Hiring!! The first thing you would do would be to go onto a Job Board. But Job Board's might just become a thing of the past, as one company is using Twitter to recruit people for Jobs.
In February 2009, Twitter had about 7.1 million users. It was a big growth from the last year. Some of the companies found this growth rate a great opportunity to recruit people for jobs.
In the recent news, we saw that two people from a digital advertising agency Organic said that they were using Twitter for their Job posting. He went on to say that "Once we have an opening that might be a fit for a Twitter friend, rather than making a cold call to a stranger, we can make a “warm tweet.”
Another important benefit is that there are no time constraints,and thus you can tweet a candidate at any point of time without disturbing their busy schedule.Thus making it very convenient.
To add to this Twitter is free unlike many Job Boards.:)
So lets "Tweet" away, and find the right candidate....
Monday, June 1, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Screen Sharing with Skype!!
Skype the popular VOIP , just released its new beta version for Windows and this version includes Skype's screen sharing feature. Skype's screen sharing features are pretty basic and allow users to either share the full screen or select a part of the screen they want to share. The image of the screen is great.But in order to share a screen, a voice call has to be initiated, which might not always be what you really want to do.
Skype's new version has also added additional support for visually impaired users who use screen reading software, as well as birthday reminders that will alert you when it's one of your contacts' birthdays.
Screen Sharing via Skype was already there in the Mac version a long time ago. Now with this facility even in Windows, Skype will be able to allow screen sharing between Mac and Windows users as long as they are using Skype.
Skype's new version has also added additional support for visually impaired users who use screen reading software, as well as birthday reminders that will alert you when it's one of your contacts' birthdays.
Screen Sharing via Skype was already there in the Mac version a long time ago. Now with this facility even in Windows, Skype will be able to allow screen sharing between Mac and Windows users as long as they are using Skype.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Topsy - Search Engine
In my earlier blog I was mentioning about the growing popularity of social networking sites. Among all these social networking sites Twitter is gaining importance. The people who are on Twitter will agree with me that Twitter's search engine,is not one of the best.
To solve this problem comes Topsy. Before you get any ideas, Topsy is a search engine that only searches tweets. Unlike Twitter's search , Topsy doesnt just show you what everyone has been retweeting or just repeating about a topic.
It searches the links posted by Twitter users, and how often they were retweeted. By counting the links and how often they’re retweeted, Topsy also grades users. Those who get retweeted often have more influence over the search results than those who retweet more often,Topsy can even break down what’s happening in the search result by the hour, day, week, month or all them.
Topsy listens to the conversations taking place all the time on the living, social web. In the world of Twitter, Blogs, Flickr, Digg and many such communities people use them to share reviews, opinions , messages and have discussions about many things. Topsy indexes those things . Topsy results are the things people link to, when they're talking about your search terms.
Topsy is not a threat to Google, but it is definitely a very useful search engine for Twitter. The founders of Topsy are Vipul Ved Prakash, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh,Gary Iwatani and Justin Foutts.
Take a look at the demo Topsy
To solve this problem comes Topsy. Before you get any ideas, Topsy is a search engine that only searches tweets. Unlike Twitter's search , Topsy doesnt just show you what everyone has been retweeting or just repeating about a topic.
It searches the links posted by Twitter users, and how often they were retweeted. By counting the links and how often they’re retweeted, Topsy also grades users. Those who get retweeted often have more influence over the search results than those who retweet more often,Topsy can even break down what’s happening in the search result by the hour, day, week, month or all them.
Topsy listens to the conversations taking place all the time on the living, social web. In the world of Twitter, Blogs, Flickr, Digg and many such communities people use them to share reviews, opinions , messages and have discussions about many things. Topsy indexes those things . Topsy results are the things people link to, when they're talking about your search terms.
Topsy is not a threat to Google, but it is definitely a very useful search engine for Twitter. The founders of Topsy are Vipul Ved Prakash, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh,Gary Iwatani and Justin Foutts.
Take a look at the demo Topsy
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Change in Work Culture - Advent of Social Networking Sites
Today, Social Networking and instant messaging, are becoming more and more popular. It has started replacing the standard business call and the client handshake.
While e-mail is still the leading technology tool . The usage of text messaging, instant messaging and social networking are becoming very popular with white collar workers under 35 years of age.
According to a recent survey by Directions Research Inc, in the United States,in the 21st century,because of the leap in new technology and with shifting demographics of workforce the traditional way of business would rapidly change and more business will be conducted using emerging communications technologies and social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin.
The technologies that people preferred to use in their private lives will become the technologies people want to use at work. The survey found that nearly one in three such employees report that they use these technologies at work daily.
So what are u waiting for ?? get yourself onto one of the Social Networking sites and network away..:)
While e-mail is still the leading technology tool . The usage of text messaging, instant messaging and social networking are becoming very popular with white collar workers under 35 years of age.
According to a recent survey by Directions Research Inc, in the United States,in the 21st century,because of the leap in new technology and with shifting demographics of workforce the traditional way of business would rapidly change and more business will be conducted using emerging communications technologies and social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin.
The technologies that people preferred to use in their private lives will become the technologies people want to use at work. The survey found that nearly one in three such employees report that they use these technologies at work daily.
So what are u waiting for ?? get yourself onto one of the Social Networking sites and network away..:)
Monday, May 25, 2009
Google's threat in Mobile Search
The Android mobile OS (is a software platform for mobile devices), was created by Google,because it wanted its search engine to remain relevant as many people are going into mobile computing. But currently Google is facing a threat from no other search engines but from i phone apps.
