More Bangalore Rants…

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I was forwarded this link by a friend.  The story is pretty unbelievable but sounds quite true.  I agree with the premise of the author.  The fear of police in Bangalore needs to be thrown out the window.  They have always been, and always will be rubbish.  I’ve got stories about the police that would make one shudder.

15 Minutes of Fame

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So I had my 15 minutes of fame at Drexel University, courtsey The Triangle (the weekly student newspaper at DU.) This of course makes the assumption that The Triangle is famous. Anyway, I was featured in the paper as a part of the “Graudating Student Profile.” I had the entire 4th page dedicated to me. I’m going to try and replicate it here, picture and all. The article itself can be found here. I hope I’m not violating any copyrights or anything, because the article is about me, afterall. I’m also dedicating the source. All credit goes to The Triangle, the author of the piece Abigail Raymond and the photographer Mellisa Ronan.

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Graduating Senior Profile: College of Information Science and Technology

Abigail Raymond

Posted: 4/28/06

Prior to 2001, graduating senior Krishna Srinivasan had never stepped foot in the United States.

Srinivasan will be graduating in June as a part of the accelerated B.S.-M.S. program with his B.S. in information systems and his M.S. in software engineering.

He is an international student from Bangalore, India, and was attracted to the University because of its co-op program. His reason for coming to Philadelphia was his origin from a city and the desire “to keep that big city atmosphere.” The only other school he seriously considered was the University of Miami.

Early in high school, after taking a few computer-related courses, Srinivasan decided that he wanted to work in the computer industry, and chose information systems based on reading the program description in the University’s catalog.

During his time at the University, Srinivasan participated in two co-op experiences. His first co-op involved database and scripting work with Flint Ink in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a job which he found through an independent search. It was the first time that he has left Philadelphia, and he enjoyed the “small town atmosphere.”

“I was more than happy to get out of here for a bit and see a new place, experience new people,” Srinivasan said.

His second co-op experience was in Newtown Square, Pa. with SAP America, a German business software company. SAP is the third-largest software company in the world. At this job, he performed tasks such as scripting and database work but had an increased level of customer interaction, which Srinivasan particularly enjoyed.

“That was a fantastic work experience, mainly because SAP is a huge company,” Srinivasan said. “Working in that environment, where you know you’re contributing to a company that has a global presence, is a good feeling.”

The most rewarding part of his co-op experiences was working with large multinational corporations such as Flint and SAP.

“I [like] working in an environment where you’re interacting with people around the world around the clock,” Srinivasan said. “There were times when I’d be on conference calls with people across the country and across the world, which was really interesting.”

After graduation, Srinivasan will be working with Deloitte Consulting in Glen Mills, Pa. as a consultant and an incoming systems analyst. He found the position through a career fair held at the University this past fall.

It was as a result of his co-op experiences that Srinivasan realized he wanted to work in consulting.

“With my two co-op experiences, by the end of my six months there, I found myself getting very restless doing the same thing repetitively, over and over again,” Srinivasan said. “And with consulting, the fantastic thing is that you work on a project six months or nine months, and then it’s time to get moved on to a different project, a new project, and get started again. That’s the nature of the consulting business in general and there tends to be a lot of traveling involved, which I think I won’t get bogged down or bored by.”

Within the IST program, those in the B.S. program take about two or three IS courses per term. These students must also take various courses in humanities and behavioral science as well as introductory math and science freshman year.

IS courses are heavily lecture-based and include many projects and papers that require independent research. The more hands-on projects come later in the curriculum.

Freshman year is mostly introductory courses, which explain the fundamentals of IS and also set the basis for areas such as human-computer interaction and software systems design. In their sophomore year, students get more into the specifics of systems design, databases and human-computer interaction. In their pre-junior year, students get to choose a more concentrated line of coursework, although it is not an official concentration. Srinivasan chose to focus on database-related coursework.

Since Srinivasan was a part of the B.S.-M.S. program, his coursework during the last two years varied from other students. He accomplished in four years what most in the major do in five. Junior year was culminated by Srinivasan’s senior design project, and senior year was spent concentrating on his master’s courses.

“I think being in the program itself was quite a challenge, trying to cope with both undergraduate and graduate classes at the same time,” Srinivasan said.

Deciding to take the B.S.-M.S. program was a demanding, yet rewarding, experience, and one that he recommends to incoming students.

“The program was definitely an excellent way to add to my credibility and marketability, and it has.”

Srinivasan’s favorite part of the IST curriculum is his senior project because it recalled everything he has learned in the curriculum during his time at the University. Some of Srinivasan’s most enjoyable coursework has been the sociology courses taken for electives through the criminal justice department, which examined computer and internet crimes and forged a connection between technology and law.

