Bangalore Wish lists !!

Living in Bangalore for more than 6+ years I always had several wish lists coming in my mind whenever I travel on roads & or discussing about infrastructure in Bangalore with my friends.

Recently I noticed some of my wish lists coming in reality ..It feels good about the positive change ..specially when you start noticing more of that ...

• Closed Garbage Collection Trucks
• Whenever I used to drive in my car to Office, I would see Garbage collection is done in a open truck everyday in the morning, stinking & putting garbage on roads while it moves along the path :(....But now I see all the trucks have been modified as Closed Trucks to carry the garbage !!
• Good Roads
• There are good roads been laid out on all the main road from my home to Office & even in the by-lanes !!..This is very good initiative by the BMP.
• Footpath for Walking beside roads
• This is another Wish List which is coming true in most of the areas in South Bangalore & other areas as I have seen them. The Path way is very much required on the side of the road for people walking on roads instead. It helps the traffic to move smoothly too.

The above is just something I thought I will share to help people who are looking to visit Bangalore or relocate Bangalore !!. As it definitely adds value to the City.

My other wish lists :

1. Roads with divider for main roads leading to offices
2. Driving time to the Airport/Railway Station to be reduced
3. Ample Parking spaces for market areas
4. More 24x7 Medical Shops

cheers

Airtel : Great Service ..Every time !!

Its good to see that some professional company provides same excellent level of service everytime, over a period of time, infact it improves !!

Its good to praise the services of companies like these !!

I had Airtel Telephone Services outages 3 times till date all because of some issue local at my place & every time it was fixed within 2 hours time(infact < 1 hour time for 2 times). Its a amazing service standard, as the Broadband Service too depends on the Phone line.

It always feel good when something like this happens in service industry. I guess every company should take such examples & try to see that they keep on improving standards of service so that they get more business & also customer feels happy for paying fees for the services.

great day !!

Air Deccan : Amazing Service Experience !!

Today I had good service experience with Air Deccan ( http://www.airdeccan.net) !!. I had few tickets booked with them for my return journey in Rs.6(yes Rs. SIX !) ..As I had change in plans I called Air Deccan to Cancel the tickets.

The Agent gave me in option to pre or postpone the dates of journey with NO EXTRA charges. Also for the return journey I canceled 2 other passengers on the same PNR & they canceled that refunded me the entire ticket amount. As otherwise the cancellation of these tickets would have been around Rs. 750/- per ticket :(

It was good service on part of the Airline to offer advise to clients. I know there are lots of people cribbing out there about Air Deccan service & stuff like that ..but this was a good experience for me.

I guess we need to give sometime to the airline industry to mature in India to give better service to customers. Also at the same time keep realistic expectations about Service Offering & Price Paid ..that helps a lot !!

Its almost midnight & I will get a good sleep as this saved a lot of money as well as hassles to find another value for money fare for the same journey !!

cheers

Traffic Maps for Bangalore !!

wow..something which I wished always in India is already there !!.. You always wanted to know how's the traffic movement within Bangalore ..like Traffic on Hosur Road is always slow ..but its good to know whether it is slow or delay or smooth at this moment :)

visit : http://traffic.mapunity.org/ It shows exactly what you were looking for :) Its with collaboration with Google Maps !!

Also if you need to know Driving Directions on Indian Road, this is one more website :

http://www.mapunity.org/maps/indiaroads/

Here is the example of what you will get for Bangalore to Pondicherry :

1. Visit URL :
http://www.mapunity.org/maps/indiaroads/
2. Give Bangalore as start
3. Pondicherry as end
4. Click on GO button to get the map from Bangalore to Pondicherry
5. Click on the "Steering Wheel" Button to get the driving directions & kms between each village

Wow this is just for travelers !!

Let your friends in USA/UK/Australia that now Google Helps Indians too for all that they were enjoying for so many years!!

Enjoy

My earlier Posts on the same subject :

Driving Directions in India Online !!
Lost on Indian Roads !! ..Internet Helps you :)

Janapada Loka : More details

I did a Photo Blogging sometime back on Janapada Loka.

Some more details about same location & other stuff :

Place

• Situated 53 kms. on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, Janapada Loka is a treasure-trove of Karnataka’s folk heritage. The 15-acre complex houses museums, an open-air theatre, a studio and other structures. The museum, drawn from the life and arts of a large number of tribal and rural folk across Karnataka, has an amazing collection of 5000 artefacts that represent the essence of Karnataka’s folk culture. The display includes an array of agricultural hunting and fishing implements, weapons, ingenious household gadgets, masks, dolls and shadow puppets.

Address

• Janapada Loka
  Bangalore-Mysore Road, Ramnagara, Bangalore
  Timings: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays.

Route from Bangalore

• Banglore - Mysore Highway - 50 kms
• Link to a Route Map

Other Attractions

• Kamat Lokaruchi Veg Restuarent - Good North Karnataka Meals !!
• Channapatana : A Place to buy varity of Toys made out of Wood - Towards Mysore
  
• Manchanabele : Water Reserviour - towards Bangalore

Enjoy !!

Getting experience before Getting Job in IT / Software

I just noticed this Post : Getting experience before getting a job

I will just paste what I commented out there for now & will try to write more in detail about my experience on the same topic.

"Great Post for people who are entering in IT profession. People out of collage often crib about not getting jobs with out experience, it is true sometimes when you don't have the skills to get the jobs. But there are many ways today as you suggested well. 10 year back when I started my career I could not think of anything other taking some project work with some company for FREE !! :)

I would like to add about http://www.rentacoder.com ..excellent website which offers anyone for any skills(including tech. writting, movie making etc) to BID for projects listed & start working !! ..great way to build experience & get some money too."

This is a fact that jobs are plenty today & there are ways to get jobs/experience in IT than it was 10 years back. When people say that they are not getting job, there can be many reasons to that & that requires deep understanding starting from "Whether you really like to work in IT or you just came here because everybody is there".

I am writing a small article about my experience in IT area till date & also about some recommendations to people who are planning to enter this field & also for people are already there & probably trying to understand what more they can do here !!

So watch out for this blog soon.

Switched to Blogger Beta !!

I have just now switched to Blogger Beta !! ..The feeling is good ..it seems more faster & better interface to me than earlier version of blogspot.com !!

I am not sure why but I always have a eagerness to try the Beta Versions of softwares which are Applications & not going to harm too much to my OS. So its ok to try ..you always gain over the earlier versions & come to know about the new interfaces/features ahead of production releases. It keep you ahead of competition as well sometimes.

Pondicherry : Give Time a Break !! .. Travelouge

I went to pondicherry last weekend as I really wanted to "give time a break". Its been long time I have been thinking of going to Pondicherry !!

So now that I have some good data & photo's, I will write this blog on Pondicherry. Hopefully this will help others who wish to visit Pondicherry.

