The Cell Phone Etiquette

The other day reading a news article, I was wondering how times have changed. I guess it was 1992-93 when we had our first BSNL Landline Telephone. Fast forward to 2008 and all four of us in my family have a cell phone plus the old landline. This link shows the astronomical figure of India's cell phone subscribers and they say every month 8 million new users are being added. This is quite a boom for the mobile communications industry and also the health care industry (the later cannot be denied completely)
*The above pic was obtained from an image search in Google.

I am getting neither into the economics nor the health problems arising out of the use of mobiles.
I am discussing the etiquettes that are found missing when we(including me) speak on our beloved cell phone.
What I'll do is type in here some of the very common and irritating things we do without paying heed to the people around us.
1. The funky ring tones: This one irritates me a lot. People play all sorts of music here. One day I was traveling through a public transport bus and I was made to believe that I was in a disco with people around me having a wide range of ring tones. Well some ring tones are great and I love to listen such ones (of course who doesn't) but there are a few which will make you go dizzy.
2. The speaking Habit: I don't know why people think the signal reception of their cell phone is always bad. People speak on their cell phones as if they are on an election campaign with all that vigor and intensity. A person may feel he is shouting at one of the passers by. A suggestion for such people please keep your conversation to yourself no one is interested in your gossip.
3. Breaking the rules habit: We, Indians follow just one rule ..... breaking the rules. So why compromise when you have a cell phone. People talk on mobiles while driving(which I think is an offence under RTO) which can be extremely dangerous. People forget (or pretend to forget for whatever reasons) to switch off their mobiles in classrooms, temples, meetings and such other places.
4. The ear piece plugged in: People you are not deaf to keep your ear phones plugged in even when not attending a call. Now with the advent of the bluetooth ear piece (or whatever technical name you have for it) some people feel they are a spy with those pieces plugged in. It can be confusing and irritating as well for the people around as to whom the person is talking to.
I think I'll stop (can't scratch my head for more ......)
The cell phone revolution has been a great boon for us but we have to remember that technology was created for man and it's not vice-versa.
Some blogs on cell phone etiquettes:
Cell Phone Etiquettes for Dummies
Cell Phone Etiquettes

What's in a name??

"What's in a name? " Shakespeare said, yet he put his name under that quote.

Well I also feel the same but there have been myriad incidences where people look extremely confused and at times ridiculous when they call out my name. Ok I know you might be baffled and not knowing where I am leading to. Well lets start from the beginning.

My name is

1. Harshad
2. Harshad Desai
3. Harshad Suresh Desai
4. Harshad S Desai
5. H S Desai
6. Desai Harshad Suresh
7. Desai Harshad S
8. Desai H S

This is not a multiple choice question. It is actually the different ways in which I am called or referred to.

My school (St. Andrews' High School) registered me in the format Desai Harshad Suresh and that’s the way schools (under State Board) in Maharashtra register all the students (no idea how some one without a surname manage). So till 10th standard all my mark-sheets had my name in the same format and so was the format followed in the SSC Mark Sheet. This format continued without any problems till I passed out 12th from Modern College.

Now even during IIT JEE and AIEEE, the admit cards had my name written in proper format. The real problem started after I took admission in NITC. Here I met people from all over India and the format which seemed so ubiquitous in Pune totally disappeared in Calicut. Only my friends from Maharashtra and some from State Boards were compatible with this (Surname first) format. But my other friends and more importantly teachers were confused with this format and couldn't make out what my real name was. Some called Desai (with horrible pronunciations), others called Harshad Suresh, a few even called Suresh (that's my Dad's name by the way). I had to clarify that my name was Harshad and call me just that. Well some teachers adapted and there were others who were confused for the entire semester.

It continued for 5 semesters without much problems (if I may say). But then came the biggest problem when I had to apply for passport.

Now if you have seen the passport application form it clearly has different boxes for surname and your first name (given name... that’s what they call). I filled the form with great care and the surname row had DESAI while the given name had HARSHAD. Father's name was included in another row so I thought there shouldn't be any confusions here. Feeling confident I went to the Passport Office waited there for half an hour or so till I was called in with forms and documents. So I reached the counter a bit nervous but much more satisfied.

