Escapades of S2: Daddy Day Care

S2 is anxious, concerned and petrified. 9 months and 10 days after my little angel came in our lives, Daddy has to take care of her for one entire day. Let me correct for 8 hours and yet it seems a lifetime. Yeah, I have to change diapers (bound to use twice the number of wipes), feed the little powerhouse and of-course keep her distracted from feeling the difference. The little one will quickly discover her clumsy father who can't handle little chores. She is going to stare at me like 'Dah Dad, you can't even handle this'. Well I can only try but I feel like a rookie being asked to play his first game in front of national TV. Yeah I am going to get all kinds of cheat sheets from my wife in forms of strict calendar (dare I miss on this, at least one project where schedule extensions are not permitted) , ready to use feedings. But tell me when has anything gone according to plan. All I pray is that my daughter wakes on the good side and lady luck is on my side.

Escapades of S2:: Receiving FedEx package from your next cube colleague

This is a new series of blog entries where I experience an encounter in real life. The encounter has been artistically altered. I play the protagonist named S2. I am Sassy Singh, the lively and playful technical geek. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental and not intentional.
In this encounter, I deal with a task in hand which is to distribute company shirts to employees at different office facilities.

Process Champion Executive: We need to ensure that we have timely delivery and have a signed receipt by the employee receiving it. We have decided that we will ship using Fedex.
S2:Does it not matter if the person who is going to receive the shirt is actually sitting in our offices which is across the street?
Process Champion Executive But see you don't get the point.We need to follow the process. You always try to take short cuts. When will you grow and mature? We need to be a process organization and according to the process we got to ship Fedex.
S2:: I guess! But there is one of the employees from a remote office who is here today and he wants to know if he can just pick up the shirt?
Process Champion Executive: See you did not get the point, when the process is set, it is set. These shall be FEDEX'ed and the shirts will be there on that person's desk the first thing next morning. Guaranteed... How can he not like this? Guaranteed next morning. We put so much into getting a deal with FEDEX to get a discount and you don't want to leverage it and want to short circuit the process
S2: I guess I am not a process person. Where can I get to know all of this and get trained on this process thinking and indoctrination
Process Champion Executive: We are working on coming up with a University program to get this cultural change. You shall be notified by priority FedEx mail

S2: Hmmm... Waiting for the anxious arrival of the FedEx on my desk...

Unofficial Organization Network

In this week's fortune magazine there is an interesting article that piqued my interest beyond reading it. I could relate to it since it appeared so relevant to my everyday life. It talks about informal networks in organizations. It talks about how to get things done by avoiding and finiding ways around the official organizational tree. So I started musing what about my organization. I guess every employee has a perception of the informal food chain. Some of them have it bang on target and find their way around the structure and get things done. So in order to make it more interesting, I will like the readers to share their perception of the informal social network prevalent at CNSI that makes things work. As long as social networks do not weaken the morale of the employees and are only enablers of efficiency, they are good. Anyway do spend a minute to write your social/informal organization network to make this more interesting.

iPhone Round Up

I now own the iPhone for more than a pay period. So am I one of those 85% of satisified iPhone buyers as reportd by USA today.I am definitely happy with some of the user experiences implemented by iPhone. Yes it has some quirks and like everyone in the early adopter community there is this hope that these will be fixed in the future versions. But alas, I am a fickle minded gadget adopter and may not be that patient with Apple :). Yes I will be challenged to throw the device aways since it is after all an iPOD if nothing more. It can not be justified as value for money. Well no apple product has been so far in my mind. All apple products are cool and hip and iPhone is no exception. iPhone tries to do some common things in a more cool way and you pay money for that. Well it is not for masses after all!! Steve Jobs thought there are only 3 million people who are worthy of buying his device. It appears 1 million + have found it and you could be one of the remaining. Is it in you?

iPhone Experience : First couple of Days

I am on the iPhone hype wave. Got mine on Saturday. There was not much of a line and the Apple Store experience was good. The apple store person processed my request using his handled and emailed me the receipt. Paperless smooth customer experience, sweet. Apple iPhone activation was a pleasure ride. Everything done in iTunes over the Internet. Within 5 minutes I was using the phone and within 30 minutes i had my phone # transferred and I was receiving calls. The phone User experience is different and like nothing before. It may not be to the liking of a few but a good version 1 of convergence. The convergence of mobile browsing, music, podcast and phone is sweet. Yes I have one gripe. The email thing is not working for me:(. I was hoping to get the Exchange email but no success yet. I am hoping to get a software patch but since it is not even a week old in the industry I will have to have wait longer. But Apple has done a decent job of making people rethink the UI experience on mobile phone. People can argue about the price point but purely on UI convergence experience a definite A++

To Buy or Not to Buy: iPhone countdown is on

The amount of hype and media coverage for iPhone is mind boggling. Today one of its first production unit review features as headlines on the New York Times web site.  Not to count the numerous print articles ranging from Wall Street Journal to Fortune and Forbes. At this point, even if iPhone does not revolutionize the cellphone industry, it has definitely done in product launches. I am not sure whether any of the Apple think tank had imagined this amount of publicity and hype. I guess their secretive approach till the product launch has only added fuel to the fire. It used to be a strategy to set lower customer expectations and subsequently ensure customer delight by delivering more than promised. I guess Apple has thrown that model away and revolutionized the industry since HTC followed quickly taunting their multi-touch interface shell as the new breakthrough idea.

