Rules for Life

• RULE 1 - Life is not fair; get used to it.

• RULE 2 - The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

• RULE 3 - You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.

• RULE 4 - If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.

• RULE 5 - Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping, they called it opportunity.

• RULE 6 - If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, So don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

• RULE 7 - Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try "delousing" the clothes in your own room.

• RULE 8 - Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they will ask as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

• RULE 9 - Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

• RULE 10 -Television is NOT real life! In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

• RULE 11 - Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

FYI

An old hill farmer trudges several miles through freezing snow to his local and very remote church for Sunday mass. No-one else is there, aside from the priest."I'm not sure it's worth proceeding with the mass - might we do better to go back to our warm homes and some soup?.." asks the priest, inviting a mutually helpful reaction from his audience of one.

"Well, I'm just a simple farmer," says the old man, "But when I go to feed my herd, and if only one beast turns up, I sure don't leave it hungry."

So the clergyman, feeling somewhat ashamed, delivers his service - all the bells and whistles, hymns and prayers, lasting a good couple of hours - finishing proudly with the fresh observation that no matter how small the need, our duty remains. And he thanks the old farmer for the lesson he has learned."Was that okay?" asks the clergyman, as the two set off home.

"Well I'm just a simple farmer," says the old crofter, "But when I go to feed my herd, and if only one beast turns up, I sure don't force it to eat what I brought for the whole herd..."

Interview Preparation – The Key to Success!

"Nothing is more feared or more misunderstood in the job search process than interviewing. People tend to conjure up all their fears and insecurities when an interview is requested and sometimes the level of anxiety is so high it actually sabotages the interview.

A certain level of nerves is good. Any athlete will tell you that being a little nervous “tunes” us up for the competition and sharpens our “edge.” However, in an interview situation we do not want appear so nervous that it detracts from our ability to present a professional image. That is where careful preparation comes in.

When we are well-prepared, we can present a relaxed and polished image and are less likely to get flustered by unexpected questions. Always keep in mind that the interviewer already thinks you are qualified for the job or you would have gotten the interview!


Here are six steps to effective interview preparation:

1. Research the company. Make sure you know what the company does, who their customers are, and how they are doing. If they are a publicly traded firm, reading the most recent Annual Report is very helpful. Running a search on Google for the company usually turns up loads of information about any firm.

2. Download and study everything you can find about the specific job position for which you are interviewing. If the job was published, study the job description thoroughly and be sure to read between the lines. If there is no specific job description, then analyze the firm’s most likely needs and think about how you an help them with their business objectives.

3. Research the person who will interview you. Simply searching for the person’s name is usually enough and if they are in LinkedIn that may be all you need to do! Study their background and especially look for anything you may have in common with them.

4. Read your own resume and be ready to talk about your career accomplishments by telling stories. Stories are very powerful ways to explain what you can do for a company. Use the SAR model – Situation, Action, and Results – to help guide you and don’t talk too much about a single accomplishment. Two or three minutes is more than enough.

5. Prepare two or three substantive questions about the company based on your research about the company. Questions like “Where do you see the company going over the next few years?” or “Do you have plans for any new products or services?” or “What do you think is the key to the company’s success?” are good questions that will position you as a strong candidate.

6. Be ready with a 30-second “commercial” in answer to the possible invitation to “tell me about yourself.” Write it out and practice it frequently. The commercial should talk more about what you can do than who you are.

Finally, be very clear that every interview is a selling opportunity. The potential customer is the employer and you are the commodity that you are trying to “sell”. Make sure the interviewer knows what you can do for her firm and stay focused on the needs and priorities of the interviewer, not your own."

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Awesome Technologies That Will Die in Decade Starting 2010

DVD(Will be replaced by Blu-ray Disc)
Previously floppy discs served the basic storage requirements for the users. But then came a remarkable shift from the magnetic storage to optical compact discs pushing aside the use of floppy. Moving a step further DVD or Digital Versatile Disc was invented in 1995.

Blu ray discs are mainly used for storing high-definition video, PlayStation 3 video games, and other data, with up to 25 GB per single layered, and 50 GB per dual layered disc prototypes.Also providing superior resolution for more detailed images, improved audio quality and special features like pop-up menu, which allows you to access the menu functions while the movie continues playing and picture-in-picture video commentary and the ability to download new content right from your Blu-ray player and so on make it a lot better than its counterparts and also worth the penny.