• Place
• It is a former French colony, consisting of four non-contiguous enclaves, or districts, and named for the largest, Puducherry.
• Tourist Advantage
• French Architecture to see around city
• Sri Aurobindo Ashram
• Auroville
• Pondicherry Beaches
• Museums
• Temples & Mosques
• Backwater & Garden
• Best time to Visit
• During October to January
• I have personally being there during November, the weather was good. Not very hot. You can expect some showers, but is good.
• Route from Bangalore
• I took the following route to reach Pondi from Bangalore

• I used http://www.mapmyindia.com Maps as reference & some tips from my friends from "Indianhiways" Group from Yahoo Groups.
• Overall the route is good, if you fill up enough Petrol/Diesal at Bangalore, you don't need to stop for Petrol en-route. But it seems the petrol is cheaper in Tamilnadu/Pondicherry :)
• Reliance A1 Plaza after Hosur on left side of Highway is best for having Breakfast. After this point there are not many good(hi-fi) places to east. So you might consider stopping at Tiruvannmalai for Lunch probably.(Hotel Arya & Hotel Arunashala)
• The Kms given above are approx. & depends where you start in Bangalore & where do End in Pondicherry.Most of the Beach resorts are on ECR(Pondi-Chennai Route)

• Accommodation
  
• Pondicherry has 2 kind of accommodation for tourists mainly.
  
• Beach Resorts
• City Hotels
• There are Guest Houses also in Auroville & at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram
• My Recommendation
• My Recommendation is to stay at
• Hotel Surguru, 104, SARDAR VALLABHAI PATEL ROAD. PONDICHERRY 605001. TEL: +91-413-2339022. +91-413-2227290
• Good Hotel with very good service
• Excellent South Indian Food
• Good Location, Near to all Attractions in Pondi.
• St James Court Beach Resort
• Good Resort on ECR Road(10 kms from Pondicherry)
• Food is ok
• Only if you need Beach Resort, this is good.
• But in Ponicherry beaches are not that clean(specially on ECR). Also you cannot venture much into sea as it is dangerous as the slope is steep.
• Travel Tips & Expectations
• Its very important to keep realistic expectations with Pondicherry.
• Can't expect the same service standards as of Bangalore at outskirts of pondicherry
• Small place, good for 2 days only
• Not much directions sometimes to roam yourself
• Keep a Map handy
• My advise is not to spend on Beach Resorts, instead stay at City Hotels, they are better equipped.
• Spending is relative term(every bodies own choice). But I would not recommend anyone spending more than Rs.1200/- Accommodation, Its really not value for money.
• Need to drive carefully on NH66 as you pass through villages, people/cattle cross or they put their grains on road(yes on NH) for sun bath :)
• Overall travel time from Bangalore to Pondicherry is around 5.30 to 6.00 hours depending on your stops in between.
• Very Comfortable Drive as most of the roads are in good condition
• Checkout pics on http://www.flickr.com by searching "pondicherry", "ECR", "Auroville", or "Aurobindo" ..This gives you an idea what you want there!!
• Search for more blogs related to Pondicherry for exp. & reviews !!
  
• Photos
• Flickr

Tags : Pondicherry , Pondicherry route , Best route to pondicherry , Accomodation at Pondicherry

Janapada Loka : Photo Blogging !!

To save time I am doing just Photo Blogging of Janapada Loka, Bangalore-Mysore Road, Ramnagara, Bangalore - 571 511,

Bangalore Infrastructure : In Rains !!

Comments blogs about Bangalore Infrastructure are everywhere !! ..But it is tough to see that happening in front of your eyes daily :(

Recently I was happy to see that BMP(http://www.bmponline.org/) is doing some good work around our apartment & its good to see some progress. But my happiness did not last for much time. As usual they started some work & it was abandoned with all in mess. They lay the road half-way & then stop the work to mess it up more than it was earlier.

See some photos !!

Lalbaug Botanical Garden, Bangalore, India - Revisited !!

Its been long time I visited Lalbaug Botanical Garden in Bangalore, India !! ...The reason for not visiting it for long time is probably traffic towards Lalbaug & not not finding time :) .. btw the universal excuse of not finding time is not good I feel so sometime.

I was surprised to see the changes to Lalbaug which are done recently. So there are more reasons to visit this beautiful place with family & kids !!

• Clean atmosphere
• Good fresh air
• Ample place for jogging or walking
• Hassle free parking(depending on what time of the day u go !!)
• New Zero B Water taps !!(Pure filtered water vending machines)
• Much better maintained that what I saw earlier !!
• Electric Golf Car ride for Rs. 100 !!

Specially the Zero B Water vending machines are great idea. So people need not carry their own water bottles.

Learning Car Driving in India !!

Learning car driving is great fun in India. Specially with Car Prices falling down or Income rising !! ..Many people buy car & its a need sometimes.

But when it comes to learning Car driving, its tough to find good instructors. Also they charge you too much compared to what they teach you.

Some of the disadvantes of learning Car driving with Alternate controls :

• You never get full control of the Car
• The Instructor sitting next to you alway keeps his foot on clutch/break, failing you get the feel of car
• He will press break even before you respond to a situation !!
• He will adjust the Steering for you sometimes
• Missing out important Instructions !!
• You feel you know driving, but actually you know just basics
  

I would suggest to anyone would like to learn a Car is to go to a Driving School where the Car on which you are going to learn do not have alternate control. The advantges are as below. BTW, this is from my own expereince. My wife recently learned Car Driving on our own Car without alternative controls(offcourse !!). And the results were amazing, she learned faster than I could learn with driving school car !!

• You get feel of Car Controls yourselves
• You get to know the Clutch/Break faster than with alternative controls Car
• You respond to situations yourselves that makes you more confident
• Learning curve is faster & close to REAL world !

Enjoy Driving !!

Driving Directions In India ..Online !!

Finally I have got the tool which provides me Driving Directions between 2 places in India :). This is still in beta, but looks impressive.

This feature was my wish list for long time, as I have seen this kind of system in place in US & Australia !! ..See my blog entry on 21st July about this :

My wish list in July-06

I can't believe that the wish will be fullfilled so soon :) ...

URL : http://beta.mapmyindia.com

I tested the website feature Driving Directions with some areas I know & it looks ok. Though it may not have all areas, but its still useful for the people who are new to city & could like to know the place. Also I checked the route map from "Pune to Bangalore" & its quite accurate.

Have a look at what you get here :

Its a great service. Also the regular Maps are good as they are Interactive.

GIS overall has a good potential in India in my opinion. There are many companies building applications around it.

Bank Service ..ICICI

Recently there was another incident I came across which reflects the service orientation of a bank. ICICI Bank !!

Let me say that overall till date I have liked the Online services of ICICI & they are much ahead of many banks in using the technology at its best !!

But recently when they wanted all of their Demat Account holders to show PAN Card proof, they did not manage it very well. Which in any case was very easy to manage otherwise :

• They sent an intimation via Email/Website to ask customers to show up their original PAN Card & PAN copy for some SEBI requirement
• No detailed process given
• Customer were supposed to fill up one Form with some Details, which was missing from the mailer they sent
• At the branch office there was no clue as to how do I proceed to go thru this entire process
• Many people were taking Token # at the machine & sitting that they will be called !!..No one called :(
• After some enquiries with few counters, there was one counter where the person was accecpting the Forms :)
• So it was acutally very easy process, but was made tough for customer without detailed knowlegde

What was expected :

• Provide detailed step-by-step instructions by mailer
• Provide the PAN Card Update Form in the mailer & at the bank branch entrance
• Create a Seperate counter at the entrance of the bank to accept the PAN Copy & verify Original Pan Card
• May be accept Notary attested PAN Card Copies by mail
• All Branches should have to facilitate, not just the one which provides Demat Services.

