Hyderabad Team - Deccan Chargers Wins IPL 2009

Deccan Chargers 143-6 (20 ovs) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 137-9 (20 ovs) by six runs

Deccan Chargers beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs in Johannesburg in the final of the second season of the Indian Premier League.

 

Links:

Reuters Africa Symonds leads Deccan Chargers to IPL title 

Cricket World IPL: Deccan Chargers Crowned 2009 Champions

The Witness Deccan Chargers win IPL 09 

Gulf News Deccan charge to sensational victory

Manorama Online Deccan beat Bangalore to lift IPL crown

Download Free Islamic Calendar Calendar 1430 H. (2009)

• A4-size calendar for year 1430 H. (2009)
• Letter-size calendar for year 1430 H. (2009)

Important Dates to Remember:
First Day of Ramadan 22 August 2009
Eid Al-Fitr 20 September 2009
First Day of Hajj 25 November 2009
(Dates for HAJ 2009: Hajj is expected to fall between November 25-30, 2009)
Eid Al-Adha 27 November 2009
Islamic Year 1431 H. Begins 18 December 2009

Links:
Islamic Calendar - The Origins of the Islamic or Hijrah Calendar

Description and origins of the Islamic or 'Hijrah' calendar used by Muslims.

Car Prices in India

For a complete Price List for all Cars/SUVs available in India, download the excel file at this link:
http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/12122898/1hclm8h7zw1scg2d796s

Note:
1. Prices as on 20 May 2009, Actual prices may be different and no guarantee is provided for the accuracy of the prices.
2. This excel sheet consists of multiple tabs.
The most useful sheet is 'Types' where you can enter your price range and the list of cars which fall in your price range is displayed.

Prices Available for Cars below:

Hatchbacks

Chevrolet Spark

Chevrolet UVA

Fiat Palio stile

Hyundai Getz Prime

Hyundai Santro Xing

Hyundai i10

Maruti Alto

Maruti 800

Maruti WagonR

Maruti Zen Estilo

Maruti Swift

Skoda Fabia

Tata Indica

Small Saloons

Chevrolet Aveo

Chevrolet SRV

Ford Fiesta

Ford Ikon

Hindustan Ambassador

Hyundai Accent

Hyundai Verna

Honda City ZX

Mahindra Logan

Maruti Dzire

Maruti SX4

Mitsubishi Lancer

Tata Indigo CS

Tata Indigo Mid - sizer

Chevrolet optra Magnum

Honda civic

Hyundai Elantra

Mitsubishi Cedia

Skoda Octavia

Toyota Corolla Executive

Honda Accord

Hyundai Sonata embera

Toyota Camry

Skoda Laura/ Superb

Audi 4

BMW 3 3 series

VW Passat

Nissan Teana MUV

Chevrolet Tavera

Mahindra bolero

Mahindra Scorpio Getaway

Tata Sumo Vita

Tata Sumo Grande

Toyota Innova Niche

Ford Fusion

Maini Reva

Maruti Omni

Maruti Versa

Tata Indigo Marina SUV

Mahindra Scorpio

Mahindra Scorpio Mhawk

Honda CRV

Ford Endeavour

Chevrolet Captiva

Maruti Gypsy

Hyundai Tucson

Mitsubhishi Pajero

Nissan Xtrail

Suzuki Grand Vitara

Tata Safari dicor

Mitsubhishi Montero Happy Buying!!

Creating an account with Google Adsense is not a cakewalk

I wanted to use the 'Monetise' feature available on Blogger.com, but I was taken back by the number of steps required to create a Google Adsense account which is required to track the earnings and view earnings reports.
This is the response I received from Google Adsense support:
In order to participate in Google AdSense,your website and application information must meet the followingguidelines:
- Your website must be your own top-level domain (www.example.comrather than www.example.com/mysite).- Your domain must have been registered and active for at least 6months before you apply for AdSense.- You must provide accurate personal information with your applicationthat matches the information on your domain registration.- Your website must contain substantial, original content.- Your site must comply with Google AdSense program policies(https://www.google.com/adsense/policies?hl=en_US), which includeGoogle's webmaster quality guidelines:http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769&hl=en_US#quality .
If your site satisfies the above criteria in the future, pleaseresubmit your application and we'll review it as soon as possible.