I can predict here that iPhone is not going to be iPOD. Industry reviewers like David Progue does his balancing act of identifying the shortcomings of iPhone. Also Apple shares over the last 3-6 months will be a gambling ground for hedge mangers to evaluate their mettle.

I was all set to be one of the first buyers of iPhone but I am now in the 'not so sure' camp. I am more leaning towards Nokia E90.

End of American Idol: Sanjay is out

Finally the speculation is over! Sanjay has been voted out of the American Idol competition. So whats next
a) No need to watch the American Idol any more since the element of gossip, conspiracy and rumor are over
b) Simon can breath a sigh of relief since his job is safe. I am sure there were not many other employers for the caustic Simon.
c)Britney Spears attempts to team up with Sanjay to woo the American teens who continue to be overtaken by weird style over substance. I guess that is teenage phenom all about!!!
d) Howard Stern will need to figure out another way to bring down the American Idol. For now, he needs to focus to woo audience for his talk show
e) George Bush puts his confused smile when having dinner with Sanjay for he could not figure out the wide smile on every comment that he made
For me, I don't watch American Idol but I enjoyed blogging on it.

Political Correctness and freedom of speech

The only reason I write a blog entry on this story is my continuous surprise at the increasing clout of political correctness over freedom of speech. I assume there are multitudes of opinions over this debate but I am just amazed if one cannot express one's opinion freely on a talk show then it marks the death of freedom of speech. Yes, I am referring to the latest Dan Immus incident! After that incident the last frontier of free expression is blogging.

But I am predicting the censorship, code of conduct, enforcement rules for the blogsphere space in the near future. It is a matter of time when due to the blogsphere influence, reach and access, there will be so these called controlling forces establishing a modus operandi. The world of blogging will change forever. It will be strangled, initially by moral code of conduct and later by a representative elected body. Then there will be this significant mass of blogging community and organizations that will align with these protocols and regulations and choke themselves to the death of their purpose. Yes, there will be still a handful that will continue to be unconstrained. These exceptions will be ridiculed as outcasts in certain quarters of the society. But there will be a handful of loyal followers and believers in these exception blogger/blog sites . Yet these sites will die a natural death. Well Don Immus paid a penalty and his case of termination and demise from CBS reflects poorly on our social maturity. Till someone strikes on my blog site, I vouch to express my mind and not worry about political correctness.

The Great Move

We are almost done with a move to a new office space. Yes it was a painful but fruitful outcome of a long wait for the new office space. Yes, I speak for the 100 odd people who were in the abandoned world of 15810 office spaces. They were abandoned since even the conference room was called Annex I and II as if the office space was adjunct to the main office space. The move was delayed like any software projects by almost 3 months. Like software projects the reasons for the delay were beyond the control of the project manager. All past, current and future project managers say Amen.

Every office move brings his gossip and reaction. For the carefree geek it is nice to have a new surrounding for a day. Since all they do is gaze at the laptop screen. For the aspiring, there is always that desire to get an office or the corner cube. I guess having an office is quintessential status of position, power. I am sure it epitomizes a lot to the person aspiring it but believe it or not, it is a loss proposition in its entirety. First, your peers are envious of your preferential treatment by the boss. Secondly, boss is not happy about you continuously pestering him for the room based on your new role. Finally and most importantly, you loose the sense of belongingness to the nucleus of action, your own very source of strength.

But having blabbered about the office space demands, the time for assignments is there. A special committee is constituted to strategize about assignments. The layouts are laid out. The pencils are down. The big architectural diagrams are spread on the tables. The wise men are thinking. Every committee member is with his agenda, favorites. Long hours are spent on how to seat individuals. All kinds of complex algorithms are evaluated since every factor counted (proximity to team members, seniority, position, personality, prior space etc).Finally the plan is unveiled. Office space is ready and the D-Day arrives. The move begins. Oops, one of the most important rooms (UPS equipment) is getting heated. No air conditioning vent in that aisle. Poor engineering design, but the workaround of blowing a fan and keeping the door open to give background music is as creative as it gets.

Oops, we forgot this individual from the list but why? This person is not a direct report to the committee members. No worries. We can accommodate no problems. Yikes, now what? We just discovered we are short by 10 spaces. How can that be? I guess we are growing faster than we plan which is good sign.