Now we know that typing on a smart phone is just not that fast as it is on the keyboard.Pointing , scrolling and selecting is much easier and quicker. Thus many things that you would use Google on your computer you would end up using an app on your i phone.
Some examples:
> If you want to look for restaurant instead of going to Google, you could use the Yelp i phone app, which would be faster and easier instead of going and typing into Google.
> If you want to read the news instead of using Google News and Techmeme, on the i Phone you can go straight to news sites with strong i Phone apps or pages, such as AP News, Reuters, New York Times, Wall Street Journal.
These examples point to one of the main reasons why mobile apps prove to be better than mobile search. When you use mobile search apart from the painful typing you are not sure whether the stuff you click on in search results will be viewable on your Smartphone. On the contrary , when you use a mobile app or a site designed for that Smartphone you feel more confident that the search result would be quicker and viewable.
Now we know that typing on a smart phone is just not that fast as it is on the keyboard.Pointing , scrolling and selecting is much easier and quicker. Thus many things that you would use Google on your computer you would end up using an app on your i phone.
Some examples:
> If you want to look for restaurant instead of going to Google, you could use the Yelp i phone app, which would be faster and easier instead of going and typing into Google.
> If you want to read the news instead of using Google News and Techmeme, on the i Phone you can go straight to news sites with strong i Phone apps or pages, such as AP News, Reuters, New York Times, Wall Street Journal.
These examples point to one of the main reasons why mobile apps prove to be better than mobile search. When you use mobile search apart from the painful typing you are not sure whether the stuff you click on in search results will be viewable on your Smartphone. On the contrary , when you use a mobile app or a site designed for that Smartphone you feel more confident that the search result would be quicker and viewable.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Tech Recovery - Coming Soon!!!
Finally some optimistic news, in the gloom that we are currently going through. At Microsoft's 13th annual CEO summit,which was attended by more than 100 top business leaders.
Microsoft's chairman Bill gates and its CEO Steve Ballmer said that tech sector will be able to recover from the current global recession and bringing new business and challenges which would be rewarding like never before.
Gates went one to say that "The drug companies will get back in high productivity mode" he also mentioned that the we are just at the start of the software, IT revolution.
Steve Ballmer also expressed faith in the Internet and its power to drive the business he said ""Some people probably think the Internet revolution is in the second half of the game. But I tell you, we are coming into halftime. The degree of change that will continue to come as essentially businesses and IT departments embrace the Internet, it's unbelievable."
Due to global recession Microsoft was also hit and last month it indicated a drop in sales figures. To cut its cost they laid off almost 5,000 employees worldwide.
Microsoft is optimistic and looking at a bright future since they have a lot of products lined up for release end of this year and next year, some of which are Windows 8, Office 2010, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Microsoft Exchange 2010..
Lets wish Microsoft all the best!!!
Microsoft's chairman Bill gates and its CEO Steve Ballmer said that tech sector will be able to recover from the current global recession and bringing new business and challenges which would be rewarding like never before.
Gates went one to say that "The drug companies will get back in high productivity mode" he also mentioned that the we are just at the start of the software, IT revolution.
Steve Ballmer also expressed faith in the Internet and its power to drive the business he said ""Some people probably think the Internet revolution is in the second half of the game. But I tell you, we are coming into halftime. The degree of change that will continue to come as essentially businesses and IT departments embrace the Internet, it's unbelievable."
Due to global recession Microsoft was also hit and last month it indicated a drop in sales figures. To cut its cost they laid off almost 5,000 employees worldwide.
Microsoft is optimistic and looking at a bright future since they have a lot of products lined up for release end of this year and next year, some of which are Windows 8, Office 2010, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Microsoft Exchange 2010..
Lets wish Microsoft all the best!!!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Twitter - How is it going to generate revenues ??
How will Twitter generate its revenues? is one question on people's mind these days. But at a Reuters Global Technology Summit, Biz Stone one of the co- founders of Twitter said that they wouldn't be generating revenues from advertisements, he further went on to add that the other co founders Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey, are developing a revenue model.
It would be interesting to see what kind of revenue model twitter comes out with.
So i guess we just need to wait and watch what it would be. Currently they are operating on the interest earned from the US$55 million in venture capital the company has received.
It would be interesting to see what kind of revenue model twitter comes out with.
So i guess we just need to wait and watch what it would be. Currently they are operating on the interest earned from the US$55 million in venture capital the company has received.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Axed@microsoft...!!!!!
So here we go .... im going to kick off my first post with a bitter story .. and i know its sad but true.. with the ongoing recession bubble busting everyone off.. Microsoft announced to axe there 5% of Indian Staff in a quest to save some fablious moloah.
What i don't understand is how those people gonna manage coming from a I.T. giant like Microsoft,but the best part is i have some friends who are part of MS and they are still in touch with me .So i guess everything is safe and sound with them.
But as they say " That's the way cookie crumbles...!!!!! "
What i don't understand is how those people gonna manage coming from a I.T. giant like Microsoft,but the best part is i have some friends who are part of MS and they are still in touch with me .So i guess everything is safe and sound with them.
But as they say " That's the way cookie crumbles...!!!!! "
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Skill Assessment and Hiring!!!