Citibank ..Excellent Service !!

We always crib about services offered to us by various agencies. Bank is one of them !!. The new banks & modernisation bringing lots of changes into our lives everyday, we think everything should be automated the way we want :)

I had a very good experience with Citibank yesterday. I ordered a Demand Draft from their Internet Banking website at 8:30 am morning & the DD was received by me at my residence at 12:00 noon :) ..It was great service.

Always I have found that the DD was delivered next day without fail. This is the power of Internet & also using the services effectively. As with Internet Banking, local branches can effectively work together to deliver the services to their clients locally.

I have seen in the past some banks telling me like " Sir it will take 4 working days, as our Head Office is in Mumbai " :) . I always feel like telling the person on phone(call center), that how does it matter to me where your HQ is ? !! ..But yes there are still some banks are old fashioned inspite of having good infrastructure in place.

There are other examples of Banks where the Call Center closes at 6:00 pm :) ..In this world of outsourcing its hard to imagine big companies still following old times !

I like Citibank at least for their Draft service !!

Internet Buying ..Still not matured in India

I had this good experience of buying something online, which you would have actually tempted me to buy more from the website. Also in due course I might have given more hits/business to the same vendor who is selling books online.

But unfortunetly the experience is not so good. Infact it was such that I did not wanted to buy anything from there & probably goto the book shop available locally & get that book.

I was looking for an Indian Edition of Book : Beyond Code: Learn to Distinguish Yourself in 9 Simple Steps! . Luckily I found the link to 2 book shops offering the same book online in india.

1. http://www.gobookshopping.com/BookDetails.asp?bookid=241440
2.http://www.itbytebooks.com/book_Details.asp?id=11833&catid=15

But when I tried buying I was shocked to see the way they are selling :) ..The book costs Rs. 150/- in India for paperback edition. Gobookshopping.com was charging Rs.110/- for shipping on a Rs.135/- book(after discount of Rs.15). Itbytebooks.com is offering the same book for Rs. 239/-(Shipping of Rs.10) = Rs. 249/-. So both the online book stores are just charging too much for either shipping or the book & making money.

I always wonder why people selling online try to do this kind of stuff. This does not help them in anyway, instead people will not come to their store for buying anymore !! ...

Look at Amazon, they have fixed pricing for Shipping as per the item you are buying.

Internet should make things simple for people & complicated.

For now I have to just find a local book shop & go get my copy of "Beyond Code" !!

Distinguish Yourself ..Good to read !!

I was reading some of the small articles on Topic "Distinguish Yourself", written by Rajesh Setty on his Lens.

This is first time I read about Lens. So what is Lens ?

A lens is one person's view on a topic that matters to her. It's an easy-to-build, single web page that can point to blogs, favorite links, RSS feeds, Flickr photos, Google maps, eBay auctions, CafePress designs, Amazon books or music, and thousands of products from hundreds of other trusted merchants. You can pick whatever content you want to put in your lens to bring context to your topic. Then, when someone is looking for recommended information, fast, your lens gets him started and sends him off in the right direction. It's a place to start, not finish.


The above is from the FAQ from : http://www.squidoo.com/pages/faq

I liked the idea. Its a great way to get your posts in a single page for reference on a particular topic. As in blogs the posts are scattered sometimes. If you go off-topic !!

Rajesh Setty has written, very well thought articles on this subjest "Distinguish Yourself".
Its a series of small articles which provocates your to think more about yourself. Whcih I guess one needs to do always.

The one which I liked in being in Support Profession for a long is : #6 Ask for help

This is something I use to tell everyone I meet who is starting career in Support or try to get something done. Always seek help if you know you can get right there instead of wasting your own time discovering !!. Off-course that do not mean that you should seek help for everything you would like to do. Do your home-work, try few things you know. If you still don't get seek clues & go from there.

Again I feel that Lens is like Blogging on a specific Topic !! ..

Life Beyond Code !!

When I first saw these words on Blogcamp. It was quite interesting to read more about it. When I was traversing through various posts, blogs about it. It takes me more deeper & its more interesting.

There is a blog on this subject by auther Rajesh Setty : http://blog.lifebeyondcode.com/

I feel its a nice subject to read. On my first thought it seems like a good idea to understand what is "Life Beyond Code". I am eagerly waiting to read this book. Its availale on Amazon.com. But need to find the Indian Edition somewhere. Will goto the near book shop soon !!

There is another compilation of blog entries by the same auther at :

http://www.squidoo.com/distinguishyourself

There is to much to read !!. But first I will read the Book & then will go further.

Indian Highways on Yahoo Groups !!

You want to share your information or would like too know experiences of others on Indian Highways, Join "indiahighways" group on http://groups.yahoo.com !!

I have been following-up on this group for more than a year now & the information is very helpful you are driving on Indian Highways.

Lot of people in this group are regular travellers on Highways.

If you would like to know the status of Golden Quardilateral Project(This is a Highway Project started few years back when BJP was in power). This project is to connect Indian Highways with 4 Laned roads to cover major cities in India.

There are regular updates from National Highways Authority of India (http://www.nhai.org) on progress of this project.

I generally track the (http://www.nhai.org/NH4_Mumbai_Chennai_english.htm) to check the progress between Mumbai & Chennai route ..It seems form the July-31st update that this route is 4-laned aolmost 94.88%. I don't think this is the real status though. As when I saw some trip sheets from "indianhighways" group. It looks like that the Chitradurga To Hubli streach is in bad shape. Need to confirm from few more people who have travelled on NH4 recently.

On the positive note, I see the highway project being good for all. Though it is taking double the time it should have taken to complete, still its a good initiative by Indian Govt. to boost the economy & providing faster alternative means of transportation to people in India.

Experiences with International Travel from India

I was travelling to Hong Kong from Bangalore recently, this is just after the UK Incident.

It was not so good experience while going from Bangalore International Airport, as they were not at all prepared for the new security arrangements & also for the large crowed which generally gathers at the airport for all night flights.

I was standing in a queue for almost 4 hours till I reached the gate of the place :(. The check-in counter(all) was taking too much time to check-in as they installed some new system to improve check-in times :). I was surprised to see that there are was no one their at supervisor level to understand the difficulties of travellers & to give them good answer to their questions !!. The questions were :

• Why so long time for check-in ? Ans : We implemented new system :)
  
• My flight is just in next 10 minutes, how I am going to catch that ? Ans : No Answer
  
• Is the flight schedule changes because of delay in check-in ? Ans : No Answer

As after the check-in we went to the Immigration Counters, there was similar scene there !!. No one was interested in letting the passengers know what's happening. Everybody was just trying to get themselves as fast as possible :)

There was only 1 x-ray machine as usual !!. Some Airline agents were trying to get passengers out of the security/immigration queue to speed-up, but in turn they were creating more chaos as it was not a co-ordinated effort at all.