According to the Digital Entertainment Group, the total number of Blu-ray Disc playback had reached 9.6 million by the end of 2008.According to Swicker & Associates, Blu-ray Disc software sales in the United States and Canada were 1.2 million in 2006, 19.2 million in 2007, and 82.4 million in 2008. Toshiba has already announced that they will only manufacture Blu ray disc players and many laptop manufacturing companies have too planned to drift towards the new technology. So probably in the next 10 years to go, Blu ray discs replacing DVDs is not some impractical thought.

Landline Phone (Will be replaced by Mobile Devices)
Or should I say it already has. The mobile industry has an interminable list of options for almost every social class ,when it comes to making a preference for a mobile phone. Also as the Smartphones get more like a hand held PC, there has been a major dependence on these handsets as a result of online fever and time constraints. So when you can enjoy the access to the whole world on the go, the grounded landline devices are sure not to attract much of your attention. And with mobiles available at the most cheapest prices, owning a one is no longer unfeasible.

I also came across a Nielsen report that reveals that 21% of households in U.S.A now use mobile phones only giving up the land line numbers and that 15% of households now own at least one smartphone. So in a world where convenience and pragmatism play a paramount importance, wireless communication completely wiping out the traditional landline systems, that’s possible without a second doubt.

Data Card (Will be replaced by 3G and 4G Phones)
As the list of the wireless service providers gains momentum, there have been new services and offers for the users. Data cards are the portable devices used for wireless high speed internet access. But with the advent of faster technology in the form of 3G and 4G, these devices may be loosing out onto their significance. 3G Internet or Third Generation Internet Technology is the fastest mode of data communication now and having a 3G enabled phone is like carrying the world in your pocket. Listing out the advantages, 3G offers its users voice and video calls, mobile TV, mobile internet, mobile e-mail and mapping and GPS applications. So talking about 4G would mean even better performance, faster speed and refined features. There are few companies rolling out 3G Data Cards but why carry another device when your phone can cater all your needs. Also the basic feature of video and voice calls is not supported by every data card. Some data cards are also used for data storage but with phones carrying a surplus memory from 8GB to 32 GB or may be even more should not rise much concern. So spending a little extra amount would not be a major issue as your most valuable time will be hoarded by enhanced performance and speed.So as I mentioned earlier about the phones becoming indispensable part of our lives, a 3G or 4G phone will be all that you will need to stay connected on the go.

LCD TV (will be replaced by Plasma TV)
Now that’s a tough choice to make as these are two hostile technologies that more or less deliver the same experience. But then one has to be a winner. Coming onto the technical front, Plasma offers better contrast level, color accuracy, viewing angle, excellent performance with fast moving images and high contrast levels, an average of 60,000 hours longevity in the display and enjoys a better production size and cost and lower pricing per size. But LCD TVs too enjoy superiority over plasma when it comes to brightness, screen glare, screen burn in and most importantly power consumption. But the companies have already started the efforts to deal with these drawbacks and plasma is sure to evolve as a complete package and slowly take over the LCD fondness. So the next 10 years will be fun watching these technologies battle to emerge as a sole leader of the industry.

2D Cinema (replaced by 3D and 4D)
The Cinema has covered a long journey from 19th century to 21st century. Whether in terms of the infrastructural or echnology growth, the motion picture industry has matured significantly. The conventional 2 D cinema has long served its viewers and with more than half industry still producing the 2D films it wouldn’t be a wise idea to place my final verdict. But looking back at the development in the field I may not sound foolish too. The transition from black & white to colored films, changing production styles and technology all point to the changing scenario of the movie industry. Infact the virtual reality concept that is widely used today for more augmented reality could not have been imagined until 20th century. Also with movies like Avatar, getting an overwhelming fastest 1 Billion earning clearly show 3D craze catching on pretty well.
So the whole idea of having a virtual presence and experiencing things happening around you is exciting and lots of fun. Yes I am not ignoring the hefty price tag attached to it. But the development of computer-generated imagery and the introduction of high-definition video standards, the 3 D and 4 D cinema have a potential calibre to overcome the usual 2D soon and a decade to predict that shift, worth consideration.