Imagine this you need to hire someone for a particular job position in your company. And for which you have received about 50 resumes,all of them look equally good. For you to Interview the 50 of them would be a tedious and time consuming task.
You also need to take care that you hire the right person for the job.Hiring the wrong person , could cost the company a lot of money. Business experts say that 95% of a company's success is hiring correctly.
Most companies today resort to Skill Assessment which is a method to evaluate the candidate before making the hiring decision.Skill assessment tests, when used in conjunction with an interview and the manager's intuition is one of the very good ways of finding the right candidate.
Today skill assessment tests could be given online and from any part of the world. Based on these results you can filter your candidates.
Geek evaluation is one such tool, which helps you to evaluate the skills of your candidate And this can be done in three easy steps:
*Step 1:*
Create your own tests from our existing question banks or upload your own questions!
* Step 2:*
Schedule the candidate for the tests. A mail is send to the candidate.
*Step 3 :*
Candidate logs on the site and takes the test.
Once the candidate has taken the test, the results are evaluated and emailed to you.
One of the best features of Geek evaluation is that it allows you to add your own questions and create tests from these questions. Also the questions presented to the candidates are at random and of varying levels of difficulty
Based on these results you can choose maybe the 5 or 10 best candidates and then call them for an interview.Thus making the whole hiring process so much easier :P)
You also need to take care that you hire the right person for the job.Hiring the wrong person , could cost the company a lot of money. Business experts say that 95% of a company's success is hiring correctly.
Most companies today resort to Skill Assessment which is a method to evaluate the candidate before making the hiring decision.Skill assessment tests, when used in conjunction with an interview and the manager's intuition is one of the very good ways of finding the right candidate.
Today skill assessment tests could be given online and from any part of the world. Based on these results you can filter your candidates.
Geek evaluation is one such tool, which helps you to evaluate the skills of your candidate And this can be done in three easy steps:
*Step 1:*
Create your own tests from our existing question banks or upload your own questions!
* Step 2:*
Schedule the candidate for the tests. A mail is send to the candidate.
*Step 3 :*
Candidate logs on the site and takes the test.
Once the candidate has taken the test, the results are evaluated and emailed to you.
One of the best features of Geek evaluation is that it allows you to add your own questions and create tests from these questions. Also the questions presented to the candidates are at random and of varying levels of difficulty
Based on these results you can choose maybe the 5 or 10 best candidates and then call them for an interview.Thus making the whole hiring process so much easier :P)
Monday, May 18, 2009
Windows 7 this Holiday Season !!!!!!
Come this holiday season, Microsoft would be releasing its Windows 7 OS in the market. The Windows 7 RC1 was made available just about a week ago, and people started comparing it with Microsoft's last OS Vista .
Its earlier release date was in in 2010. But if Microsoft releases Windows 7 during Black Friday and Christmas ( the best time) Microsoft would expect many PC's sold.Another reason why Microsoft is planning to get Windows 7 in the market earlier is because Vista did not do so well.
Many people (including me) are hesitant to use vista. Many people are stuck with XP(though i am not complaining:)), and some people have completely switched to Mac. For Microsoft to keep its authority in terms of OS alive, they need to roll out Windows 7 as soon as possible.
Overall the reviews were that the look remains the same, and there are some key features which includes some overall improvements in terms of stability and performance.(Now that's good :) )
Also Windows RC 1 will be free to use until June 1 , 2010 ( with a catch !! of course). After March 1, 2010, your computer will automatically shut down every two hours. In other words, you need to install another operating system then.
Come soon Windows 7 :)
Its earlier release date was in in 2010. But if Microsoft releases Windows 7 during Black Friday and Christmas ( the best time) Microsoft would expect many PC's sold.Another reason why Microsoft is planning to get Windows 7 in the market earlier is because Vista did not do so well.
Many people (including me) are hesitant to use vista. Many people are stuck with XP(though i am not complaining:)), and some people have completely switched to Mac. For Microsoft to keep its authority in terms of OS alive, they need to roll out Windows 7 as soon as possible.
Overall the reviews were that the look remains the same, and there are some key features which includes some overall improvements in terms of stability and performance.(Now that's good :) )
Also Windows RC 1 will be free to use until June 1 , 2010 ( with a catch !! of course). After March 1, 2010, your computer will automatically shut down every two hours. In other words, you need to install another operating system then.
Come soon Windows 7 :)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
WolframAlpha challenges google
It is speculated that worlframalpha could be a potential rival to google. wolfram Alpha is a revolutionary new search engine that computes answers rather than pointing to websites will be launched officially on May 17 .
Wolfram Alpha, named after Stephen Wolfram, the British-born computer scientist and inventor behind the project, takes a query and uses computational power to crunch through huge databases.
Dr Wolfram points out that his brainchild is a “computational knowledge engine”, not a traditional search engine.
All said and done , there had been many people who had tried to challenge google but havebeen unsuccessful With more than 70% search market share , it is not easy to bring the might of google which not only has tons of cash but a massive database.
It is only the time will tell whether the British can regain the "lost glory" in Search.
Wolfram Alpha, named after Stephen Wolfram, the British-born computer scientist and inventor behind the project, takes a query and uses computational power to crunch through huge databases.
Dr Wolfram points out that his brainchild is a “computational knowledge engine”, not a traditional search engine.
All said and done , there had been many people who had tried to challenge google but havebeen unsuccessful With more than 70% search market share , it is not easy to bring the might of google which not only has tons of cash but a massive database.