It was disgusting to see the impressions of fellow passengers about India & specially Bangalore International Airport :(

I know this was a probably one-off incidence with so much of delay, but really not. As I have travelled many times from this airport & things are never smooth. There are always atleast 30 min. wait at each queue(Check-in, Immigration, Security).

When I reached HK Airport. The immigration was finished for 100 passengers in just 10 minutes with 8 officers only !!. It was good to see the speed at they were working.

On the other note, I got a surprise when I returned to Bangalore from Hong Kong, the total time I took from Plane exit gate to Airport exit was just 15 minutes(Passing thru Immigration, Baggage collection) !!

The reason was that I was first 5 in line while doing immigration. Also we had only our flight for some reason to arrive at that time :) ..Also luckily I got my baggage on the belt in 5 minutes.

Understanding Indian Stock Market !!

I feel that it is very tough to understand Indian Stock Market, on top of that the Indian Mutual Fund Markets !!

Today the Markets are close to 12000 mark on BSE, but you will see that the Mutual Funds NAVs are way below that what it was at 12000 mark 3 months back :)

Yes, I know that its not good to predict the markets & also there is no direct relation of Indices to MF NAVs. I feel the market was over valued in last 1 year & now it is coming to its real terms may be !!

I refer to my last post on this. The MFs I have given as TOP 5 in my opinion based on some research are still the same !!

Keep watching !!

Hong Kong : Ocean Park Review

Recently I had been to Ocean Park, Hong Kong . Its a huge amusement park with lot of activities planned for peopel visiting it. Its more like a adventure park with lot of rides & fun stuff.

My experience with Ocean Park was not so good that day as the weather was too hot & there was too much crowed on sunday there :(

Also its not a good idea to goto Ocean Park on Sunday. You should reach there by 10:00 am to get to see most of the theme parks with less crowed may be. We were standing in a queue for 45 min's to see Sea Jelly Fish Exhibit :) ...Jelly Fish are amazing ..I have been to another such Jelly Fish Aquarium which in California at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Monterey Bay Aquarium is a great place to be at. Its little away from SFO,but its worth visiting. The drive towards Monterey is also good. Also while coming back you can visit the 17 miles drive & Pebble beach !!

So if you are planning to visit Ocean Park with kids specially infants ..beware of following :

• Expect Hot & sunny weather
• On weekends there are just too many people
  
• Lines to Exhibit have waiting period upto 1 hour sometimes :(
• You cannot go in any rides with infants ..very few ..
• There is too much to walk & see which is tough with Infants :)
• Food is a issue for Strict Vegeterians :(
• Carry plenty of Water with from Hong Kong City itself ..the water is 4 times expensive there compared to Welcome Store in the city :)
• Umbrella & sun lotion is MUST !!
• Check weather before you head out
  

Hong Kong : Infrastruture

I like the way Hong Kong govt has setup the infrastruture ..its good for people. Even a person just landed in HK can take a map & MTR Octopus pass & go around the city without asking any body. I could find Indian Restuarents with just their addresses on internet !!

For all the main areas like Causeway Bay, Central, Wan Chai..finding a address is not tough. HK is set of Islands ..I went took the ferry went to Kowloon Island in just 15 mins with $2.3 only !! ..

Govt. does lot of promotion itself for tourism as they earn lot of revenue coz that ..so its good money for them as well as for business.

One needs to be good at reading maps ..it helps a lot ..Keep a reference point which u know in case ouo lost ..that way atleast u can reach upto that point !!

One more observation is that indian restuarents are plenty here ..I went to 3(Jo Jo Indian, Khana Kahazana, Indian Palace(Near Tsim Sa Sui Ferry station) of them already in 3 days !

The Peak Tram & Gujarathi Thali in Hong Kong

I dedicate this post to my friend ..Ashish ...He mentioned me about this Indian Restuarent ..

I did a trip to The Peak Tram in Hong Kong. Its a place on top of hill where the Tram takes on a very very steep ride !! ..The ride is just 10 mins one & costs HKD 20 for going & $10 for return. Its a nice way to make money ..on the top there is a Madame Tussauds wax museam for $120.00

The Tram trip is very nice ..its I guess takes a you almost at 45 degree angle ...very very steep.

On the top there is a water fountain & some shops ..infact its like a mini mall !! ..Hong Kong is a city of malls !!

I came back to Central station from The Peak Tram station ..walking all the way ..I guess walking the way u can enjoy the city more !!..

Took MTR to Wan Chai ..Where I found the Pure Indian Restuarent called "Khana Kahazana" ..I had my own doubts about it being Pure Veg. ..but after seeing the menu ..it was really offering only Veg dishes ..

I took Gujarathi Thali ..for $76.00 ..it had 3 Chapatis, 1 Alu Sabji, 1 Beans Curry, 1 Papad, Kichadhi, Kadhi & Gulab Jamun !! ..good meal for $76.00 in HK. Its near to Wan Chai MTR Station ...one has to take the "C" Exit ..

I last 1.5 days ...I have figured out the MTR Map & know how to go around HK..atleast in HK Island ..

more later

Photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/85544851@N00/tags/thepeak/

Hong Kong !!

In Hong Kong on a business trip.

The city seems to be good in terms of Transportation & food in general ..as that's what I have seen till now !! ..From Airport to Hotel by Hotel Shuttle it took 40 mins ..Hotel is at good location over looking Harbour !!..

There is a Indian Restuarent nearby, so thats a good part ..

Food seems in this hotel seems to be expensive to me ..Just a Grilled Sandwitch is $130 :) ..Also breakfast is expensive $180 ..comparing this to some of the hotels in California like Summerfileds Suites in belmont ..this looks to me expensive ..but I guess back in India the similar hotel(i mean 4-5*) do charge the same thing :) ..USA is expception in sometimes.

Photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/85544851@N00/sets/72157600709600942/

Good things in life !! :

Today I reached my office in 7 minutes (yes 7 minutes for 3.5 kms !!) from my apartments parking to office parking lot !!

Earlier I used to take 15 minutes & 7 kms to reach office :(

The wait is over..the Underpass at Jayadeva Hospital Intersection was completed yesterday & it is something I have been waiting for 2+ years !!

No Traffic Jams, No Signals !!

See one of Blogs mentioned about this work when it was in construction stage : Construction at Jayadeva

Indian Mutual Funds ..How to find SIP Return !!

With the market being volatile ..everybody talks about doing SIP with Mutual Funds than bulk inivestments. But sometimes its hard to understand & find what is the SIP return for a particular Mutual Fund in Indian Market ..

So here is the solution :

Note the URL : http://www.valueresearchonline.com/learning/CalcSIPReturn.asp
(For this above URL, you need to Login to www.valueresearchonline.com)

This above URL will provide SIP as well as Obsolute Return for a given fund for an AMC.

For Example :

Magnum Contra - Growth for Jan-2006 to June-2006 :

Annualised SIP Return over period : -3.31%
Non-SIP return(absolute) over period : 16.33%


Franlin India Prima - Growth for Jan-2004 to June-2006

Annualised SIP Return over period : 34.76%
Non-SIP return(annualised) over period : 31.72% (note the return here !!)