To be contd….

Employee Recognition Nite: Last Chapter

Its time to close the blog series of the Employee Recognition Nite. I think Nagu's persistence and committment to go from desk to desk to secure popularity votes was reflective in the results. The results were decisively in his favor 82% to 18%. Apart from the Chennai clan clout, the messsage is loud and clear: persistence, perseverance and pushing can accomplish everything. But overall it was fun and it was good to see more people read my musings. I hope everyone continues to bookmark my blog and read them every now and then and share their comments and provide feedback. I do update the blog every 7 days if not sooner. I am trying hard to get more frequent and will work towards it. Final Note: Most Recognized Employee Of the Year is Elumalai, Nagarajan :)

CNSI Employee Recognition Nite Contd..

I have had most written and verbal feedback on this blog. hence the second write-up. The question of the day is that did my blog have more hits because of this blog entry or because of the energy radiant character of Nagu who is one of the central themes of the blog. Nagu for people who may not know is now not only running for the next mascot of CNSI ( if not CNSI atleast CNSI Chennai) but also trying his best to be the photo face of the year. I am waiting to see the pictures from the Employee Recognition Nite. The insider news is that Nagu is featuring in every 3rd picture. Ofcourse the CNSI censor board (guess who) is blocking some pictures ( Oh Lord what happened to free information exchange).Yep they were taken after the official hours of the event was over and people were in their natural no hold bars mode. But I guess they are in the best interest of the team as a whole even though it expressed the team spirit and cohesiveness among the players. Anyway I am starting the first poll! Please do express on the popularity question of the week!

CNSI Employee Recognition Night

Today my company honored and celebrated the Employee Recognition Night after a hiatus of 1 year. Its no longer called the Winter Gala and more appropriately called Employee Recognition Night but I could not comprehend the difference between them. Nonethless, a great endeavor on part of the CNSI owners and shows their committment to the employees. So here are the Key Highlights

a) Cal Ripken Jr. was the Chief Guest. For people who did not know that, all they needed to do was stroll to the hotel bar where they served decent scotch and you could meet the Hall of Famer.

b) Vik Mehta was hilarious and his ususal self and made some funny and yes sometimes offensive remarks. Always a great show but I am disappointed as he reads his jokes and one liners! And Vik some of your jokes are repetitive for people like me who have attended this event for some years now

c) Nagu, (for people who don't know him he is Oracle DBA for the Washington project) was in every frame clicked by the photographer that night. We could use him as background on our CNSI logo

d) Our President, was precise and thankful but tad bit slow but it was much concise than the previous ones

e) Vivek Gore was standing up and cheering on on every employee that was recognized. Either he did not have a seat on his table or was just naturally excited about the recognition. I could not since I was getting ready to dance!

f) Yes we danced to all tunes Indian, Punjabi, English, Arabic and Finally TAMIL :)

g) Aggh..the nice thing there were four lucky winners who get the BMW. Yes they are mortgaged for 3 years ..you know what i mean...:)

But overall a good event ,people had a nice time and it was a good break and a workout for me personally... Your comments..

Gmail Server is down!!!

This is not the first time that Google mail has been down. Earlier it used to be the case that is a beta version of the mail but now after being almost 2 years into full operations these errors are a pointer to that Google is not immune to software glitches. We blame Microsoft but we cherish Apple and then apple becomes a self serving entity.The fact is that as the companies grow they are unable to maintain the same verve, enthusiasm and drive that made them reach their glory days. Look at the error message..."Oops the system is unable to perform your operation" If we are to implement such messages in our customer applications it is only considered lame but since it is Google people would recognize the coolness and the openeness of the developer to express their ideas. Apart from the growing clout of Google two things are crystal clear a) they cannot maintain the same velocity of change and innovation and b) they are still not a software services company since such downtime issues warrant more maturity in delivery and handling. What do you think ?

Persistence is Wow!! We can all use some of it!

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr the 30th President of US had to say this on Persistence

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

I think this is so remarkably true in my personal and professional life experiences. Just keep on plugging in and we shall work through all the issues surrounding us. After all it is all about Karma!!

American Idol: Sanjay Malakar!!!!