It is only the time will tell whether the British can regain the "lost glory" in Search.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Google Voice + Skydeck Mash up!!
Missed another important call,cause you were busy with something else!. To manage this issue many people use Skydeck or Google voice service.
But both these had their own limitations.That's why Skydeck has come with a mashup service , which features the core, free features from Skydeck’s normal service, and Google Voice’s ability to ring several of your other numbers. The biggest plus point here is that everything will be free, and consolidated under one service.
You don't even need to sign up with Google Voice to get their number, because the Mashup will handle it so that any missed call will ring your other numbers with Google Voice, but otherwise all contacts, calls, and texts will go to Skydeck’s online service.
Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do check out how it works! {mash up}
But both these had their own limitations.That's why Skydeck has come with a mashup service , which features the core, free features from Skydeck’s normal service, and Google Voice’s ability to ring several of your other numbers. The biggest plus point here is that everything will be free, and consolidated under one service.
You don't even need to sign up with Google Voice to get their number, because the Mashup will handle it so that any missed call will ring your other numbers with Google Voice, but otherwise all contacts, calls, and texts will go to Skydeck’s online service.
Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do check out how it works! {mash up}
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Post your Blog and make money !!!
Up until now, the Kindle has only had a few blogs amongst other contents for sale. Now Amazon, has a new beta program called “Kindle Publishing for Blogs Beta” that lets anyone publish their blog in the Kindle Store.
Well for those who don't know Amazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform for reading electronic books (e-books), developed by Amazon.com's subsidiary Lab126.
To make your blog just follow these easy steps:
1.Sign up for a new account ( your amazon account doesn't work)
2.Input your name, password, answer some security questions,
and set up a way to receive payment.
3.Input your checking account details like account numbers and routing numbers,and
remember the sad things is that you can’t use PayPal.
After that just go ahead and publish your blog.
Sounds like great idea and the best part of it is that you can make money and also kindle gets more content on it... Isn't that just wonderful!!
Well for those who don't know Amazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform for reading electronic books (e-books), developed by Amazon.com's subsidiary Lab126.
To make your blog just follow these easy steps:
1.Sign up for a new account ( your amazon account doesn't work)
2.Input your name, password, answer some security questions,
and set up a way to receive payment.
3.Input your checking account details like account numbers and routing numbers,and
remember the sad things is that you can’t use PayPal.
After that just go ahead and publish your blog.
Sounds like great idea and the best part of it is that you can make money and also kindle gets more content on it... Isn't that just wonderful!!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Toothbrush with Light
I am a little paranoid about my teeth and i hate visits to the dentist. I make sure i brush my teeth twice a day, or sometimes even more than twice.Another thing about me is that i am not a gadget freak , but i came across this very interesting gadget, its a toothbrush with light (LED Toothbrush).
We all know that looking for molars or anything else at the back of our mouth isn't easy. To solve that problem someone has come up with a smart way to keep an eye on the teeth that cant be seen so easily.
He has combined an LED light with a toothbrush, simple ah!!.. The result is that your have a toothbrush that lets you see inside your mouth as you are brushing. This LED toothbrush has a white LED light that is a the head of the brush that is powered by a single AAA battery that lasts for about 5 months of regular use.
Well, coming to the cost and its affordability it costs $65(which is expensive) and it can be ordered from Japan. The LED toothbrush uses a proprietary tooth paste so that the LED light does not get gummed up.
So if you fancy, the idea of a toothbrush that lights up your mouth and help you brush better, go ahead and order it..
We all know that looking for molars or anything else at the back of our mouth isn't easy. To solve that problem someone has come up with a smart way to keep an eye on the teeth that cant be seen so easily.
He has combined an LED light with a toothbrush, simple ah!!.. The result is that your have a toothbrush that lets you see inside your mouth as you are brushing. This LED toothbrush has a white LED light that is a the head of the brush that is powered by a single AAA battery that lasts for about 5 months of regular use.
Well, coming to the cost and its affordability it costs $65(which is expensive) and it can be ordered from Japan. The LED toothbrush uses a proprietary tooth paste so that the LED light does not get gummed up.
So if you fancy, the idea of a toothbrush that lights up your mouth and help you brush better, go ahead and order it..
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Hulu - Online Videos
Wishing you could watch your favorite TV shows like 30 Rock or Friends for free and at anytime of the day. Well, your wish is granted thanks to the online video sites that are becoming common these days. One of the popular online video sites is Hulu. Hulu offers commercial supported streaming videos of TV shows and movies from NBC, Fox and many other networks.
Hulu is a joint venture of NBC Universal (GE) and Fox Entertainment Group (News Corp), with funding by Providence Equity Partners which holds 10% stake in it. The only major network not on Hulu is CBS.
On April 30th 2009, Disney bought 30% piece of Hulu. With 30% of Hulu with Disney , this would cause a even bigger threat to its competitors Joost and Sling. I also read some reviews on Hulu and many people agree that the commercial breaks on Hulu are bearable unlike many other network sites.
The only drawback is that currently Hulu is only available in the United States.But they intend on becoming global. But that would take some time.Till then lets wait and watch what impact Disney would have on Hulu. Hoping the impact would be HD videos.
Hulu is a joint venture of NBC Universal (GE) and Fox Entertainment Group (News Corp), with funding by Providence Equity Partners which holds 10% stake in it. The only major network not on Hulu is CBS.
