Sun Microsystems plans to lay off as many as 5,000 employees WHY?

Sun Microsystems plans to lay off as many as 5,000 employees, sell real estate, and "simplify" its product line in an effort to boost profits, its newly appointed CEO Jonathan Schwartz said.

The reason given by CEO was

Schwartz CEO said Sun "will be simplifying our product line and reducing duplicative R&D" and highlighted products key to the company's future, such as its eight-core processor Niagara server. But he didn't explain what research and development the company now considered duplicative or how that product line would be simplified.

Google.com blocked in China why????

The Google.com search engine has been blocked in most parts of China, as Beijing steps up its efforts to restrict the public access to information, a Paris-based media watchdog said.

Internet users in many major Chinese cities have had difficulty connecting to the international version of Google for the past week, Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. Aside from the Google.com search engine, Reporters Without Borders said the blocking was being gradually extended to the Google News and Google Mail services.

“Google has just definitively joined the club of western companies that comply with online censorship in China,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is deplorable that Chinese Internet users are forced to wage a technological war against censorship in order to access banned content.”

What Else you can Expect from your President who leads us from the Front

On Thursday, President A P J Abdul Kalam, supreme commander of the armed forces, fulfilled a childhood dream when he became the first Indian Head of State to fly a fighter plane.

"I always wanted to be an Air Force pilot but was rejected in 1958 and therefore I became a scientist," the 74-year-old Kalam said soon after his 40-minute supersonic flight on a Sukhoi-30 MKI at the Lohegaon Air Force base in Pune on July 8. The President's flight marked the airbase�s 50th anniversary.

The G-Suit is an anti-gravitational suit and helps in proper blood circulation when the flight flies at supersonic speeds.


Some photos

Just Before take off



Get Set



AND GO



Source - rediff

Winzip most popular download of the week

WinZip, and most other Zip programs use identical compression code, originating from the same source. However, FreeZip has the advantage of costing you nothing. This compression/decompression utility integrates with Windows Explorer and uses file associations and context menus to zip or unzip files and subdirectories. This small program also offers file encryption features. If you want to protect your zip files with a password, download the encryption patch (freezipe.exe).

Which is more important: ideas or execution?

Survey after survey shows that most company executives believe they are far better at generating ideas than executing them. Despite the fact that the real leverages in the backend of innovation - in execution - most managers of obsess over the front end of the innovation process, on generating ideas. Once a high potential idea has been identified, a business plan has been written and refined, and a passionate leader has been assigned to run it, everyone assumes that the rest will be easy.

The authors have also identified six tendencies of established organizations that new ventures also typically face:

* Protecting funding for the new venture regardless of the performance of the parent company
* Establishing new organizational norms and policies that make sense for the new venture
* Overcoming tensions between the new venture and the existing company when those norms and policies conflict
* Affecting changes in the existing power structure required to support the new venture
* Engaging employees of the parent company in supporting the new venture and
* Recruiting talented managers from the parent company to work within the new venture

Blogs 'essential' to a good career - The Boston Globe

Blogs 'essential' to a good career - The Boston Globe

How to sharpen Mind

The January 16th issue of TIME magazine has a major section on "How to Sharpen Your Mind."

One of the key articles explores the best times of day for both "Morning People" and "Night Owls" to create, problem solve, rejuvinate and rest. I've re-worked the graphics presented in TIME for this post.

For the Morning Person

TIME says, for the early riser, "creativity generally peaks early in the wake cycle before distractions can impede the brain's imaginative focus."



Check out For the Night Owls

Solve this challenge, win Rs 25,000

Get Ahead presents the TCS Smart Business Case Study Contest for young managers, along with The Smart Manager, the management magazine!

We give you a profile and history of a company. All you have to do is study it and post your solution here, in upto 500 words. The winning solution stands to win Rs 25,000!