I gave the lady at the counter my form and the other documents. She was going through all of those and I was happily waiting to get the acknowledgement. But then from nowhere she springs up this question "What is your name?" and all the previous efforts of making people understand this format came rushing. I tried to explain her and then she replied your given name (in all my mark sheets) is Desai Harshad Suresh and that is what you should write. All my attempts of convincing the people in charge were in vain and finally I had to make that change in my form. After a couple of months I got my Passport but then there was a problem!!!

The surname column in my passport is left empty and the given name shows Desai Harshad Suresh. I have no idea how many more problems will this create. I feel irritated and angry at times when people cannot understand or rather do not want to understand such everyday nuances. Now because of this misunderstanding I may face problems when I apply for a visa. Changing the name in your passport costs 1000 bucks. But more precious than those 1000 bucks is the time I will have to spend on rectifying this issue. People are requested to suggest me how should I approach this issue.

By the way I prefer being called as Harshad Desai than the other formats discussed above.

And the surname first format is the international format and is followed almost everywhere except some places in India (Calicut Passport Office to be particular).

I just want to say "What's in a format of the name?" rather than "What's in a Name?"

The entrepreneurial zeal

Today in the morning when I was in Shri Harimandir I was pondering over two eternal questions
1. Who am I? 2. What is my destiny?
Well finding answer to these questions is what I call life. Hopefully I will answer these questions ( in due course of my life.
I might have succeeded in finding a partial answer to the second question. But this post is not about my destiny.....it is about the local entrepreneur. I think Pune should be one of the best places for entrepreneurs, thats why I have read (although in local newspaper) about them.
I have been reading about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs ever since I joined NITC. My motivation for entrepreneurship was the book by Robert Kiyosaki-- Rich Dad, Poor Dad and what an excellent guide it is for everyone. After that I have read news articles, books, magazines, blogs on entrepreneurs more than some of my college text books :)
But today I could actually meet an entrepreneur in person. Talk to him and learn how his life had been. He is Mr. Ramdas Mane the CMD of Mane Group of Companies. I actually visited the company for doing some project during my summer holidays. The company is more in to mechanical than electrical and so I won't be able to do any project work there. Anyways the visit to the company was worth a thousand textbooks. He was extremely friendly and his advice will certainly help me. It was good to know that their company have a record in the Limca Book of Records and they also own patents. The person's life told me one thing no entrepreneur has a rosy life. He has to make it rosy through his hardwork, determination and courage. Mr. Mane was very kind in talking to me even when he was busy with his work. I am extremely delighted to meet such a person and interact with him.
I'll have to end this post here....one of my school friends, Sadanand is online and we are planning for a get together..very excited :)

Blogging 4m Flock

A new experience...... blogging from flock and its awesome
Flock was like love at first site. They call it the social browser and it is exactly that. There are so many things embedded in it and it makes social networking all the more easy!!! You can find it here
Meanwhile I am going through sites of few universities and with the help from edulix I think I am doing a good job.
Wanted to write about a few i's, but flock took its place.
 Anyways I 'll just mention about the "few i's "
I-- Individualism... thats pretty much what the current century and/or generation is. Thats why u have igoogle and myyahoo like things
I-- Internationalization or (I18n) ... I feel its similar to globalization i where everyone is going global. The other day I read an article in Pune Times about people going abroad for shopping. Thats going global
I-- Indianization ...may not be a word recognized by any of the dictionaries  :) , but it means people are accepting India and outsiders are coming here for reasons other than exploring its culture  (ie travel and tourism). You can also say this I may be Indian Premier League...:-)
and people are requested to append their i's to this list....

Blogged with Flock

Out of Calicut

This would be my one of the few early morning blogs. Well actually the first one.
Its good to be back in Pune, enjoying the heat!!!!
This semester seemed longer than all the others and was eventful for me atleast. Our mini project evaluation was on Monday and was upto the mark.
I am short of words right now. Have so much to write that I can't figure it out from where to start. I'll definitely bring out each and every thought but it will require some time.
I've been doing lots of publicity about my blog these days. New visitors please make it a point to comment so that I understand someone is their to read except of course my dear friend Gopalakrishnan.