On April 30th 2009, Disney bought 30% piece of Hulu. With 30% of Hulu with Disney , this would cause a even bigger threat to its competitors Joost and Sling. I also read some reviews on Hulu and many people agree that the commercial breaks on Hulu are bearable unlike many other network sites.
The only drawback is that currently Hulu is only available in the United States.But they intend on becoming global. But that would take some time.Till then lets wait and watch what impact Disney would have on Hulu. Hoping the impact would be HD videos.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Google analytics new features
Google has announced new features on its analytics. This feature set is more for the professional users .Google has given a powerful tool in the the hands of professionals who want to analyze the traffic statistics at no cost .
For geekevaluation and job screening , we use google analytics
For geekevaluation and job screening , we use google analytics
Monday, May 4, 2009
Online skill eveluation
While we were publicizing , geekevaluation , one of the renowned person posed this question
1. There are plenty of LMSs out there with this functionality and more - what makes your special?
2. You say the user takes the test on their own (you email them the link). This is more or less useless unless the test is conducted in a proctored environment (anyone can look up answers online, or ask a friend)
A very genuine questions from customer perspective.
My reply was
we are different in sense that
a) we allow users to customize tests by selecting more than one topic so for eg you want to hire a Sr programmer with skills in Java, Oracle and AJAX. You can create a test by combining these three topics and defining hwo many questions are required in each topic.
b) You can create your own tests and that would cost 75% less.
c) Talking about content , our question bank on technical topics is something which you might not find with others as we had designed questions based on practical experience , not just concept.
These 3 features are a big plus and differentiate us.
Yes it is true that the candidate can search for answers and call a friend. To tackle this
1.For now we disabled copy/paste so that user cannot do googling. In programming questions, it is difficult to call up some one , explain the code and get the answer. The shortest was to do is copy paste , find answer in google or run the code your self.
Disabling copy paste would solve some of these issues.
2.We had thought of proctored environment but that would be sometimes in future.
3.We are also thinking of tracking IP address to at least ensure that the candidate had taken the test from the city in which he resides.
And let us not forget that this is just the elimination , not the selection criteria
Please click here to follow the conversation
1. There are plenty of LMSs out there with this functionality and more - what makes your special?
2. You say the user takes the test on their own (you email them the link). This is more or less useless unless the test is conducted in a proctored environment (anyone can look up answers online, or ask a friend)
A very genuine questions from customer perspective.
My reply was
we are different in sense that
a) we allow users to customize tests by selecting more than one topic so for eg you want to hire a Sr programmer with skills in Java, Oracle and AJAX. You can create a test by combining these three topics and defining hwo many questions are required in each topic.
b) You can create your own tests and that would cost 75% less.
c) Talking about content , our question bank on technical topics is something which you might not find with others as we had designed questions based on practical experience , not just concept.
These 3 features are a big plus and differentiate us.
Yes it is true that the candidate can search for answers and call a friend. To tackle this
1.For now we disabled copy/paste so that user cannot do googling. In programming questions, it is difficult to call up some one , explain the code and get the answer. The shortest was to do is copy paste , find answer in google or run the code your self.
Disabling copy paste would solve some of these issues.
2.We had thought of proctored environment but that would be sometimes in future.
3.We are also thinking of tracking IP address to at least ensure that the candidate had taken the test from the city in which he resides.
And let us not forget that this is just the elimination , not the selection criteria
Please click here to follow the conversation
Sixth Sense!!!
Can you imagine these?
1. You are reading the newspaper , and it shows you live video news
2. You draw a circle on your wrist and voila, it’s an analog watch….
Yes would be the answer:
Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry of MIT’s Media Lab have given you just that. They call it the Sixth Sense.
We currently use our 5 senses the sense of touch, smell, eyesight, taste, and hearing to sense the world around us and to perceive information about it. And based on this information, we make our decisions.
Today all the information we ever wanted is available on the internet. We use Google for everything. For example when you are in a the store, deciding on the laptop you want to buy, but sometimes dont you just wish you were connected to the internet so that you could compare the price of the laptop with the deals on www.deals2buy.com
Today our information is either on paper or its on the screen(digitally). Sixth sense, intends to bridge this gap, by bringing information into this tangible world and allowing us to interact with this information using our natural hand gestures.
The prototype, consists of a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera. You just need to hang this device around your neck like a pendant, stick colored caps onto four of your fingers. This device then allows you to project information onto any surface. You can manipulate any information using your colored fingers.
Well, according to Pattie Maes the total cost of making the entire device, was just $350.
Many people have said that it looks like Jeff Han’s multitouch interface and the Microsoft Surface computing, but Maes points out that this device can work on any surface.
In the end I would like to add that personally I found this device to be really cool, and it would be wonderful to have it in the market!. But for it to be in the market, it needs to be designed really well, so that it is socially acceptable.
Congrats to Pranav Mistry and Pattie Maes , good job!!!!!
1. You are reading the newspaper , and it shows you live video news
2. You draw a circle on your wrist and voila, it’s an analog watch….
Yes would be the answer:
Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry of MIT’s Media Lab have given you just that. They call it the Sixth Sense.
We currently use our 5 senses the sense of touch, smell, eyesight, taste, and hearing to sense the world around us and to perceive information about it. And based on this information, we make our decisions.