The Smart Manager will also publish your photograph and solution in its next issue! Hurry! The last date to post your solution is February 10

Are they not free to Share Thoughts

The news that Microsoft shut down a Chinese blogger's site at the request of Beijing

officials is bringing a renewed focus on the role U.S. companies play in helping China control the Internet. The Chinese government, determined to prevent dissidents from using the Net to promote taboo subjects such as the Falun Gong religious movement, formal independence for Taiwan, or an end to Communist Party rule,

So check the Chinese rules and control the content that's available for local Net surfers.

The elements of Innovation

Trust: to make people comfortable about sharing their ideas with the organization. They need to feel they can make mistakes without suffering undue consequences.

Management buy-in: Management must demonstrate their commitment to innovation through internal and external communications media. Management must also demonstrate being creative themselves; as well as a willingness to try out creative, yet risky ideas.

Budget: is necessary to implement highly creative or disruptive ideas, which by nature are more risky than less creative ideas. Money must also be found for investing for tools (see below) that facilitate idea sharing and development and training in the use of those tools.

Tools: such as an idea management tool for soliciting, capturing and evaluating ideas from the employees. Used well, an idea management tool is the best on-going tool for idea capture. Also useful are creative project teams, brainstorming sessions, mind-mapping tools and other items which facilitate creative thinking and collaboration.

Evaluation methods: are necessary for evaluating ideas generated by the tools. Many tools, such as idea management systems, include evaluation components.

Facilities: including meeting rooms, other spaces where people can meet and share ideas, white boards, post-its, pens and other things which facilitate creative meetings and brainstorming.

Rewards: Whether recognition, small gifts or granting special privileges, some kind of fair reward scheme motivates people to share their creative ideas with the organization.

Time: Employees need time to be creative.

How all of these components come together will vary from firm to firm. What is important is that these components exist, that there is flexibility.

Want to be a star Performer !!!!

Climbing the corporate ladder is not easy. The office corridors abound with gory tales of friends turning into colleagues, and colleagues turning fierce competitors.

Is aspiring for the hat of the head honcho, then, asking for too much? No.

Everyone longs for a better deal in life, but few are ready to pay the price. Success does not come to you. You have to go get it.

Here are the some of tips may help you

1.Do some soul searching

Once we get into the grind, few of us take time out for introspection. Get to specifics. What is it that's making you underachieve?

Is it your obsessive boyfriend/girlfriend, your own weak resolve, lack of consistency or plain old lethargy? Believe it or not, lethargy is most often the culprit. Write down why you put things off, procrastinate or limit yourself. Only then can you focus on strategies to chip away at it. Most of us spend more time planning vacations than we do planning our career.

Ask yourself some tough questions, like -

a. Do you have a flair for connecting with people?
b. Are you good at motivating people?
c. Do you crave an adrenaline rush or do you go by the book?
d. Do your personality traits match the job profile you are looking at?

2.Get organised

Successful professionals swear by the mantra of 'planning ahead' in order to soar at the workplace.

Start your day with a 'to do' list. Gather your supplies and resources for each task, set priorities and get similar tasks done together. Prioritising is important. If you have a lot on your plate, it becomes essential too. Of all the work you need to sink your teeth into, sort out what's important and urgent, what's important but not urgent, what's urgent and not important and, finally, what's neither important nor urgent but needs to get done.

3. Set time frames
Give yourself a deadline. They are necessary evils. Nothing gets done without a set time frame.
Putting in face time is criminal. It is not important how many hours you linger around at the office. What counts is how much you generate in a given time frame.

For More Tips click here

Day is not far away when you will see Laptop in Every body's hand

Day is not far away when you will see Laptop in Every body's hand in India, with compaines like Xenitis Infotech have started doing it. Kolkata-based Xenitis Infotech has launched its low-cost laptop range branded ‘Xuva’. Xenitis would offer laptops in the price range of Rs 29,000-59,000 for the low-end consumers, especially students and entry professionals.

Top 10 downloads since over past decade

Online software distribution was still in its infancy. What a difference a near-decade makes! Since 1996, we've watched the rise of instant messaging, digital audio and the MP3 format, file sharing, spyware and antispyware, and the open-source movement, just to name a few. And we've watched as online software distribution has gone from pipe dream to reality. These 10 applications best represent the top trends in downloading over the past decade.

