work load of the employees and even create some idle / low-productive labour. A significant percentage of the additional recruitments done in past few years in large corporations are mainly to meet future business demands , for establishing systems par with global standards and contingency.
I think CEO’s are using this time for self examination of the organization. They have come out of the ‘feel good’ environment. Now the focus is on cost cutting and productivity improvement. They are raiding each and every square inch of their organisations for idle and unproductive labour. This is the "Flush out hour” ! If you are out of the job in this so called ‘recession’, understand that a ‘credit crunch’ resulted from the inability of some banking majors to repay their customers is not the reason for your job loss. It’s the ‘Organisational Restructuring Time’! CEO’s are sitting back and thinking about lean production models and all are arming themselves to reap the best results of ‘SEVERE COMMODITY CRUNCH’ which is going to emerge somewhere in the middle of 2010 !
I think I am talking sense. Did we all stopped going out? Are we not eating as much as we did last year? Aren’t we gonna purchase good cloths for our kids? Aren’t you gonna go for a vacation or a party? No , we have not changed .. as much its hyped.. but we got scared ..with some fear which don’t have any substantial back up. We are going to live the same way once we come out of this silly fear.
Oil producing countries have cut down production and delayed further expansion plans. All industry sectors reduced production. Real estate has moved to a slow pace.
Yes, we all need a break. A pause to think and re-examine ourselves, our goals and targets.
The entire world is doing that … and some people are exploiting that as well!
HR departments in all organisations will now have a good excuse for not giving you a salary hike or even a New Year bonus! They may ask you “How dare you ask for a hike when you know the whole world is going under a recession” . The poor you may think “But where all the money has gone???” When some one loses, somebody else should gain! That is the logic of universe. Now the banks have a reason for non payment of the investment to the investors and also for sacking employees. It’s always the common man who suffers at the end! Huge accounting scandals happen all the time. If you steal 10 dollar, you are a thief and if you steal 1 billion, you are genius (or a corporate business guru) !
Rules of the world are strange!
COMMODITY CRUNCH IN 2010:
The common man, who lost his salary increment or even his job, may suffer again in 2010. Heavy production cuts are soon to build up a situation where there is shortage of essential stuff. This will obviously boost inflation – read ‘high cost of living!’.
But one doubt is still haunting me. Is there exploitation happening globally taking advantage of the “Recession” buzzword? I feel it's true.
It was not only the banks who met bankruptcy responsible for the huge unemployment generated worldwide, recently. Almost every sector is cutting down their staff.
It is a true fact that companies increase their manpower while they perform well. The increases in the manpower usually lower the work load of the employees and even create some idle / low-productive labour. A significant percentage of the additional recruitments done in past few years in large corporations are mainly to meet future business demands , for establishing systems par with global standards and contingency.
I think CEO’s are using this time for self examination of the organization. They have come out of the ‘feel good’ environment. Now the focus is on cost cutting and productivity improvement. They are raiding each and every square inch of their organisations for idle and unproductive labour. This is the "Flush out hour” ! If you are out of the job in this so called ‘recession’, understand that a ‘credit crunch’ resulted from the inability of some banking majors to repay their customers is not the reason for your job loss. It’s the ‘Organisational Restructuring Time’! CEO’s are sitting back and thinking about lean production models and all are arming themselves to reap the best results of ‘SEVERE COMMODITY CRUNCH’ which is going to emerge somewhere in the middle of 2010 !
I think I am talking sense. Did we all stopped going out? Are we not eating as much as we did last year? Aren’t we gonna purchase good cloths for our kids? Aren’t you gonna go for a vacation or a party? No , we have not changed .. as much its hyped.. but we got scared ..with some fear which don’t have any substantial back up. We are going to live the same way once we come out of this silly fear.
Oil producing countries have cut down production and delayed further expansion plans. All industry sectors reduced production. Real estate has moved to a slow pace.
Yes, we all need a break. A pause to think and re-examine ourselves, our goals and targets.
The entire world is doing that … and some people are exploiting that as well!
HR departments in all organisations will now have a good excuse for not giving you a salary hike or even a New Year bonus! They may ask you “How dare you ask for a hike when you know the whole world is going under a recession” . The poor you may think “But where all the money has gone???” When some one loses, somebody else should gain! That is the logic of universe. Now the banks have a reason for non payment of the investment to the investors and also for sacking employees. It’s always the common man who suffers at the end! Huge accounting scandals happen all the time. If you steal 10 dollar, you are a thief and if you steal 1 billion, you are genius (or a corporate business guru) !
Rules of the world are strange!
COMMODITY CRUNCH IN 2010:
The common man, who lost his salary increment or even his job, may suffer again in 2010. Heavy production cuts are soon to build up a situation where there is shortage of essential stuff. This will obviously boost inflation – read ‘high cost of living!’.
“If you plug the canal, it will burst on your face one day… just like cannon!”
Are you prepared to face the ‘Commodity Crunch’ after the ‘Credit Crunch Season’? ... If not better be!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Bidding adieu to another year…
Image Credits: http://tekybala.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/good_bye.jpg
We are on the last day of 2008.
Nobody can change past, but past gives knowledge which we call ‘experience’. The call of New Year at the door makes us to think about our experiences in the year just going to expire. Success and failures, happy moments and sad ones… every one has something to say about the year passed… and every one has got some expectations from the year which is standing at their door step.
Learn form success & failures... believe that it was all for good.. make some ‘bullet’ points for the next year… these ‘bullets’ are gems of hope, which keep us ticking. We have wish lists, things which oneself has to do and things which the world shall do for us.