Today all the information we ever wanted is available on the internet. We use Google for everything. For example when you are in a the store, deciding on the laptop you want to buy, but sometimes dont you just wish you were connected to the internet so that you could compare the price of the laptop with the deals on www.deals2buy.com
Today our information is either on paper or its on the screen(digitally). Sixth sense, intends to bridge this gap, by bringing information into this tangible world and allowing us to interact with this information using our natural hand gestures.
The prototype, consists of a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera. You just need to hang this device around your neck like a pendant, stick colored caps onto four of your fingers. This device then allows you to project information onto any surface. You can manipulate any information using your colored fingers.
Well, according to Pattie Maes the total cost of making the entire device, was just $350.
Many people have said that it looks like Jeff Han’s multitouch interface and the Microsoft Surface computing, but Maes points out that this device can work on any surface.
In the end I would like to add that personally I found this device to be really cool, and it would be wonderful to have it in the market!. But for it to be in the market, it needs to be designed really well, so that it is socially acceptable.
Congrats to Pranav Mistry and Pattie Maes , good job!!!!!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Swine Flu
"Swine Flu"! "Swine Flu”!! That’s what is in the news these days, and is creating a scare among people because of its ability to transmit from one person to the other. And it’s posing the biggest risk of a pandemic.
People are not taking the risk of flying and the airports are having thorough checks of their passengers before they get on the flight.
The WHO has raised the Pandemic threat level of the swine flu to Phase 5. Phase 5 is the WHO's second highest level of warning that a pandemic or a global outbreak of a serious new illness is imminent.
The start of Swine Flu, where the first known victim, was in a town La Gloria, which is in Mexico. Since the first victim, this virus has spread all over the world, killing an estimated 159 people in Mexico, and infecting people in at least eight other countries.
If any one, is experiencing, the symptoms below. Please see the doctor:
• Fever above 100°F
• Head and body aches
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Chills
• Trouble breathing
• Vomiting and/or diarrhea.
I hope the health official do get this virus in control and prevent it from becoming a Pandemic.
People are not taking the risk of flying and the airports are having thorough checks of their passengers before they get on the flight.
The WHO has raised the Pandemic threat level of the swine flu to Phase 5. Phase 5 is the WHO's second highest level of warning that a pandemic or a global outbreak of a serious new illness is imminent.
The start of Swine Flu, where the first known victim, was in a town La Gloria, which is in Mexico. Since the first victim, this virus has spread all over the world, killing an estimated 159 people in Mexico, and infecting people in at least eight other countries.
If any one, is experiencing, the symptoms below. Please see the doctor:
• Fever above 100°F
• Head and body aches
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Chills
• Trouble breathing
• Vomiting and/or diarrhea.
I hope the health official do get this virus in control and prevent it from becoming a Pandemic.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Netflix the Surprise Package!!
I still remember my days in California. I had loads to study and many other things to do over the week so during the weekend I used to look forward to watching DVD’s. All i had to do was to walk down to Blockbuster and pick up a DVD, but then I had to take the trouble of actually walking down there and then looking around for the DVD and then the most painful part, returning it!. Then I came across Netflix which simplified my whole DVD watching process.
Netflix is an online DVD rental service and it offers a flat rate rental by mail and online streaming in the United States. They have about 100,000 titles and are headquartered in Los Gatos, California. They started operations in the year 1997 and have come a long way since then and they currently have about 10 million subscribers today and they ship about 1.9 million DVD’s each day.
Today, with recession and many companies showing plunging profits and the many layoffs. Netflix on the other hand is making money and has experienced a major growth in the fourth quarter. Their profits are up by 45%, the company feels that this rise was due to their new streaming video feature , which allows viewers to instantly watch movies over their computer.
The news of the profits caused their stock to jump 7.4% percent to $32.38.
All i can say is that in these troubled times .. Way to go Netflix!!
Netflix is an online DVD rental service and it offers a flat rate rental by mail and online streaming in the United States. They have about 100,000 titles and are headquartered in Los Gatos, California. They started operations in the year 1997 and have come a long way since then and they currently have about 10 million subscribers today and they ship about 1.9 million DVD’s each day.
Today, with recession and many companies showing plunging profits and the many layoffs. Netflix on the other hand is making money and has experienced a major growth in the fourth quarter. Their profits are up by 45%, the company feels that this rise was due to their new streaming video feature , which allows viewers to instantly watch movies over their computer.
The news of the profits caused their stock to jump 7.4% percent to $32.38.
All i can say is that in these troubled times .. Way to go Netflix!!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Recession!!
"Recession", this word instills in me an unsettling feeling . Makes me think how many people have lost their jobs? How many people are getting laid off as I am writing this?
Recession, is nothing but a general slowdown in economic activity over a sustained period of time. It isn’t a minor headache that would just go away by popping a pill.
We all know that today almost all the big companies are announcing massive layoffs and pay cuts too. And also the current employment rate of 8.5% is at a 25 year high.
During recession, companies try their best to minimize their costs by all possible ways, before they decide to lay off their employees.
For example we will see that now Google will stop selling radio ads. Google paid $102 million to acquire dMarc Broadcasting, a radio advertising company, in 2006. If Google’s business still does not pick up, it will result in more layoffs this year.
Another saddening event is the closing of Circuit City, which has been around for almost 60 years, its sad to see that closing it would leave about 34,000 people unemployed.