List Looks like -

1. ICQ
2. Winamp
3. Napster
4. Firefox
5. WinZip
6. iTunes
7. Ad-aware
8. Skype
9. RealPlayer
10.Adobe Acrobat Reader

Click Here to Learn about this Downloads

Improving success rates

The success rate of new product offerings is dire. It's difficult to get an accurate figure on new product success rates because there is not one universal definition of success within and between firms. Plus, firms often don't like to talk about their failures.

What are some of factors that contribute to product "failure"?

Many recurring themes occur in the literature, such as:
* a failure to listen to the voice of the customer;
* poor up-front pre-development homework;
* unstable product definition;
* poor quality of execution of key NPD tasks;
* and poorly structured.


More here

Leading Consulting Firm to Deploy SugarCRM to 9,000 Users

BDO Seidman LLP, a leading national professional services firm, standardizes on SugarCRM to help enable distributed CRM for employees and partners of BDO Seidman and its Alliance Members

SugarCRM Inc., the world's leading provider of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software, today announced that BDO Seidman will offer SugarCRM to over 9,000 BDO Seidman and BDO Seidman Alliance member employees. The project, named BDO Link, will use SugarCRM to help improve opportunity and resource sharing, along with executive reporting. BDO Seidman is the U.S. member firm of BDO International, the fifth largest global accounting organization.

"SugarCRM delivers the flexibility we need to deploy a unique solution across our entire U.S. operation," said Valerie Kozikowski, Partner, BDO Seidman. "The ease-of-use of the SugarCRM application and its strong CRM capabilities means that BDO Seidman will be able to improve information sharing and deliver improved reporting capabilities across employee teams and the BDO Seidman Alliance Network."

"We are excited to work with BDO Seidman," said Lars Nordwall, Worldwide VP of Sales at SugarCRM. "For nearly 100 years, BDO Seidman has stood for excellence in professional services. SugarCRM is delighted to support their continued success."

Ten Things That Made Us FEEL GOOD this YEAR !

1. Heroes of the water tragedies

Whether it was the tsunami, the Mumbai floods, the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu flood disasters or the earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir, there were many examples of selfless acts in a particularly bad year as far as natural disasters are concerned.

There were doctors who opened their hospitals and gave free treatment to tsunami victims. College students who hitched rides on relief trucks to distribute food, water and clothes. Ordinary folk who rescued passengers on a city bus submerged in water in Mumbai. Kashmiri Pandits living in refugee camps in Delhi adopted a quake-hit village in Jammu and Kashmir -- the state from which they were forced to leave because of their religion.

These were individuals who saved lives of friends and strangers; some left whatever they are doing to go to affected areas to help -- and went a long way in strengthening people's dwindling faith in human goodness.


2. Rise of the sporting brat pack

2005 was the year of the rising stars in sport. Sania Mirza -- Tennis, Mahendra Singh Dhoni -- Cricket, Joshna Chinappa -- Squash, Shiv Kapur -- Golf and, of course, the indomitable Vijaypat Singhania, the 70-plus industrialist and maverick aviator who created a world record for his flight on a hot air balloon.

The nation went into overdrive with Sania's pursuits on the tennis court and beyond. Fanatics frowned over her short skirts and burned her effigy when she spoke about premarital sex, forcing her to retract. Others obsessed over her t-shirts and fans followed her tennis ranking, probably more closely than she herself. Sania was the sporting sensation of the year and every bit of the Sania mania was real.

Then there was Joshna, 19, the Asian junior number one in squash, who made news. Shiv, who won the Rookie of the Year and clinched the season-ending championship tour of the Volvo Masters of Asia. Dhoni, the wicket-keeper batsman, who began his career with a smashing batting average. They treated us to some great sporting action, we only hope the next year is even better.

3. The Indo-US thaw

After decades of suspicion, India and the United States began on a new path of strategic understanding in July when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush met in Washington, DC.

The civilian nuclear agreement was the most significant and most debated. The American President assured Dr Singh that the transfer of civilian nuclear reactors to India would become a reality by the end of his term.