Again an caution that, do not go by the misconception that Obsolute return will provide more returns than SIP. This is only true for market which is having upword trend, which was the case for last 1 year ...not more it seems !!

So now you are more smarter to understand the SIP ;)

Lost on Indian Roads !! ..Internet Helps you :)

I have been seeing lot of Map Websites which helps to locate Routes, National Highways in India.

There is one famous website which probably lot of people who search for Route maps for Indian Highways is : http://www.mapsofindia.com. It surly has good source of information ..But we always ask for more. So there are these others which I find good.

With the Golden Qua

Following are the websites offering Route Maps for Indian National Highways.

http://www.maptell.com

• Very good Interface for finding route maps
• ZoomIn & ZoomOut Operations
• You can save the Image & Print for reference

See the US Interstate kind of Legend !!.This is for National Highway.

http://www.mapmyindia.com

• This is a great website to get Local City Maps
• Good Website for searching any place e.g. Location of Bank/Parks
• Good if you are searching for a route map
  

http://www.mapsofindia.com

• Good website with Route Maps
• Distance calculations with different cities
• They have a CD package which they sell for maps
• You can print maps for reference

Something I am searching for long time is a Driving Direction Website, which provides me driving directions to a place from Start to End !! ..Mapmyindia does provide that ..but that is on map only ..it will show you start-end legends. I am looking for something like www.mapquest.com for India !!

Oracle Certified Associate : OCA 10g !!

I just cleared my 10g OCA !!

It was a good experience to refresh my knowledge on Oracle 10g Database. I was thinking about giving this exam for long time :) ..I thought its a good way of learning new technology & enhance skills in a area on which you do not work daily.

There is lot of debate our OCP/OCA overall & I do not want to get into that ..:) Personally I feel it does help a person to enhance the skills its being done in right spirit & not just by cramming the exam guides & dumps !!

Advantages of Certification

• New Feature Knowledge
• Enhanced skills in a area you want to learn more
• Good understanding of concepts
• Get into Reading/practicing something new apart from routine work !!
  

Again OCP is not substitute for any experience. Oracle Database has such a varied & vast architecture, its not possible to claim expereince just on the basis of exams. One needs o have good practical real life experience in order to be a good Oracle DBA !

Travelogue - Yercaud

Yercaud is a calm-quiet picturesque hill station located on Shervaroys hill ranges, with lots of coffee estates, eucalyptus and silver-oak trees.

LOCATION :
Yercaud is located in Tamil Nadu at around 4000-5000 feet above sea level. Its around 180 kms from Bangalore. It is around 30 kms from Salem and takes around 90 minutes drive from Salem. There are regular buses to Yercaud from Salem new bus junction. The nearest airports are either Bangalore (180 Kms) or Chennai (215 kms). The nearest Railway Station is Salem Railway Station.

CLIMATE :
The weather in Yercaud is pleasant. Summers (April-June) are mild, while winters (November-February) are cool.

ACCOMODATION :

• Budget Hotels : TNTDC, Star Hotel, and various cottages
• High End : Sterling Resorts, Shervaroys , Sterling Holiday Cottage(pref.)

FOOD :
TNTDC Hotel : This one has a decent vegetarian hotel, and the other veg hotels are one at Udupi hotel near the Yercuad bus stand and one at Shervaroys.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS :

• Yercaud Lake : Located right at the center of the hill-station, it has both pedal and row boats, maintained by TNTDC.
• Shervaroys Temple : Located at the top most point of the hills. The main dieties are Cauvery amman and Shervaroyappan. The priest maintains that there is a tunnel behind the dieties, that goes all the way to Thalacauvery temple in Coorg.
• Botanical garden : This one is open during the weekends, mainly used by botanical students. This garden has a wide variety of herbs. A delight for those who have an in interest in botany.
• Ladies Seat : This one gives a panaromic view of Salem Town. The name came after this view was frequented by a English lady during pre-independence days.
• Gents Seat : Yercaud;s menfolk, wanted a seat of their own, so they made one for their own.
• Rose Garden : This one has a wide variety of roses.
• Estates: The whole hill station is filled with private estates. The estates generally grow Coffee, Silver-oak, Eucalyptus, Black pepper, "Kamla" Orange. For those who like "Narasus" coffee, the coffee comes from Yercaud, they have their own estate here.
• Garden right across the Lake : This one has a Japanese style garden, don't miss this one.
• Montfort School : A convent school, which has students from all over Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES/TRAVEL TIPS : For those who would like to unwind themselves during the weekend, this is a perfect spot. Moving around yercaud is so easy with all directions everywhere well placed.

The good part of going to Yercaud from Bangalore is Driving. As I like driving very much, it was fun driving on cool 4 laned Highway(thanks to Atalji) .Upto Krishnagiri(230 kms) you can go very fast(evg of 65 kms/hour). Just be careful of people crossing. The Ghat to Yercaud after Salem is about 22 kms, its good drive, but need to be careful about vehicles coming from opposite direction while going up, as they come very fast.

The season here is during April/May, other months are off-season. Please bring in Cameras & Binoculars and a woolen shawl/sweater during winters. Enjoy the morning walks and treks. Just like any other hill-station, you can get variety of scents, lotions, honey etc, etc, be careful where you buy the stuff. Even if you buy stuff, buy in small quantities.

I will compile some photo's soon !!

Picsquare : Great Service + Quality

I just saw my own blog being referred at the http://www.picsquare.com on their News Page !!

I am very much happy with their service. Photo's were delivered to me in 2 days. There was email when the photos were shipped. The quality of photos is good & is printed on Kodak Paper !!

I am going to try out their services more & will certainly talk about them to most of my friends. Infact many have my friends have already registered & are ready to use the service !!

Internet Works !! ..I like all the service which internet provides to you on your desktop !! ..At the same time it is important that companies should provide good service on internet ..that will make them more profitable as the Internet community grows in India

Indian Postal Service : SpeedPost Getting Better !!

I had another nice experience with Indian Postal Services : SpeedPost Service specially.

I had one important letter which I posted with SpeedPost on 5th July 2006 to Pune. I was expecting it to be delivered on 7th July 2006 by evening. But it did not.

So I called the SpeedPost Manager at GPO Bangalore to inquire about it on 8th July. The lady politly took all the details & assured me that she will call me back for the status.

To my surprise, SpeedPost Manager called me back in the evening to confirm that the letter is delivered & it was delayed due to heavy rains in Mumbai !!. I am happy to see that the Tracking works & even if the Internet Tracking is not working for some reason, you can call the SpeedPost Managers.

Its good to see the service being improved & responsive when you need.

I wonder how many of us use Indian Postal Services & what their expereinces are ?

Quick Getaway From Bangalore : Janapada Loka, Kanva Reservoir, Kamat Lokaruchi

It was nice day spent with our friend. I was very much excited to see the progress on the Bangalore - Mysore Highway & it was good experience to drive on nice 4 laned road.