But the future is not altogether bleak. I just read an article which says that the recession is abating( I cross my fingers and hope its true) and that there would be many job openings in companies like Wal-Mart, Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America and many more.
So all we need to do, is just wait for it to be finally over and when it is , well folks its party time!!
Recession, is nothing but a general slowdown in economic activity over a sustained period of time. It isn’t a minor headache that would just go away by popping a pill.
We all know that today almost all the big companies are announcing massive layoffs and pay cuts too. And also the current employment rate of 8.5% is at a 25 year high.
During recession, companies try their best to minimize their costs by all possible ways, before they decide to lay off their employees.
For example we will see that now Google will stop selling radio ads. Google paid $102 million to acquire dMarc Broadcasting, a radio advertising company, in 2006. If Google’s business still does not pick up, it will result in more layoffs this year.
Another saddening event is the closing of Circuit City, which has been around for almost 60 years, its sad to see that closing it would leave about 34,000 people unemployed.
But the future is not altogether bleak. I just read an article which says that the recession is abating( I cross my fingers and hope its true) and that there would be many job openings in companies like Wal-Mart, Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America and many more.
So all we need to do, is just wait for it to be finally over and when it is , well folks its party time!!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tips for Startup Success
Below is the presentation from Scott Mcnealy, Chairman of Sun Microsystems. Sun has been having a tough time in last few years but it has been a very successful and innovative company.
They were the pioneers of the Open source concept and gave the world a beautiful language , Java.
Scott Mcnealy Presentation
They were the pioneers of the Open source concept and gave the world a beautiful language , Java.
Scott Mcnealy Presentation
Satyam Acquisition
After almost 3 months of speculation and uncertainty. Satyam was finally acquired by Tech Mahindra with a stake of 51%. But, uncertainty still looms for the employees of Satyam .Tech Mahindra hasn’t made it clear if they would, be any sort of job losses as a result of this acquisition.
Tech Mahindra has big challenge ahead as to how will they absorb the 43,000 employees of Satyam??
During an acquisition, apart from the owners, the employees also undergo a lot of stress, and have a lot of questions crossing their minds:
Will I loose my job?
If I do have my job, how much will I be paid?
What benefits will I receive?
Will I be in the same department?
Who would be my new colleagues? Will I be able to get along with them?
What will be the work culture? Will I be able to fit into that work culture?
With so many questions and concerns the employee’s focus shifts from work, while some of the employees might move on to better opportunities outside the company.
If Tech Mahindra wants to be successful with this acquisition, and if they want it to turn out to be a fruitful one, they need to constantly communicate with the employees of Satyam, make their plans known to the employees so that the whole acquisition process goes smoothly with no hard feelings.
If not the chances of them loosing out on good employees is high and also it would create a very negative environment, which would not be beneficial for Tech Mahindra and Satyam.
Tech Mahindra has big challenge ahead as to how will they absorb the 43,000 employees of Satyam??
During an acquisition, apart from the owners, the employees also undergo a lot of stress, and have a lot of questions crossing their minds:
Will I loose my job?
If I do have my job, how much will I be paid?
What benefits will I receive?
Will I be in the same department?
Who would be my new colleagues? Will I be able to get along with them?
What will be the work culture? Will I be able to fit into that work culture?
With so many questions and concerns the employee’s focus shifts from work, while some of the employees might move on to better opportunities outside the company.
If Tech Mahindra wants to be successful with this acquisition, and if they want it to turn out to be a fruitful one, they need to constantly communicate with the employees of Satyam, make their plans known to the employees so that the whole acquisition process goes smoothly with no hard feelings.
If not the chances of them loosing out on good employees is high and also it would create a very negative environment, which would not be beneficial for Tech Mahindra and Satyam.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Online Skill Assessment
Finding the right candidate for the job is a tedious task today due to the large number of applicants. Choosing the right candidate for the job is a crucial decision for any company. In fact, according to a study conducted by the Harvard Business School, making poor hiring decisions can cost a company as much as three times an employee's annual compensation package.
Thus most of the companies resort to skill assessment which is a method to evaluate the candidate before making the hiring decision. There are various forms of skills assessment like management skills, people skills, communication skills and technical skills.
Skill assessment, tests when used in conjunction with an interview and the manager's intuition is one of the very good ways of finding the right candidate.
Today the internet is almost indispensable, online skill assessment is becoming more and more popular for companies and recruitment firms. And it is really simple to use as all you need is an internet connection and a web browser, no software needs to be downloaded.
Geek evaluation is one such tool, which helps you to evaluate the technical skills of your candidate once you have short listed them. It helps you customize your own tests or choose questions from their huge question bank and evaluates the candidate based on their results at very affordable rates.
The questions presented to the candidates are random and of varying levels of difficulty. And their results can be easily analyzed by topics as well as level of difficulty.
For more details log on to our website at www.geekevaluation.com or please email at shruti.sharma@geekevaluation.com for login details if you would like to have a tour of the application.
Thus most of the companies resort to skill assessment which is a method to evaluate the candidate before making the hiring decision. There are various forms of skills assessment like management skills, people skills, communication skills and technical skills.
Skill assessment, tests when used in conjunction with an interview and the manager's intuition is one of the very good ways of finding the right candidate.
Today the internet is almost indispensable, online skill assessment is becoming more and more popular for companies and recruitment firms. And it is really simple to use as all you need is an internet connection and a web browser, no software needs to be downloaded.