Bush referred to India as a 'responsible State with advanced nuclear technology' and said 'India should acquire the same benefits and advantages as other such States.'

The agreement faces a tough passage in the United States Congress -- for it to become law -- but it has not dampened the optimism that the visit resulted in.

With talks of Bush visiting India early in 2006, the two countries can only look forward to strengthening strategic relations. So keep all your Bush jokes in check and get ready for the hype and hoopla of the Bush visit in a couple of months time.

4. A fresh start for Bihar

Political power doesn't always grow from the barrel of a gun; the ballot will do fine, especially in a democracy.

As it did in Bihar when the 15-year reign of Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi came to a resounding end after the year's second assembly election results on November 22.

For Nitish Kumar, who wrought the unthinkable, leave alone the undoable, the result must have come as vindication.

In the February assembly election, the voters did not give Nitish Kumar's political grouping a clear mandate, which led to the Raj Bhavan in Patna becoming the focus for reported intrigue to keep him out of the chief minister's post.

For Lalu, the reversal in fortune must be doubly galling, for Nitish Kumar was a confidant who succeeded in claiming Lalu's political space as his own.
Moral of the story: Never take the voters for fools.


5. National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill

Do not dismiss this just because it sounds too 'sarkari' to your ears.

The Indian Parliament passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004 on August 23, 2005 which aims at removing poverty by assuring at least 100 days' employment. The government has pegged a minimum daily wage of Rs 60.

The Bill was chiefly designed by Belgian economist Jean Dreze whose books on the Indian economy were incidentally a source of information for director Ashutosh Gowariker for his film Swades.

The scheme will cost about Rs 40,000 crores (Rs 400 billion) annually and will be paid for by the Centre, state governments and some other government schemes.

200 districts will be covered under the Bill and will include all the 600 districts in the country within five years.

The Rs 60 per day for 100 days amounts to just Rs 500 a year which is minuscule in reducing poverty, but the government's efforts in getting the bill through is a landmark one.

This time it is seen as a genuine effort to tackle poverty.

6. The law finally catches up with Abu Salem

In much the same way he left India -- on the quiet -- gangster Abu Salem and his companion, starlet Monika Bedi, returned to the country on November 11, bundled in on an early morning flight from Portugal where the couple had been living and from where they were extradited.

For the Central Bureau of Investigation, which fought a long and protracted battle to bring Salem back to the country to face charges of conspiracy in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts -- and to spill the beans on former mentor Dawood Ibrahim, the main accused in the case -- Salem was the biggest catch so far.

What was significant about the extradition was it came about without a formal treaty with Portugal.

The Indian government sought his return under the United Nations Convention on Suppression of Terrorism of 2000, to which India and Portugal are signatories. The Portuguese courts finally cleared the extradition, but only after India provided an undertaking that Salem would not be given the death penalty -- something the court in Mumbai, which is trying the blasts case, is reportedly not too happy about.

7. The invasion of the skies

Kingfisher Airlines, Spice Jet, Go Air and who knows how many more are to follow.

Years after being straddled with just a handful of domestic airlines to choose from, India saw three new airlines enter the skies this year alone.

With competitive fares, attractive deals and a new service culture, passengers found themselves flocking to ticketing counters as lower fares made air travel more affordable for the Indian traveller.

Kingfisher, which began operations in May, already flies to around 13 destinations, Spice Jet to 11. Both airlines will begin foreign operations in the next couple of years. Go Air, the latest off the runway, currently has fares as low as Rs 999.

So, Go, Spice up your travel and become the King of good flying times

8. The return of Vikram Seth

One of India's best loved writers was back home for a month to promote his latest book, Two Lives. This very personal book hold the fascinating story of Seth's maternal uncle, Shanti and his German wife, Henny.

Seth did a whirlwind promotional tour, reading passages over glasses of white wine to an enthusiastic audience that included governors, parliamentarians, diplomats and actor Aamir Khan.

In the part memoir, part biography, part history, Seth tells the story of his dentist uncle and his wife whose lives hold a wealth of experiences spread over three continents.