I have checked it again and my blog fulfills all the above requirements.
I have resubmitted my application for adsense account 5 times till now and I have received the same response.
Hoping that google will simplify the steps and policies for creating adsense account.

I like Ed Dale's Blog

Visit Ed Dales's Blog here:

http://www.tubbynerd.com/

 

Truth about Mary Steadman

Mary Steadman on her website: "Basically I actually make around $5,500 to $7,000 a month from Google"

Mary Steadman Exposed:
1. Ripoffreport
2. Answers.yahoo.com
3. Answers.yahoo.com

Read about Google Scams:
1. Google Scam
2. AdsenseGuide
3. Scam.com

I wonder if this advertisement is true.

addon for #Firefox - InterClue

Downloaded addon for #Firefox - InterClue tells you everything you need to know before you open yet another tab http://bit.ly/UJGAs

Twitter Addon for Firefox

Downloaded addon for #Firefox- #TwitterFox is a Firefox extension that notifies you of your friends' status on Twitter http://bit.ly/ErS4X

Earn money Online

I will start earning money online from today. Checkout how in my next blog.

My Twitter Account

Follow me on

Life is happening!!

Writing this post after a loooong gap.
Alhumdulillah, the best thing that happened to me and my family recently is that Allah blessed us with a baby boy on 2nd January 2009. We named him Ahmed Quadri, Ahmed is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad PBUH and one my favorite names. May Allah give my son the barkat of Prophet Muhammad's name.
Alhumdulillah, he is 4.5 months old now. He is the apple of my eye and has a million dollar smile. When I return home from office, tired and exhausted and as soon as I see him, I get rejuvenated and refreshed and start playing with him and land unlimited kisses on his cheek which he enjoys silently by staying still and blinking his eyes.
May Allah protect my son from every evil and guide him on the right path and give him success in this world and the here after.

Article on Business Analysis

I came across this interesting article on Business Analysis...worth reading..
http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/6089

Lot of changes in my life...

Lot of changes in my life...
I was not blogging since a loong time.
got married on 23rd December 2007...
quit sonata sofware (my first employer after MBA) on Jan 8th 2008..
Joined Ignify on Jan 9th 2008..
Went to USA on Jan 10th 2008 to visit the client which is my dream company MICROSOFT, Fargo, North Dakota..
Returned from US on April 6th 2008..
New Hyderabad airport at Shamsabad is awesome !!

10 fun ways to stop annoying telemarketing calls

Excerpt from here.

1. After the telemarketer finishes speaking, propose marriage to him/her.

2. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment, and ask him/her, to give you his/her home phone number and cell number so you can call back maybe very late at night.

3. Keep asking the telemarketer to tell you his spiel all over again. Do this several times.

4. If you receive a call during a meal, tell the telemarketer that it's lunch time, but ask him/her to hold. Switch to loudspeaker mode and eat your food in a languid noisy fashion, chomping away and continuing with the conversation.

5. Tell the telemarketer that all business goes through your representative, and hand the phone to your five-year-old.

6. Say that you are hard of hearing and that he/she needs to speak up -- louder -- louder -- louder!

7. Tell the telemarketer to speak really really slowly because you want to write every word down.

8. If the telemarketer starts off with "How are you today?", say "I'm so glad you asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems..."

9. Cry out in astonishment, "Rani, is that you? I've been hoping you'd call! How is the family?" When he/she insists it's not Rani, refuse to believe it and say, "Stop kidding me!" This works especially well if the telemarketer is female.

10. Tell the telemarketer to call at your office number and give him/her the number of a rival telemarketing organisation instead!