FOSSMeet@NITC 2008

So I am finally blogging again. The occasion is th end of fossmeet 08. I have been very busy this semester with nanotech and foss. But I have enjoyed being a part of the team which worked day and night to make these two events a great success.
I will stop it here, the valedictory function has just started.

A new look

Finally my blog gets a new look....the post is meant only for that...
I am too busy with the Nanotechnology Workshop.....
Hope to start regular posting from March....

Apple and Google

These two are the giants of the modern era. One keeps on developing exciting technologies on the web and the other is coming up with great hardwares and the required softwares for the same. And in some cases Google Maps on iPhone ...they have worked together and produced great results....

A for Apple, /\|0|0!3
The first time I came across this company was when I was going through Guiness Book of World Records। After that the I came across the greatest invention that I have witnessed....iPod..... It has redefined music and has conquered the imagination of old and young alike. After iPod was a hit Apple came out with a "revolutionary phone" the iPhone. It was then followed by the MAC OS X Leopard. The fantastic thing about this OS was the "Time Machine". And the latest one they have is the "MacBook Air" which has caught my imagination. Except for the iPod I haven't used any of the other products. The other day I found a blog mentioning top 10 failures of Apple. It was interesting to go through the list which included products I had never heard of. But somehow I feel all the products were not failures. Some may be but I strongly feel many of those were developed earlier in time. Steve Jobs is one person who continues to influence me. I like the speech he gave at Stanford University....whenever I am in a dilemma I think of his interview and try to implement his advices. Hats off to Steve and his creative, innovative, energetic and highly talented team at Apple.....!!!!

Go for Google, 9009|3
Whenever you say search the first name that occurs to any one's mind is Google. It is so common to google anything and everything that is to be searched that I am waiting for the logical Google {or the virtual Google on the net} to tun into real world search engine.
But Google has not confined itself to search it has widened to domains that I never imagined including this one the Blogger. There is calendar, docs, videos, reader and much more. I find each of these very interesting and extremely useful. The power of internet, I feel is really unleashed by Google and its wide range of Applications.
A few days back Anand and I were discussing about the greatest Ph D thesis. He being a total tronix guy was completely in favor of Shanon, DSP related. I then thought for a moment and my reply was the best Ph D thesis must be Google. However the Google guys, Larry Page and Serge Brian have yet not received their Ph D degrees, as far as I know। So I could not argue any further. But Google is definitely the best business from any Ph D thesis that I know. Great work guys and I'll keep thanking you.....!!!!!!!!!!


This blog does not intend to advertise either of the companies. It is just an act of appreciation from my side.

The Mysore Trip....

Had a great tour to Mysore and Coorg.....gr8 work by Deepak, Gopal, Gregory and others.
We left college on Friday at about 9:30-10:00 . The masti we had in bus was comparable just to nothing. Although there were some times when I felt bored but once I got into the groove everything was rocking. We reached Mysore at 5:30 am or so. After which we had an hour to rest. However we left for Chamundi Hills only at 8:00am.
Saturday was meant for Mysore. We visited Chamundi temple, Mysore Palace, Shrirangapatnam and the beautiful Vrindavan Gardens. The food was a problem but it kind of compensates for the enjoyment we had during the entire day. After a long day we went to our rooms tired but full of enthusiasm. We had to be ready early the next day so that we could visit the places in coorg. However we left an hour or so late. After breakfast we visited CCD and were having good time there.
The journey from Mysore to Coorg was filled with laughter and taunts for each other. It was a memorable journey. In Coorg we visited the Namdroling Monastrey {also called as the Golden Temple}, the forest which was supposed to have boating and elephant ride. But we managed neither. The bus then turned towards the Waterfall which had very little water. Finally we left Coorg at about 6:00 in the evening. On our return journey we had the game of Truth & Dare which was very exciting especially to pull peoples' legs.
We reached the campus at 12:30 am. Completely exhausted we somehow managed to attend the classes on Monday.
The trip photos will be put up soon.............the problem is we have a collection of 4 GB!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 3-day 20Twenty.....