'What is important for a writer is when a reader is gripped by a book and delays his dinner to read a few more pages,' the writer had said during a reading in Kolkata.

Two Lives easily fits that bill. If you haven't read it yet, make it your first read for the New Year.

9. 60 years after World War II

War veterans from around the world with leaders from 56 countries gathered in Moscow in May to mark the end of the Second World War, which cost 55 million lives.

Two Indians, Commander V S P Mudaliar (retired) and Major General Bikram Singh Kanwar (retired), participated in the ceremony. Both men fought World War II as part of the British army and navy.

In India, on Remembrance Day, a small group of ex-servicemen assembled in Mumbai's Afghan Church to remember the dead. India is believed to have raised the largest volunteer army -- 2.5 million strong -- in the war.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attended the memorial event in Moscow's Red Square in May. The paegent was a fitting commemoration of a war that changed the world.



Photograph: Jewella C Miranda

10. Now it is India!

In three months alone, international information technology majors and Non-Resident Indians have announced investment plans of around $10 billion in India.

Global technology giants Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and AMD have committed to investing $6.85 billion in India.

Big names like Hyundai, LG, Nokia, Samsung, Suzuki, Ford, Fiat have built or are building global-scale manufacturing hubs in India to serve other markets.

The world is sitting up and taking note of a confident India's rocketting economy, technological prowess, exceptional talent pool, enormous market, rising disposable incomes, and most significantly the immense promise it holds for the future.

It is creating world-class businesses in knowledge-based industries like software, IT enabled-services, and pharmaceuticals. It is on the threshold of becoming an economic powerhouse.

And the world wants to be a part of this success story.

Multinational companies are eagerly investing in India's information technology and manufacturing sectors, while foreign investors are pouring mega dollars into the nation's booming stock markets.

And this is just the beginning…

SOURCE- rediff.com

Are BPOs safe for women?

Pratibha Srikanth Murthy, an employee of the business process outsourcing arm of Hewlett Packard in Bangalore, was raped and murdered by the driver of the company-commissioned cab she was travelling in on her way to work in the wee hours of Tuesday.

This has sent shivers down the spine of BPO workers, their kin, and the Indian IT industry.

Women account for about 40 per cent of the 350,000 call centres employees in India. IT sector bodies, politicians and the police have now urged companies to offer better security to BPO workers.

Should women work night shifts? Or do you feel the Bangalore murder is just a one-off incident of crime?

Do you think women employees in call centres are given adequate security? What can be done to ensure better safety of BPO workers?

Open your borders and let the customer in

Here is a short introductory piece on customer integration and co-creation, written recently for Conspectus magazine.

At IISC

At IISC, originally uploaded by My Imagination.

with friends

Google Click-to-Call

1. What's the phone icon on Google search results? How does it work?
We're testing a new product that gives you a free and fast way to speak directly to the advertiser you found on a Google search results page – over the phone.
Here's how it works: When you click the phone icon, you can enter your phone number. Once you click 'Connect For Free,' Google calls the number you provided. When you pick up, you hear ringing on the other end as Google connects you to the other party.
We won't share your telephone number with anyone, including the advertiser. When you're connected with the advertiser, your number is blocked so the advertiser can't see it. In addition, we'll delete the number from our servers after a short period of time.

2. Am I charged to connect to an advertiser?
No. Google foots the bill for all calls - local and long-distance. However, if we call a mobile phone number, you may incur airtime fees depending on the mobile phone plan. Check your mobile phone provider for details.

3. Is this just a way for Google to track me?
No. We take your privacy very seriously. Google does not share your telephone number with anyone (without your consent), including the advertiser. When you're connected with the advertiser, your number is blocked. The advertiser can't see your phone number.

In addition, we retain your information (including your phone number, date, time, and call length) only temporarily. It will be deleted from our servers after a period reasonably necessary to operate, audit, and evaluate the service.

4. Whose caller ID do I see when connected?
The advertiser's number appears on your caller ID when Google connects you. This way, you can save the merchant's number for future call-backs.