For Rs. 75/- ( Includes Jwar Roti, 2 curry's, rice, sambhar,rasam,butter milk, papad & banana !!). The meals are really wholesome & feels good. I know its lot of food, but the taste is mild, I liked the rasam very much. I would definitly recommend the north karnataka meals if you happen to go there !!

We just wanted to have a good day spent nearby bangalore & it was well done trip !

As we started late around 11:30, we wanted to stop for lunch at Kamat Lokaruhi. Its a nice restuarent by http://www.kamatyatri.in. They are famous for their chain of restuarents in South India & infact all over the world !!..The food is vegeterian & alwys tastes good. We had the North Karnataka Meals(a south indian term for Thali). It was very good meal for Rs.
Beside Kamat Lokaruchi there is Janapada Loka. Janapada Loka is a treasure-trove of Karnataka’s folk heritage. The 15-acre complex houses museums, an open-air theatre, a studio and other structures. The museum, drawn from the life and arts of a large number of tribal and rural folk across Karnataka, has an amazing collection of 5000 artefacts that represent the essence of Karnataka’s folk culture.

Outside Kamat, there are stalls of Terakota & other stuff made by artists there. Its a nice to take stuff & you can bargain for less. The prices are reasonable as compared to something being sold in Bangalore shops.

We could purchse something for quite reasonable price. Being sunday, lots of people were there in Kamat Lokaruchi !!.

Quick Facts :

• Kamat Lokaruchi

• 55 Kms from Bangalore
• Good Food
• Quick Service
• Chilrens Play Area

We went to Channapatna after having our lunch. Its around 10 kms from Ramanagar. The objective was to purchase some wood toys for my daughter !!. There are lots of shops( so called Handicraft Emporiams) on the left side of the road when you reach the Channapatana town. Do not do there unless you see something specific you want & its there !!.They charge too much for all items on display. They would do bargain, but still the charges are high. Take a right turn into the town & find some local shops selling same items for reasonable price.This what all we bought!!
We found a good shop in the town, we which is just in front of Reliance Petrol Station. The shop has good articles..Wood Toys, Frames etc..all reasonably priced. To our surprise he was speaking Marathi !! He gave his shops Number to us Nagaraj : (080) 7255182. He also does good custom made wooden paintings of Gods. These are paitings which are partially done by embossing & carving the wooden peices together.

It was worth visiting this small shop in the town.

After our shopping we went towards the Kanva Reservoir. Its on the left side when you are going towards bangalore. There is a board which says Kanva Reserviour - 10 kms !!

The road towards Reserviour is ok, not too bad except few 1-2 kms of bad patches.

Its a nice place to spend some time.

Best of Photography : Oracle HQ, Belmont, CA !!

Look at above photo..Taken @ Oracle HQ, Redwood Shores, Belmont, CA ..My best clicked photograph. Thanks to excellent natural weather on that day !! ..Note that I haven't done any changes to the photo using any tool :)

This was taken using Kodak DX-7440.

Coincidence !! ..6 Years

Today July 3rd 2006 is Monday. July 3rd 2000 was Monday too. But not on 2001/2/3/4/5 !

What a conincident !! ... July 3rd 2000 was Monday, when I joined Oracle India, Bangalore. Today I have completed 6 years here ..Today also Monday 3rd July-2006 !!

So many years past, I met all the 3 people who joined along with me on the same day & said "Congratulations"!! What a surprise to see them here :) ..I mean they are still here !!. In these 6 years I have seen people coming & going(part of Software job !!)..But we 3 who joined on the same day are still here ..working for the same organisation/Line of business ..is there something in the Date ?

I still remember the day I first came to Bangalore from Pune & my first day of joining. Surprisingly I do not remember much about the same joining experience for my previous companies whom I worked with !! ..It was nothing special that happend when we joined at Oracle, but its that the moment we entered the office & waiting in a conference room for HR person to come ..are still in my memory like a Digital Image :)

So many things changed in last 6 years !! ...But good memrories(& somtimes bad !!) always stays with you :)

Indian Postal Service ..Amazing!!

I went to post an Letter Weighing 290 gms today to Post Office.

I was surprised !! :

Normal Letter Postal charges for 290 gms is Rs. 75.00...

• slow, un-registered, no tracking..

The postal guy suggested me to goto the Speed Post counter, as it might charge less, I was surprised, but as he said the charges were :

Domestic Tariff( As on 30th June-2006)

Weight	Local	Upto 200 Kms	201 to 1000 Kms	1001 to 2000 Kms	Above2000 Kms
Upto 200 Gms	Rs. 20	Rs. 25	Rs. 30	Rs. 50	Rs. 50
201 to 500 Gms	Rs. 20	Rs. 40	Rs, 45	Rs. 60	Rs. 60
Additional 500 Gms or Part	Rs. 5	Rs.7.5	Rs. 10	Rs. 20	Rs. 25

So I did the Speed Post of my Article which was infact 1 book we were giving as gift to some of our relatives on their birthday !!

The charges were Rs. 45.00 + Taxes = Rs. 50.00 only

• Fast Delivery(All my Speed Posts tell date reached either 2nd or 3rd day to Pune from Bangalore).
• Registered
• Tracking Facility !!

Cheers !!

Printing Digital Images for FREE ..In India !!

Yes, you heard it right ..I came across : http://www.picsquare.com. Its an Indian website offering FREE printing of 4x6 digital photos if you refer a friend. I tried the website, its good. Some of the things I like :

• Prints of 4x6 @ Rs. 4.50 !! : Shipping @ Rs. 36.00 upto 50 prints.
• Good & Simple Appearence
• Useful User Interface
• Fast Upload & View.
• You get started Instantly

There are plenty of Photo Album websites to store Photos, but very few offers services @ Rs.4.5/per photo in India. Which is as good as going to a Photo Studio & getting your digital Photo's printed.

One of the other popular website I reviewed

KodakEasyShareGallary : http://www.kodakgallary.co.in : This is Indian version of Kodak Gallary in USA. · You can order prints which can be delivered thoughout India. ·

• The cost is Rs.10.00 for 4x6" : Shipping @ Rs. 45.00 :( ..very expensive·
• Website has different look than its parent popular website :http://www.kodakgallary.com·
• Website is very slow ..I have tried it many times for past 2-3 months..same response.
• Appearence & Ease of operation is not so good.

There are others too who just offer Photo Album services without printing services in India :·

• Flickr : http://www.flickr.com·
• Google Photo : http://picasaweb.google.com

I would try the services with Picsquare & will post my feedback here !! Specially when the website is managed from Bangalore !! ...This is a venture by 2 Indian Entrepreneurs

enjoy !!

Good Article : Managing the Pain

Today I read this article : Managing the Pain

The article is in http://www.valureseachonline.com. Its good article & the author has summarized it rightly as under :

The worst real losses are those of investors who got attracted to the stock markets in the last four or five months. Typically, these people have made a series of bad choices. Instead of investing steadily, they have put in large chunks of money at one go. Their mutual fund investments are in untested new funds and their stock investments are in rumour-of-the-day type of stocks that were being pushed by brokers till a few days back. The more recklessly adventurous have already lost large chunks of their investments to repeated margin calls from brokers and lenders.