The title sounds funny....that was actually my 1st midsems for this sem. Got over in 3days...2papers per day....20 mks each..and I realized one thing this sem is not only hectic but also requires much more time for studues esp. DSA and DSP
Tonite we{S-6 EEE} will b leaving for 2 day trip to Mysore and Coorg. I was actually planning for some industrial visit but lets follow the herd...So will be off frm blogging.
The Nanotech Workshop and Saptarishi would keep Feb busy. Also the mini project needs much more devotion. I have now reserved 3 hrs/week for mini pro. Ragam and FOSS Meet would follow in March. So a completely packed sem..dont know how many times I'll say that..
I attended a talk on Characteristics of Semiconductor Technology by Shri. Shripad Karmalkar today. It was very informative. Also it kind of opened my eyes to what Scientist/Engineer/Inventor actually do. As presented in the talk
A Scientist by nature is very curious. He can relate seemingly unrelated phenomenon. He is not driven by demands of his peers. An engineer is someone who has to apply the scientific phenomenon to everyday use. An inventor is one who should study the demands of the people and provide solutions for them. It is not necessary for him to have a thorough understanding of the pricnciples he ahs to apply. But a person can be all of these....There is no second number in this. Every one is equally important, everyone has equal dignity.
That's all Folks

The hectic semester

I could not blog {except for the Steve Jobs' quotes through Google Docs} for 10 days...
The main culprit being a semester full of classes and labs{though machines lab will end by Feb first week}
However I have decided to stop complaining and start working on my plans for coming year.
Yesterday Gaurav, Abhijit, Harsh, Sunil and me had a sort of advisory presentation to first years {EEE guys}, we called it Orientation but it was in no sense academic. It was a sort of planner for those guys for their next three years in NITC. I think it was a great success. It was combined effort of EEA 2nd year execs and the 3rd year execs.
Moving on I am currently trying for various summer research programs. I have finally decided its research that I want. So accordingly I have some project ideas and trying to figure out more.
The Sydney Test would be regarded next to the Eng-Pak match which was awarded to England { I dont remember the exact date and venue}. But India must work harder for the coming matches and I feel it can still save the series.
I feel my blog sometimes becomes just a collection of my daily chores.... no plannning just random thoughts and then abrupt ending. I started off with an official blog but have not posted since December 7th. I will certainly post my updates and collection on electrical engineering in future posts there........so trical guys watch out that corner.

Steve Jobs in an iterniew:
"And, you know, one of the things I did when I got back to Apple 10 years ago was I gave the museum to Stanford and all the papers and all the old machines and kind of cleared out the cobwebs and said, let's stop looking backwards here. It's all about what happens tomorrow. Because you can't look back and say, well, gosh, you know, I wish I hadn't have gotten fired, I wish I was there, I wish this, I wish that. It doesn't matter. And so let's go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday."

Steve Jobs at Stanford

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary

on the eve of new year......

Finally I have time to do some bla bla. Another year ends and with it I have to celebrate my third new year outside Pune. Most of you guys will be enjoying your holidays but I have classes tomorrow.
The past three years have passed like 3 months. I remenber my nervousness when I first came to Calicut. The only thing I knew about this place before was the great Vasco da Gama had landed here some 4 centuries back. But now the number of days left in the college are lesser than those that flew by.
Nothing more to write on the last day of the year which I would like to call "The Blogger Year".
It was in FOSS '07 that Kiruba motivated me and others in our college with his outstanding session on blogging.
I hope to continue blogging and exploring the web as I did in 2007.
Bye Bye 2007....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a warm welcome for 2008!!!!!!!!!!!

Growing cities

I am still in Pune and the climate here is excellent for holidaying. I keep thinking how my friends here are managing to study for their exams.
As the title suggests this post would talk about urbanization.....
Pune has seen many developmental activity recently. The widening of the old Mumbai-Pune highway has resulted in cutting of trees on the highway. Though I feel this highway has more tees than others that I have seen. But still I could feel something missing.
Another problem due to lots of construction work has been the rising amount of dust in the surrounding. I have to clean my laptop almost daily. That is the reason I dont like traveling and roaming around the city. Also the chances of accidents tend to increase due to the ongoing construction work. The barricades used are placed in such a way as to complicate driving on road.
One cannot blame the system alone, System is formed by the components and when each component is working efficiently only then the system stability is assured. We, Indians have a tendency to blame the system all the time. Right from a school student to retired person everyone finds fault in the people around them. It is high time we realize the importance of working in unison and help ourselves. That way we will not only have a happy society but also empower ourselves and become better individuals.
I hope not making this post a bore... It is as important as India reaching 10% GDP growth.
One should chase material goals, but not at the cost of losing one's peace of mind..
I would end here with one of my favourite quotes:

"The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life." -- Albert Einstein

Results are out

Yesterday I was reading a blog regarding not to worry about GPAs....So I decided not to worry but then today being the D-day it was in the back of my mind all the time...
Actually the blog meant not worry about the GPA during your semester time....just keep on learning new things. dont be under the stress of scoring a particular Grade. and I am happy I accomplished that thing. Although I am not happy with grade in Power Systems and you might be aware from my previous posts how disappointed I have been from the teacher.
I hope Power Systems 2 wont be that bad....
I have created another blog in Silicon India. That will be my official blog......meaning it will deal with acads and related stuff...so any doubts please post it there...i dont mind it here though!!!

Relaxed for a while

Weather in Pune is really getting chilly especially at night, but I am enjoying it to the fullest. Have not really started with the what I had planned for the vacations except watching Heroes. The series is awesome and must watch for everyone.
Tried blogging from mobile for the first time.
I was thinking on various ideas for the paper presentation contest by IEEE SB. I've zeroed on one, but have not started any solid work on it. It is basically use of power lines for internet purposes....I have to read some previous papers on this topic before proceeding further.
Another important task is to visit a substation nearby and gain some practical knowledge in power systems. Power systems course ruined by uknowwho . I told my friends to comment on her in my blog. Hope they comment anonymously.
Also have to develop my googlepage
Hope to finish that thing too during this vacation
Not getting any more thoughts to share and I being at home cannot try nightouts.

Mblog

I am currently in Pune. I managed to skip blogging for 2 weeks. End sems didnt work out as planned. Neways its over and its time to analyze the past 4 mths & plan for future.
This is the first time i am blogging frm mobile. It's gr8 but would have been awesome with a qwerty keypad.
Guys if u r reading my blogs plz comment. I will stop here...my fingers are aching!!!

Crouching End Sems

So another end sem is nearing ...the 5th one and 3 more to go!!!!
This semester has been very productive for me if I look at it from the web point of view....I have become a more addicted {or whatever you may say} blogger.........I have read more blogs than my class notes/books......I have created my LinkedIn Profile and just finished creating a Technorati Profile as well.
Now I've to study for the end sems so that I can achieve my set SGPA for this semester {I would rather not disclose the target} My mini project group (Amit and Abhijit) is still clueless on our mini project idea. The problem is we have been thinking on creating something indigenous of sorts. When we met Suresh Kumar Sir we were brought downto earth. We've to come up with something very interesting at the same time not very complicated.
I'll write interesting stuff within a couple of weeks.....I would return only after my end semester
Hope not to return tomorrow and write another post with the same expectation at end!!!!!!!
EEA and IEEE SB have launched their respective websites and thats great news

Test Post

just for claiming my blog on technorati
Technorati Profile

E-waste and related problems-What I understood

I came across an article on e-waste during the summer vacation of 2006. I was interested in it but procrastinated search on the same. For the Environmental Studies we had to choose a topic for our semester project and my obvious choice was e-waste management.
While working on the project I came to know the various laws enacted by various governments regarding e-waste disposal. There is no one standard definition for e-waste. Every government/organization has developed its own definitions. However there are not many differences in these definitions.
Many of the leaders in Electronic equipment manufacturing like HP, Dell, IBM have given due importance to this issue. I also came across firms which have their business models based on e-waste disposal like ReCellular and E-Parisaraa.
I also got to know the EU directives on WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) and RoHS (restriction of hazardous substances). The problems that may arise from improper e-waste disposal are secondary to none. Thus the issue of e-waste management must be dealt with utmost priority on a global scale.
I think the best way to fight such global issues is by creating awareness among the masses.
Sooner I will upload the presentation of the project on my blog.
People interested in knowing more about the project may mail me at harshaddesai05@gmail.com

I watched a video on the new MAC OS X-Leopard....and its simply amazing. I really liked the "Time Machine" that they have developed for backup.
You might be seeing a new widget on my blog. Well I have joined LinkedIn and wanted to promote my profile.