I wish if I could…
• Wake up a bit early every day
• Look after my health in a better way and regain my trim physique which I lost a year back!
• Reduce internet usage by 50%
• Improve book reading and clear backlog
• Attend and succeed in all the certifications which I planned for 2009
• Keep all my friends at least as close as I kept them last year
• Do some touring which I missed in 2008
• Find a life partner!
When I look at this list … I feel like some of the items in the wish list appeared in last year also!
I wish if others could…
• Stop bullying
• Stop killing
• Stop being destructive
• Start being less selfish
• Start smiling from heart
• Love unconditionally, for a change!
Last year was professionally good for me. But I missed my home country, my friends, all the partying we had and touring.
I felt lonelier last year because I had plenty of time and no friends (geographical issue! ;)! I felt richer last year because of fallen rupee (better exchange rate!). I felt older than any other year because of the weight I have put on me and the new spectacles!
If you are reading this… and if you feel that this blog has something to keep you linger around for few minutes, then say cheers to year 2008 – the year when I pushed myself to start writing here!
Nobody can change past, but past gives knowledge which we call ‘experience’. The call of New Year at the door makes us to think about our experiences in the year just going to expire. Success and failures, happy moments and sad ones… every one has something to say about the year passed… and every one has got some expectations from the year which is standing at their door step.
Learn form success & failures... believe that it was all for good.. make some ‘bullet’ points for the next year… these ‘bullets’ are gems of hope, which keep us ticking. We have wish lists, things which oneself has to do and things which the world shall do for us.
I wish if I could…
• Wake up a bit early every day
• Look after my health in a better way and regain my trim physique which I lost a year back!
• Reduce internet usage by 50%
• Improve book reading and clear backlog
• Attend and succeed in all the certifications which I planned for 2009
• Keep all my friends at least as close as I kept them last year
• Do some touring which I missed in 2008
• Find a life partner!
When I look at this list … I feel like some of the items in the wish list appeared in last year also!
I wish if others could…
• Stop bullying
• Stop killing
• Stop being destructive
• Start being less selfish
• Start smiling from heart
• Love unconditionally, for a change!
Last year was professionally good for me. But I missed my home country, my friends, all the partying we had and touring.
I felt lonelier last year because I had plenty of time and no friends (geographical issue! ;)! I felt richer last year because of fallen rupee (better exchange rate!). I felt older than any other year because of the weight I have put on me and the new spectacles!
If you are reading this… and if you feel that this blog has something to keep you linger around for few minutes, then say cheers to year 2008 – the year when I pushed myself to start writing here!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Back to Firefox !
For a change, lets discuss something different from Project Management.
A browser is something which is integral part of my daily life. 80% of the time which I spent on computer was nothing but using browser. Till 2006 , I was dedicated user of IE. For very short period I have tried Netscape & Opera but went back to IE. Like many other, what attracted me towards Firefox was its tabbed browsing feature. I used to have 10- 20 windows open simultaneously and it was crowding the task bar. Tabbed browsing was available in many amateur browser projects (VB6 code projects) and I quite liked it! Through out 2007 and till middle of 2008 I stuck to to Firefox.
Glaze & Blaze of Chrome!
I am a hardcore fan of Google products. Always their products carry an USP, technical and/or user interface.
I started using Google Chrome since the day it was available to download. I have personally tested it against Firefox for speed and it was found much faster , indeed! Speed & simple interface of chrome (Especially ,I liked those webpage thumbnails in the the start up). How ever , I started facing technical problems with many websites (Many of them were my regular sites - opened at least once in a day!). After few months of dedicated Chrome use, I started using Firefox parallel for sites which were not properly displayed by Chrome.Chrome was surprisingly lacking the 'Autofill' facility- a must for regular users. As time passed, I found it difficult to maintain 2 browsers, and started feeling my immense love to Firefox again!
So, I am back to Firefox and I am happy !
Chrome reminds me a 'thin glass panel' and it feels me like some girlfriend who was in my life for a short period ;) . Well, I shouldnt be talking about her since I am back with my old GF !!
A browser is something which is integral part of my daily life. 80% of the time which I spent on computer was nothing but using browser. Till 2006 , I was dedicated user of IE. For very short period I have tried Netscape & Opera but went back to IE. Like many other, what attracted me towards Firefox was its tabbed browsing feature. I used to have 10- 20 windows open simultaneously and it was crowding the task bar. Tabbed browsing was available in many amateur browser projects (VB6 code projects) and I quite liked it! Through out 2007 and till middle of 2008 I stuck to to Firefox.
Glaze & Blaze of Chrome!
I am a hardcore fan of Google products. Always their products carry an USP, technical and/or user interface.
I started using Google Chrome since the day it was available to download. I have personally tested it against Firefox for speed and it was found much faster , indeed! Speed & simple interface of chrome (Especially ,I liked those webpage thumbnails in the the start up). How ever , I started facing technical problems with many websites (Many of them were my regular sites - opened at least once in a day!). After few months of dedicated Chrome use, I started using Firefox parallel for sites which were not properly displayed by Chrome.Chrome was surprisingly lacking the 'Autofill' facility- a must for regular users. As time passed, I found it difficult to maintain 2 browsers, and started feeling my immense love to Firefox again!
So, I am back to Firefox and I am happy !
Chrome reminds me a 'thin glass panel' and it feels me like some girlfriend who was in my life for a short period ;) . Well, I shouldnt be talking about her since I am back with my old GF !!
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