I have never watched American Idol till yesterday. The reason for me to watch was because of Sanjay Malakar, an American born Indian from Federal Way, Washington. Yes, I watched it more out of curiosity of seeing him. Yes, I have to admit, I am just a music listener and by no stretch a discerning music buff. I have yet to vote for him and maybe I never participate in this process since there is already a perception that he is getting votes because of his nationality. Well if open nationwide voting are the rules of the game then everyone should accept it. I guess he might be getting a lot of support from the Indian community but I guess that is pretty much the case for every participant. No doubt, it is different case with the Indian population ( well it helps you in some cases). Again, I am not music guy to say whether he is deserving or not but he stands out of the crowd. As I saw the results today, I could see the clear isolation of Sanjay. Every participant who made it to the next round atleast shared a hug with the fellow participants but poor Sanjay was left to enjoy and savor his relief and joy into the next round with a lonely smile all by himself. Yes, by no stretch of imagination he is going to be theAmerican Idol but he is definitely a star. Why do I say so? The nation watched a young american girl (Ashley) cried crazy. Cried out of joy and disbelief after meeting with her star in Sanjay Malakar. Good Luck Sanjay!!!!

Bob Woolmer: Cricketing Pressure Leads to Death

I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of Pakistan Cricket Coach Bob Woolmer. Today's sport have such high expectations and pressure that it is beyond words. Pakistan unexpected departure from the World Cup after getting defeated at the hands of rookies Ireland caused a lot of eyebrows and shouts for firing of the captain, coach and lot of other players on the team. But that pressure resulting in death just leaves me dumbfounded. My sincere condolences to the family of the coach!! I just wish people relaxed a bit and stop these money spinners ( bookies, advertisement companies, sponsors) creating bigger than life sized personalities and teams that the pressure is so onerous that we see such an unforntunate incident. The World Cup spirits are marred! Sportsmanship, the ethos of sports is getting lost in the ultra competitvness of the nations and players. My disappointment with the India team being outplayed by Bangladesh is just blown away! The Gentleman's game is on its lowest ebb!!!

Cricket World Cup Begins: India vs. Bangladesh

Well the world Cup Cricket has begun few days back and had a share of interesting results like the tie between Ireland and Zimbave but for the 1 billion Indians, the world cup starts today as India takes on Bangladesh. yes, some would say, for us the Pakistan loss to WestIndies was a good omen but the saga starts today.....
We are in trouble,...lost Sehwag in 2nd over and his heir apparent Robin Uthappa was back after not scoring much. Tendulkar, he is still playing was back after a painful stint of 7 runs. all of a sudden Bangladesh looked like Australia. Mr. Dependable Rahul Dravid is no longer dependable apart from a dependable friend (his persistence with Sehwag shows his dependability as a friend). Well lets see how far Ganguly and Yuvraj takes us...
Aagh..before all the Pakistani and the Indian community go wild about the lack of performance by the Indian team ....lets see how the match rolls on

Catch Me If You Can

Do you remember Frank Abagnale Jr. , the subject of the 2002 Steven Spielberg movie "Catch Me If You Can" - one of the most notorious con men of the 20th century recently addressed as a featured speaker at a cutting-edge, computer-ruled event like the Wharton Technology Conference 2007. Well that is a significant role reversal from one who stole close to $3 million (mostly by writing bad checks), impersonated not only a pilot but also a pediatrician, and passed the Louisiana bar exam to today where he runs a highly successful security consulting firm out of Tulsa, Okla. -- works hard to keep up with today's computerized and Internet-based fraud. Well lets see if his 20th century con mind can catch the 21st century wiz kids since most of the fraud is going to happen over the Internet. Well there is no doubt that in USA, people tend to forget the past rather quickly. Take another instance of Michael Milken known for selling junkbonds, triggered the collapse of 1989, sentenced for 10 years! Today, he is termed as philanthropist, a financial innovator. Go figure....!!!

SOA Testing and MITA

I am finally giving in! After all my blog title is Just Express. I am currently trying to facilitate some MITA testing and performance discussions under the private sector technology group. Its tough to engage industry stalwarts in meaningful and detailed converstations since they are from organizations which compete on a day to day basis. But examples of IBM and Oracle working together are out there in the software world. I sincerely think that by sharing common points of pain and frustration, these converations, dialogs and collaboration will lead to more matured and evolved thinking and benefit the MMIS industry as a whole. Anwyay, I recently penned my thoughts on test aspect on their WIKI site. Here is the URL for it . http://www.mitahealth.org/wiki/index.php?title=Testing_Approach_to_SOA
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Trick or Treat: Political Buffonery of Day light Savings Time Shift

As we approach the new day light savings time deadline, a look back shows yet another political decision costing the United States not only dollars but plenty of chaos and anxiety. As political Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, predicted that children would rejoice at the prospect of an extra hour of daylight trick-or-treating on Halloween. Well the country has been tricked into spending millions of dollars on a Y2K like problem and unforeseen dollars in lost productivity. Well that is definitely a costly treat for the kids at Halloween. Yes there would be savings for the less fossil fuel that would be burned but I would be pleasantly surprised if this would outweigh the costs and the anxious moments that are being spent on the IT fixes. Yes it means good quarterly revenue numbers for IT services firms and consulting organizations but I just wish politicians had a better set of advisors in the future otherwise we would be tricked into yet another political sucide.