Geek evaluation is one such tool, which helps you to evaluate the technical skills of your candidate once you have short listed them. It helps you customize your own tests or choose questions from their huge question bank and evaluates the candidate based on their results at very affordable rates.
The questions presented to the candidates are random and of varying levels of difficulty. And their results can be easily analyzed by topics as well as level of difficulty.
For more details log on to our website at www.geekevaluation.com or please email at shruti.sharma@geekevaluation.com for login details if you would like to have a tour of the application.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
$500 million offer for a company with revnues in .....$0
Sounds strange but this is the latest news on silicon valley's new crush , twitter.
Apparently facebook whose future itself does not seem so rosy because of the cash it is burning versus the revenue it is earning , offered $500 million for the new microblogging platform twitter
Not sure why the facebook offered this kind of valuation whose revenue till this date is $0.
Twitter does not earn even a $ versus other social networking sites who have at least some revenue model with advertising.
This brings back to again the same old question of how to value a startup. Some value based on the number of registered users, other value based on the no of hits.
Much also depends on how much hype is one able to create !
Apparently facebook whose future itself does not seem so rosy because of the cash it is burning versus the revenue it is earning , offered $500 million for the new microblogging platform twitter
Not sure why the facebook offered this kind of valuation whose revenue till this date is $0.
Twitter does not earn even a $ versus other social networking sites who have at least some revenue model with advertising.
Still, combining the world’s fastest growing social networking site with what is quickly becoming the best known microblogging service is actually a natural fit.
While some sources at Facebook said Zuckerberg was becoming frustrated by the buzz Twitter was getting, a market that should have been dominated by Facebook others at the company said he was interested in buying Twitter because of his respect for its progress.
Twitter needs all the investors it can get, since it has no revenue, although it has been exploring things like charging business customers and adding advertising into the consumer service.This brings back to again the same old question of how to value a startup. Some value based on the number of registered users, other value based on the no of hits.
Much also depends on how much hype is one able to create !
Friday, April 3, 2009
Tools for a startup - Part 1
One of the friends asked me when I was developing geekevaluation as to why I chose java.
My response was that I chose java because I know java.
Even if there was something which was better ,I would not have developed the application in a new language or platform because I want to work on my business plan , not learning new skill.There is your first tool
1. Chose the language you are comfortable with : Start your product development with the tools and technology you are comfortable with. Remember the idea here is to get a product which should validate your business idea, not your technical skills.
I also prefer Java because the power it gives in terms of open source. There are so many tools , servers , IDE free of cost to help you get started.What a beautiful thing software development is .
Can you imagine where you can start your business by not spending a penny ?
2. Source control options : I would imagine that you are a bunch of guys who are working at different locations.You could also have outsourced project to some small company and now you want to manage source code where all of you could do check in/check out.
I looked around a couple of ones.CVS dude is a popular options these days if you want to use CVS as a respository.
If you prefer to use SVN over CVS the code spaces & unfuddle are good choices.
For me the ideas was to keep the cost at minimum so I looked at code spaces and unfuddle.
I had some issues with code spaces repository when working with eclipse after 6-8 months so then swicthed to unfuddle.
3. Online meetings : Another important tool to hold weekly meetings .I am using dimdim for now which is free for 5 users. I am ok with the quality so far(there is voice lag in it).
Another tool suggested by one of the friends wasMikogo . Here you can share your dashboard.
I will cover hosting,email options in next post
My response was that I chose java because I know java.
Even if there was something which was better ,I would not have developed the application in a new language or platform because I want to work on my business plan , not learning new skill.There is your first tool
1. Chose the language you are comfortable with : Start your product development with the tools and technology you are comfortable with. Remember the idea here is to get a product which should validate your business idea, not your technical skills.
I also prefer Java because the power it gives in terms of open source. There are so many tools , servers , IDE free of cost to help you get started.What a beautiful thing software development is .
Can you imagine where you can start your business by not spending a penny ?
2. Source control options : I would imagine that you are a bunch of guys who are working at different locations.You could also have outsourced project to some small company and now you want to manage source code where all of you could do check in/check out.
I looked around a couple of ones.CVS dude is a popular options these days if you want to use CVS as a respository.
If you prefer to use SVN over CVS the code spaces & unfuddle are good choices.
For me the ideas was to keep the cost at minimum so I looked at code spaces and unfuddle.
I had some issues with code spaces repository when working with eclipse after 6-8 months so then swicthed to unfuddle.
3. Online meetings : Another important tool to hold weekly meetings .I am using dimdim for now which is free for 5 users. I am ok with the quality so far(there is voice lag in it).
Another tool suggested by one of the friends wasMikogo . Here you can share your dashboard.
I will cover hosting,email options in next post
Friday, February 20, 2009
Launching geekevaluation
I am pleased to launch the geekevaluation to the public today. This is our beta launch and we would continue to make improvements, add features and add new topics and questions.
The basic differentiating factor from other sites is that we allow you to customize the exams as per your requirements. Apart from that you can add your own questions, import the files and create your own exams.
And the best part of it, if you have created your own exam, we charge you $1.99 $0.99 for each tests taken by an candidate.
Impossible to find a better deal than that.!
You could find more details of our features here
http://www.geekevaluation.com/features.html
We have done the testing of the application thoroughly but there might be some clinks which might have slipped .
Please do feel free to report us at support@geekevaluation.com. Also feel free to drop in your comments and suggestions
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