Dedicated Web Hosting (all will move to cloud)
Taking a Wikipedia definition web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. In a layman language the web hosts provide server space for people owning a website. In a dedicated web hosting the user doest not own the server but has complete control over it.
But what if your operations exceed the limited bandwidth dedicated for you. Well lets take an example here. Amazon runs 13 million models in the cloud. For a server to support such a big number, it will require thousands of servers increasing the hardware cost immensely (include the expenditure for other software and services too). That does not sound scalable. Also Google who has billions or even more user base, runs many of its operations from cloud as that provides more efficiency and faster performance. So next time when your site gets more hits than the server’s capability and your site crashes, you know its time to move to cloud. And as cloud computing gets integrated into our internet life, this change in next ten years easy and apparent.
For the start-up sites, there are a number of cloud services from Cisco, Amazon, Microsoft and Google. These are easier to host, cheaper to maintain, more reliable. I doubt if anyone will host in dedicated hosting in future.

Mobile Voice Call– Local/ISD/STD (all will be replaced by Voice over internet)
Probably every person owns a mobile today and internet use is well routed into a normal day life. Also the technologies like 3G and 4G have made internet connection fast and easily available and there are services like Skype that provide free video calling. So with such effortless and free access, why would people still confine to the traditional calling styles?
Since we are talking about a major shift in the next decade I cannot base my results on mere assumptions. So let me share a news with you that some of you may have already heard about. The Finland government has introduced a law for guaranteed 1 Mb broadband access to every person living in the country where almost 79% of the population uses Internet. Now a country where every person has an internet access, why would the same traditional calling way be followed? Similarly if the whole world flows in the same wave, Mobile Voice Call– Local/ISD/STD is sure to lose its ground.
The introduction of Netphone and Netbooks are sure to speed up this process

User Login (will be replaced by finger print readers or eye readers)
Many of us already have that in our laptops, and those of you working in banks, multinationals etc are well acquainted with the technology.
The retina and fingerprint recognitions are the most secure login modes because of their uniqueness for every being on the planet. A usual login name or a password may be difficult to reveal but not impossible as they usually revolve around few facts related to our lives and there are ample geek minds with their own algorithms to hack even the most complex passwords. And as recent trends reveal the vulnerability of our passwords getting into the hands of cyber criminals, a more robust and secure way is the demand of the hour. So as computers continue to advance to unmatched levels, this technology has latent ability to ground itself in the next ten years.
One of my friends feels most people prefer Passwords over Fingerprint or Eye Reader as passwords can be shared in need. I doubt if this reason can save it. After-all there is always share option in most features, and with more advanced technologies you may no longer need to share passwords.

Credit Card (replaced by SmartPhone or NetPhone with barcode)
Credit Card is one of the biggest inventions of the Finance Industry that made it the king of all industries. When barter system was replaced by monetary system, hardly anyone would have thought that next replacement might come. But Credit Cards and Debit Cards made that happen. The Bank Cards ended the problem of carrying huge cash to make big and/or multiple transactions.
Now the time has come when we are pissed off to carry many cards in our wallet. Every time we carry several cards like Credit Card, Debit Card, Insurance Card, Club Membership Card, Driving Licence, SSN or PAN Card, Ration Card, Company Identity Card etc. This needs to be replaced by some technology that’s easier to carry and use.
Well the Technology just might be a Smartphone like an iPhone. Already two companies have brought an add-on to convert iPhone to Credit Card Reader. Another is sure to bring another add-on soon that has bar code of the Credit Card Number.
The Smartphones will not only replace the Card Reader Terminals and Credit Card, but also enable any user to pay or receive money through the gadget itself. No one will be standing in a queue at ATM to withdraw cash or no issuing cheque or carrying Cards for shopping. The day is not too far.

Print media and newspaper( will be replaced by online news)
Most of the Newspapers have already gone digital, and now we no longer need to get a hard copy paper in the morning. Regular news updates on the mobile too have helped in staying updated with whats happening where. There are also plenty of news channels around and newspapers have been slowly loosing out to the growing internet world. Google is bullish with this idea and it is already working on converting 1 million books online. Amazon brought Kindle, a gadget just for reading books, few years back. Now there are many companies producing more than 30 models of E-Readers.
I do not say that the vast and old libraries will be left abundant and the existence of print media will be wiped out completely, but the technology shift has already begun and in years to come we may witness such situation.
When the first room sized computer was made by the engineers, little they would have thought that one day their technology would rest on the laps of people as laptops. When Alexander Graham Bell made the first electric telephone, he would have not imagined about the wireless world too. That is the only reason why I find technology so interesting because it never rests and it makes everything possible. So as the new decade starts it will be pleasurable to watch science boom in its own way and technology thrive each day.

And moving ahead broadband will be replaced by Satellite broadband. Find out more here