The Difference between Development and Consulting

Excerpt from here:

This topic is part of my Personal Manifesto. What makes a great IT consultant is different and also the same as being a software developer. What do I mean? I mean that you can be a great developer and not be a great IT consultant. To be a great IT consultant you must be a very good developer. Not a great one but just a very good one. The key to consulting is listening, understanding and then finally modeling.

The first thing a great consultant must do is listen. I do not mean just to be in the room and hear what your client is saying. You must fully listen. Listen to their passion. Listen to their hope. Finally you must listen to what they dream. In the end you are not the Dreamer but the Dreammaker. You must take the dream and make it reality. Not an easy job for most projects. You will get the project where the client needs a report or a data repository which you could do in your sleep. What happens when a client comes to you and asks for a Purple Cow? What happens when they want to transform their business and entrust you and your team to make their dreams come true. That is pressure and what we true consultants live for.

To give tour client their dream, you must understand their views and business. You must do it in days and weeks when the client has taken years to understand it. You do not have to have a 100% understanding of the client’s business. But you must get to the 80/20 level. 80% of their business must be known cold and the other 20% must be able to be quickly gathered from known people, departments or teams with the client’s organizations (I will cover the Law of Knowing in a later posts).

The last key to consulting is to be a great modeler. Now I am not talking about the model airplanes that we built as kids or UML models (but these do sometimes play a part). What I mean is that you can build a model of their business that can lead your team and also confirm to the client that you fully understand the dream. This can be done with use cases, functional requirements documents or even storyboards. In the end, it just matters to show the dream back to the client as a picture of reality.

If you master these 3 keys to consulting, the development of the clients dream is for the most part the easy part. Technologies around software development have given developers the ability to build most of the common pieces of software (such as database development, business objects and UI construction) quickly and efficiently.

Here is an initial short list of books (more suggestions coming) that should be required reading for consultants:

1. The Trusted Advisor, Maister, Galford, Green
2. Blue Ocean Strategies, Kim, Mauborgne
3. Consultant’s Little Instruction Book: 101 Rules to Guide Consultants to Better Business, Payn

My encounter with ebay.in

I had listed my mobile on ebay.in for selling.
Though the highest bidder didnt complete the transaction, I had a pretty good experience for waiving off the listing charges. ebay.in follows a very systematic process for handling selling related unpaid item's disputes. Infact, there is an exclusive link named "dispute console".

Here is what happened in my case:
1. I listed my Mobile on ebay.in for selling.
2. At the end of the selling period, a bidder had met my reserve price and hence was legally bound to pay for the item.
3. The buyer didnt respond.
4. I raised a unpaid item dispute.
5. After 8 days, I was eligible for Final Value Credit Fee. (i.e. the listing charges will be waived off. ebay's business model is that ebay charges sellers a fee depending on the selling features used by the seller.)
6. Even after waiving off the listing charges, my account balance was rupees 34.74 (That is, I had to pay ebay rupees 34.74)
7. I started a live chat session with ebay.in agent and he assisted me in waiving off the balance amount also.
(The link for live chat session is in the invoice generated by ebay.in)

Overall, I was satisfied that standard processes are in place at ebay.in

here is an excerpt of chat session with ebay agent:

Your chat session started.
aleem4u: hello any one there?
aleem4u: helloooooo
Nitesh: Hi, welcome to eBay Live Chat! My name is Nitesh.
Nitesh: How may I help you today?
Nitesh: Hello Good Afternoon.
aleem4u: I had started a chat session with another agent, but that session ended abruptly
aleem4u: I will paste my previous chat conversation, plz read it and respond
Nitesh: Sure.
aleem4u: aleem4u: hello any one there? Suraj: Hi, welcome to eBay Live Chat! My name is Suraj. Suraj: How may I help you today? aleem4u: Hi suraj Suraj: Hello. Good Afternoon. aleem4u: I had listed an item on ebay aleem4u: (# 200093705022). Suraj: Okay. aleem4u: I had raised an An Unpaid Item dispute on April 13 2007. Reason given for Unpaid Item: The buyer has not paid for the item. Buyer actions reported by seller: The buyer has not responded. aleem4u: Now I was eligible for Final Value Fee credit Suraj: Okay. aleem4u: I closed the dispute aleem4u: I have been given a Final value fee of Rupees 220 aleem4u: suraj, u there? Suraj: Yes, I am here. Suraj: Our systems are facing problem due to technical issues, due to which there is a delay in responding. Please bear with me. aleem4u: Now my current account balance is rupees 34.74 Suraj: Okay. aleem4u: since i was not able to sell my item, i shouldn't be charged any amount. Suraj: While I check from my side, we will need to verify your ebay account. Kindly provide your Name, Address, Zip Code, Telephone number and your User ID. aleem4u: user id: aleem4u aleem4u: name: Mohd abdul aleem quadri, aleem4u: Address: Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad aleem4u: Zip: 500028 aleem4u: Mobile: 9886788631 Suraj: Thank you for providing me with your contact information. Just a moment please while I review your account to verify the information you've given me. aleem4u: ok aleem4u: suraj, u there? Your chat session ended.
aleem4u: my question is since i wsnt able to sell my item, i shouldnt be charged any amount
Nitesh: Allow me a moment while I read your chat session with Suraj.
aleem4u: ok , but plz make sure the chat doesnt end abruptly
Nitesh: Definitely.
Nitesh: I have checked with the Billing Team and they would crediting the listing fees to you.
Nitesh: This reversal would appear in your Invoice in next 24 hours.
aleem4u: i have already told u
aleem4u: that i have been credited a Final Value credit fee of rupees 220
Nitesh: However please understand that this is one time courtesy credit given to you.
Nitesh: We are crediting the listing fees also which is charged to your account.
aleem4u: even after that my account balance is 34.74
aleem4u: so, do u mean my account balance will be zero, after you credit the listing fees also
Nitesh: We would be crediting these fees and your account balance would reflect 0 balance after 24 hours.
aleem4u: oh gr8!
aleem4u: Thanks a lot
aleem4u: Thanks a lot, Nitesh
Nitesh: You're welcome.
Nitesh: Is there anything else, I can assist you with?
aleem4u: No, Thanks
Nitesh: Thank you for contacting eBay Live Chat. I appreciate the chance I had to assist you. Have a great day!
aleem4u: Thanks and u 2 have a nice day.
Nitesh: Bye and take care :)
The agent ended your chat session.

Building the civilized workplace

Nasty people don't just make others feel miserable; they create economic problems for their companies.

Read the complete article at The McKinsey Quarterly

• It’s a bigger problem than you might think—jerks and bullies in the workplace. Research shows that they not only hinder recruiting and retention but also raise levels of client churn, damage reputations, and diminish the confidence of investors.
• Companies that harbor jerks may also suffer from reduced levels of creativity and innovation, as well as impaired or dysfunctional cooperation, within and outside the organization. That is no small matter in an increasingly networked world.
• The author of this article, a Stanford University professor, argues that companies can take specific and interrelated steps to root out jerks and bullies and build a more civilized workplace.

To Orkut or not to Orkut, that is the question

I came across this interesting explanation at this blog.
Very simple and clear explanation corroborated with a hadith. Gr8 work!

Scene 1 (on orkut)
Boy: hi, wanna be friends?
Girl: sure
Boy: so where do you live?
Girl: Chicago, how about you?
Boy: London
Girl: wow I’ve always wanted to go to London
Boy: oh really? you should visit then, I could show you around ☺. By the way is that your picture on the display?
Girl: yes it is, and is that you too?
Boy: wow you are pretty, do you have a boyfriend?
Girl (blushing and feeling happy): no I don’t.
(The chat pursues for a while and they end up exchanging chat ids)

Scene 2 (at a party, a guy walks up to a girl)
Boy: hi, are you enjoying the party?
Girl: naah I’m getting bored.
Boy: me too, so what do u do? Work or study or both?
Girl: I just finished my bachelors in -----, looking for a job, how about you?
Boy: I work at ------
Girl: Wow, that’s a great company to work for.
(the talk goes on for an hour and they end up exchanging phone numbers)

The two scenes have the same end, the boy and girl after a few interactions realize how irritating the other person is and they move on to the next person on orkut or another party or club .