This is very correct. I remember Investment Advisors keep telling about SIP !! . Which comes true. Even in SIP, you will incurr losses, but it will be less as compared to what happens when you invest in bulk.

But as the author said, its tough for many investors to resist when the market was in Bull Run & everybody wanted to make quick money.

Indian Stock Market Swings

Disclaimer : I am not a stock market expert or Investment Advisor

The stock market in India seems to be swinging more than anybody could understand. In past 2 months since the market started bear phase(downturn), I have been observing following :

1.No or very less Ads in TV/Radio/News Paper on Mutual Funds
2.Investment Advisors have stopped giving recommendations !!
3.Everybody who invested recently(2-3 months back), lost lot of money :(

So it seems that people who where so bullish about the market, suddenly stopped talking about it :) ..Which is not a reality.

Equity Investments were always risky, just that in last 1 year it was too good to believe & everybody was jumping in it..thinking that it will be like this always :) .

So this recent crash has made people think more logically & re-look at their portfolio. I know people who exited after the crash..

I still feel that one should expect good returns in long term taking into account the short term risks sometimes. That way you are more reasonable & will not become emotional while investing you hard-earned money.

I was doing some research on some websites about the funds who performed better than others(that means gave less -ve returns !!) in past 2 months !!..Here some of them : Ratings are as per http://www.valueresearchonline.com

1. Sundaram Select Midcap
2. Magnum Contra
3. Magnum Global
4. HDFC Equity-G

The above funds which I listed above are on the TOP of my list !! ..Again these are based on my research as per current performance. I looked at the funds which are at least 3 years old & have out-performed the Sensex/Nifty even in the crash.

Earlier whenever Investment Advisor used to tell us that, do not expect mroe than 10-12% returns from Equity Market MF, I used to think how it can be .as we were all seeing the upword trend for long time :) ..But now everyone knows that its really risky in investing in Equity. So follow these guidelines always :

1. Only Invest if you have cash left with you which dont need for next 1 or 2 years
2. Investment with Mutual Funds with previous track record only
3. NFO's can be tried, but they are very risky times.
4. Always do you own research to understand what the Fund delivers & what's its Portfolio(Not all funds are same).
5. Diversify within Funds if you can
6. Last but not least : Invest some part through SIP for sure.

For past 1 market is again showing some continuous upword trend :) ..So its a good sign, but again watch out & be careful before investing...But do Invest if you can !!!

Bangalore Pune Volvo NH4 experience !

I was in Pune for 4 days. It was a short trip. I was expecting some rains in pune but it was not much. Though while going from Bangalore ..on road in Karnataka ..there was good rains after Tumkur.

I took KSRTC Volvo - Airavat. It was good & comfortable ride to Pune in 16 hours with stopping at Tumkur/Davangere/Kolhapur/Katraj Ghat ..

This was my 2nd trip in Volvo bus by KSTRC ..It was good experience overall. The drivers seems to be good in driving & do not overtake too much (which is a usual practice on Highways by buses & Cars).

The NH4(Mumbai-Chennai) is supposed to 4-Laned by 31-DEC-2006 as per PMs statement last week. The status is available on the Website : http://www.nhai.org. Here is the latest MAP with status:
From the MAP it seems that most of the work is completed. Also it is completed at most of the streaches. But whevever the work is not done or abondon because of re-tendering or whatever reasons. Its the worst part of NH4, the road become narrow & traffic plays from both sides. There is no tar work & its very dangerous to drive for those streaches in night specially. I saw one Truck loosing its control & accidently fell on the dich on the side of the road(there is no road infact ..just mud!!).

I am sure everybody must be feeling bad about the fact that, after spending so much the 4-laning of highways is taking so long just because our govt. do not have control to make sure that the work happens as per the deadlines in tender. Once the govt. in power changes everything stops & waits for nod from new govt to continue ..

I took almost 1 hour to reach Yashwantpur from Bangalore Bus Station. From there till Tumkur the road is 4-laned, but there is heavy traffic of Trucks & lot of people/vehicles crossing the highway. The best part of NH4 is from Belgaum to Pune(till you reach Katraj Ghat !!). The road is perfectly done with good quality material(you can see the difference from your eyes !!). Once can easily drive at the avg speed of 75 kmph at that streach in non-peak hours.

Katraj Ghat realignment is something I am looking for when I go next time pune :) ..if that is done before dec-31 people will save almost 1 hour.

Overall its good to see that something is happening :) ...we in india sometimes are too accomodative or too aggressive !!

I am looking for a day when one can reach Mumbai from Bangalore(1000 kms) in 12 hours :)

Books on Oracle Applications

I found this nice Compilation by Marian Crkon.

It has good compilation of books on Oracle Applications. I gave comments about one more book on the blog post !! ..The Blog is here : http://itsafeature.com

Since I have started reading technical blogs about Oracle Technologies I like I am finding new ones !!

I would try to compile the Blogs of my interest & will make a link at my blog for easy reference.

Experince with Indian Postal Services

Today I had a good & bad experience with Indian Postal Service (http://www.indianpost.gov.in).

I have always had good experience with Indian Postal Service recently, as the service levels are improved now as compared to earlier what I have seen.

But today I was shocked to see how they behave. I went to post office for sending 1 letter by Speed Post to Pune. Normally it costs only Rs. 30(even as per website that is correct), but today he charged me Rs.50+6=56.00 for the same letter which was just 26 gms. The reason given to me was that the system is showing thay way :( ..What can I say in front of the dumb computer or even the person sitting next to me. As I was in hurry I did not say anything & paid Rs.56 & got my thing posted as it was urgent.

Later when I got time, I called the Speed Post Manager(Yes there is something like this !!) at GPO & he admitted that this is a mistake :) ..So that's the good part that somebody listed in their website picks up the phone & answers too :) ..He said send me a letter 7 I will refund Rs. 26 back to you ..wow ..great what a service. He also mentioned me that send a letter w/o stamp on it & it will be served.

Once my letter reach the destination I will lodge the complaint & see what happens.

As all know that the Minister of Communications & IT is doing good for quite some time & it really feels good that things are changing...But still lot to be done to the people level & make feel more better when they interact with Govt depts ...

Airdeccan ..not again :(

Not again !! ..I knew this already but still trying to book tickets at http://www.airdeccan.net for the offer they have Sept To Oct-06 period ...It never works :( .Also their India wide phone numbers do not work at all..no matter which number you try.

 

This time also I am trying to book tickets since morning 8:30 am & the site is not working. Just the first page comes & the search results end no where !

 

We all know that the low cost airlines are operating with low margins..but why can't they spent little on Internet Servers or have their websites on good ISPs where they can manage such heavy loads. I feel that they don't even bother sometimes to take pain in order to fix such issues..as they anyway get passengers.

 

Just to recall some of the Low Cost Airilnes in India :

 

1. Air Deccan : http://www.airdeccan.net

2. SpiceJet      : http://www.spicejet.com

3. GoAir          : http://www.goair.in

 

 

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Indian PayPal.com ...Wallet365.com

So here you have a Indian version of http://www.paypal.com. Its called as http://www.wallet365.com. I have been thinking about this kind of service in india for long ..& now its here for everybody to use FREE !!..The venture is from www.timesofmoney.com ..Appreciate their efforts in this area.