My question is, aren’t the 2 situations alike. How different is orkut from a club? Yes you do not have people drinking or dancing on orkut, but every person is out there showing off his/her personal info. People put up their pics or videos for the whole world too see. Every person checking my profile knows how I look like (if I have my pic), what I do for a living, what I do for fun and what movies I like without even interacting with me. Isn’t that like giving away bits and pieces of yourself to everyone out there? Shouldn’t we be sharing those things with friends and people we are close to?

Girls like me, who’ve always believed that dating is wrong, talking to guy unnecessarily is wrong and hanging out in mixed gatherings is wrong do not think that doing the same online is wrong. And it is only because the other person cannot hear us or see us face to face.

Networks like orkut, facebook and hi5 are the biggest fitna these days because they lure people who are anti-dating. They make us feel that its ok to interact with guys as long as they can’t see us or hear us. I agree that watching someone or hearing their voice plays a major role in attraction, but according to me chatting with someone and finding out the other person’s thoughts and beliefs plays a bigger role in instigating attraction.

Here are some reasons why I believe chatting with someone online is worse than meeting someone (and when I mean meeting someone, I mean just meeting without getting intimate):
1) People can put on a different face on chat very easily. (We’ve heard of 60 yr old men pretending to be 20). You cant do that when you meet someone in person.
2) It is easier to lie online than it is in person. A person chatting can write with confidence that he has never dated any woman in past but would feel a little hesitant to lie about it face to face (although there are some people who have mastered the act of lying online and offline)
3) You can never judge a person’s character online. When you meet someone in person, you can assess the person’s character (in some way at least) by the way he/she looks at you, treats the waiter, walks and talks. Again you cannot be completely certain about a person’s character in just one meeting or a couple of meetings but you get a better picture of it.
4) People are more blunt and open online. For example an average decent guy wouldn’t really go up to a girl and talk to her for no reason but would not hesitate to do so online. The other example for this openness can be seen in scene 1 where a guy does not hesitate to comment ‘you are pretty’ the first time he chats with a girl.

The point I’m trying to make here is NOT that it is better to meet someone and date. I am trying to prove (mainly to myself) that chatting online is not as ‘ok’ as we have made it out to be. This blog maybe misunderstood or rather not understood at all by a lot of people who think differently than I, but I am sure there are one or two souls out there who will agree.

I will conclude with a hadith- The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have stated that “Whenever two strangers of the opposite gender are alone with each other, Satan becomes the third one between them.” (At-Tirmidhi)” I have always thought to myself ‘As long as I’m not physically alone with a guy, I am fine’, but now I realize that this hadith would also apply to being alone with a guy online.

Times have changed; technology has advanced, and unfortunately, so have our values. I feel like I have lost myself in the swarming online world…..I need to find a way back

I cleaned my Wallet

Strange thing to write. But I want to share this on my blog.
One day I realised that my wallet had become quiet fat (lol! not coz of currency paper, but coz of unnecessary visiting cards, bills etc.)
I noticed that 60% of the contents were waste and most of the things were NOT supposed to be in my wallet in the first place e.g. Courier bills, ATM slips and what not.
So pple who are reading this blog clean your wallet and I bet in your case also atleast 40% of the contents will be waste or stuff which you don't need to keep in your wallet.

One day to go for ICC World Cup

The wait is over. All cricket crazy fans wait impatiently for this event which is organised every four years. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 was officially opened on Sunday, March 12, 2007 with a colourful ceremony in West Indies.
The hosts take on Pakistan in the opening game in Kingston.
I wish I was at home to watch the matches live. Currently, I am in Bangalore and I don't have a TV at my room.
My favourite team is of course India followed by Australia, Pakistan and England.
I wish all the best to the Indian team.
Get the world cup guyz...blue indians.