Its kind of exactly the same way PayPal works. So whoever have used PayPal, they know that it is good way of exchanging money faster.The service launch was done by Amitabh Bachchan(Our Bollywood Hero of all times !!).

These are the following uses & advantages of using this service. I will try to use this soon & let all know about it !! :

Uses of Wallet365.com

Send money to anyone
Receive money from anyone
Make payments to businesses
Pay for online shopping
Pay utility bills
Store money online

Advantages of Wallet365.com

Safe and Secure to use
Financial details are protected
Beyond Credit Cards
Use any bank account
Instant transfers
Free Sign-Up

So technology ideas are being imported from West now !! ..I heard Sabir Bhatia(Hotmail guy !!) is coming with a VOIP Service in India ..will dig out more on that...

Attending Oracle 10g Admin-II Workshop

Attending Oracle 10g Admin-II Workshop, which is for 4 days, started
yesterday. Its interesting to learn the new stuff(10g) & try to
compare it with old stuff(7,8i,9i) !!

Lot of new things in Oracle 10g Database. DBAs job looks like made
simple...but it is not !!

Conceptually many things are new & needs lot of hands-on before you
can claim that you know them ...

Many things to do with Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g...

In last 2 days, learned following :

1. Backup & Recovery(RMAN)
2. Flashback Database ..nice feature
3. DB Corruption - Identification & correction techniques
4. Using EM 10g

Still lot more to go ...using EM 10g is good experience, but many
things sometimes do not work properly as expected(e.g. I was trying
Password Authentication for Listener & it was not working as expected)
..Will try to figure out tomorrow...

Downtime !!

I have some guests visitng us tomorrow. I was trying to look at their Train schedule real-time with the help of http://www.trainenquiry.com. Unfortuently the website is down & I am not sure whether the Train is delayed or running on time.

The website is a very good & I have used it many times to spot the Train ..it really provides very accurate information. But when its down, what can we do !!

Its very important in this Internet world to maintain the systems/software in order to have them up & running 27x7x365 !! ..Its tough job ..but there are couple of examples I would like to take ..e.g. How many times you tried accessing your Yahoo or Google email & the website was down ? ..No way even if you get sometimes message that there is some issues & it will be corrected. Next minute you try to access & you are in !!

Its quite late now & I need to get up early to pickup guests from Train Station. I woul need to call the Indian Railawys call center tomorrow morning to check the status now :(

good night !!

Email Blogging !!

Blogging is made easier with Email Blogging. I was just talking to a
friend of mine who just lives next door on Google Talk :) ..He just
mentioned me this & I am trying this.

Quote of the Day !!

Quote: It's only when the tide goes out that you discover who's been swimming naked: Warren Buffett. Its interesting to read more about Warren in Wiki.

This quote came in one of the Indian Mutual Fund Magazines I read sometimes.The magazine is online at ValueRearchOnline.

The quote is quite interesting & very true for the stock markets. With the recent fall in Indian Stock Market. Checkout the FALL !!..It was quite amazing to see that how the stock markets performs & sometimes I feel that no one can really predict its behaviour !!.

Many people lost their faith as well as money in Indian Stock Market in last 1 month as it crashed. Mostly people with short-term perspective are worried & atleast for time being stopped playing with it or doing very less transactions...

Lot of people including me had very positive outlook towards stock market & also were having too much expectations from the market given the fact that it had given good Run for good 1 year : BSE Bull Run for 1 Year

Anyone who invested in last 3-4 months got into trouble & saw -ve returns.

I feel that if one is invested for long(atleast 1 year) in the Equity Market in good fundamental stocks & 5* rates Mutual Funds. It would be good & there is no worry if you have reasonable expectations !!..I know how it feels when you see -ve returns with your money.

Again I would like to quote this :)

"Mutual Funds are subject to market Risk"

eBook !! ..Great way to go !!

eBook cought my attention when I first saw Apress...Its a great way to share the knowlege & save some $$ so that you can buy more books for more knowledge :)

Its a debate whether books gives you knowledge. We always presume that it does. Even I feel it does when we read it & also try to implement it, it is possible ..specially for technical topics.

btw ..I am still reading the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance..it seems good till now..that means that I have not lost interest in it :)

So folks ..go & buy(yes pls buy) eBooks if you get it from your publisher & enjoy reading them...

Weather in Bangalore is great now a days !! ..I don't feel like working in weather like this..would love to go for a long drive ;)

Where can I find help on Oracle !!

I found this good post by Jeff Hunter on his blog !! .. Where Can I Find Help on Oracle(1)

Its a nice one, which talks about how to get help on Oracle when you are stuck on something. I agree with the post & it really works. There is no point in re-inventing the wheel. Make sure that you have enough facts before you start searching for answers with Oracle Community.

There is one more on the same line : Where Can I find Help on Oracle(2)

I have started reading the book : Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. After I saw Tom Kyte's post on it. I make a point to atleast go thru Tom's Blog everyday once. There is always something interesting there !!.

Also in my next post will try to write something about my technical readings in Oracle.

I hope to catch up with lot of reading this weekend as I have 3 days(fri/sat/sun) off instead of usual 2 days(sat/sun) :)

I would also like to find some tool to update the blog in a more easier way ..I know there are enough tools available ..just need to find out which works for me...

Spicejet Experince :(

Today I was happy that Spicejet, one of the Low Cost Carriers in India announced 21000 seats for all sectors for Rs. 99/-. The Website was not working entire day.

I was happy as I wanted to travel after one month to Pune for a short visit ....

My Happiness did not last long as the website was not working entire day :(

I called the Call Center twice & they said for this fare you need to book using Internet only. I followed them & tried accessing website entire day ..

When till evening I did not access to the Booking page http://www.spicejet.com. To my surprise I saw a Message on the first page of website : "Anniversary Red Hot Special
Offer is now Over" ..Who took the 21000 seats when the website was not working at all entire day ...

I called the call center immediatly & they say with Sorry that the offer is over as they sold the tickets over phone as the website was not working & they had pressure from customers for booking ...

Questions in mind :

Why did they not update the Website saying that customer can book via Phone(toll free number)

Is it a professional business code of conduct to do this for their customers...

This is not a good practice at all...lakhs of people wasted thei time in trying to access the website & could not get thru it all ..Only few lucky ones who called the Call Center were able to book tickets ..again only those who called after 12 noon...as before noon they did no accept booking over phone for the offer.

I was disappointed at the end of the day & felt very bad about the airline. I was very positive about this SpiceJet always & wish they could grow with good business practices.

I would try to search internet more about these airlines(low cost) experince..

Anyways ...day is over & I am back to my home playing with my 1.5 year old daughter !!

My First Post !!

So finally I started my own blog here !!

Its a cool website ..in just 2 minutes u are on the page to post your own thoughts ..great ..I have been thinking about this for long time ...

Need to continute on this ...

cheers
Sandeep