While Srinivasan wishes that the major was better concentrated to focus on I.S.-related courses, he understands the benefit of having a broad range of knowledge.

“One of the features of this program is that it prepares you for a wide variety of things,” Srinivasan said. “There’s no main single concentration. It has given me the options to move in different directions as I see fit.”

Srinivasan was the president of the Drexel Cricket Club during his pre-junior and junior years, and will remain a member until his graduation. When he first came to the club, it was not doing well; there were few participants, very little funding and the team played very few games. Srinivasan, along with his friend Sameer Mehta, helped get the club back into motion. They now play tournaments every fall and spring, winning a couple last year, and play against schools such as the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Haverford College and Lehigh University.

Srinivasan is also heavily involved with Drexel University Student Technicians. He has been involved with DUST since his freshman year and is now a senior technician. Srinivasan’s duties include training new employees, designing and planning for events, and implementing organizational policies.

“That’s a job I enjoy a lot because that’s very hands-on; you get to work with speakers, cables, wires and sound boards,” Srinivasan said.

Srinivasan would like to stay in the United States for four or five more years before returning to India.

Mehta expressed confidence in Srinivasan’s talents and abilities.

“Krishna has maximized his time here at Drexel,” Mehta said. “He is gaining two degrees and yet he has been keenly involved in other activities on campus, including the Drexel Cricket Club and DUST. Despite the pressures on his time, he has rarely been flustered and this has been due to a very keenly evolved sense of time management and prioritization. I have no doubt that he will be a success in his forthcoming endeavors at Deloitte Consulting.”

Rosina Weber, an associate professor in the CoIST, has taught Srinivasan in three courses.

“He is brilliant, he is extremely dedicated, an excellent student and a very nice person as well,” Weber said.

Jojo John, a senior in the same program as Srinivasan, commends his ambition.

“Krishna’s hard work and merit at Drexel is indicative of his drive from competition,” John said. “However, what makes his competitive drive so unique is that he is his own greatest competitor. Constant self-assessment and an introspective attitude is what makes him the constantly self-improving individual he is today.”

Scientific Fact: Women Distract Men

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This article from the BBC is hilarious! Any guesses as to whether my ring finger is longer than my index finger? 🙂
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The more testosterone he has, the stronger the effect, according to work by Belgian researchers.

Men about to play a financial game were shown images of sexy women or lingerie.

The Proceedings of the Royal Society B study found they were more likely to accept unfair offers than men not been exposed to the alluring images.

The suggestion is that the sexual cues distract the men’s thoughts, preventing them from focusing on their task – particularly among those with high natural testosterone levels.

The University of Leuven researchers gave 176 heterosexual male student volunteers aged 18 to 28 financial games to test their fair play.

But first, half of the men were shown sexual cues of some kind.

One group of 44 men were given pictures to rate; some were shown landscapes while the rest were shown attractive women.

Another group, of 37 men, were either asked to assess the quality, texture and colour of a bra or a t-shirt.

And a third group of 95 were shown either pictures of elderly women or young models.

Each group was then paired up to play a game where the men had $10, a proposer had to suggest a split, and the other man accepted or rejected the offer.

If the second man accepted the offer, the money was distributed in agreement with the offer. If he rejected it, neither partner got anything.

The game is designed as a lab model of hunting or food sharing situations.

‘Vulnerable’

The men’s performance in the tests showed those who had been exposed to the “sexual cues” were more likely to accept an unfair offer than those who were not.

The men’s testosterone levels were also tested – by comparing the length of the men’s index finger compared to their ring finger.

If the ring finger is longest, it indicates a high testosterone level.

The researchers found that men in the study who had the highest levels performed worst in the test, and suggest that is because they are particularly sensitive to sexual images.

Dr Siegfried DeWitte, one of the researchers who worked on the study, said: “We like to think we are all rational beings, but our research suggests … that people with high testosterone levels are very vulnerable to sexual cues.

“If there are no cues around, they behave normally.

“But if they see sexual images they become impulsive.”

He added: “It’s a tendency, but these people are not powerless to fight it.

“Hormone levels are one thing, but we can learn to deal with it.”

The researchers are conducting similar tests with women. But so far, they have failed to find a visual stimulus which will affect their behaviour.”

Dr George Fieldman, principal lecturer in psychology at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, told the BBC News website: “The fact men are distracted by sexual cues fits in to evolutionary experience. It’s what they are expected to do.

“They are looking for opportunities to pass on their genes.”

He said the study confirmed what had been suspected by many.

“If a man is being asked to choose between something being presented by an attractive woman and an ugly men, they might not be as dispassionate as they could be.”

Come back Bangalore

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The recent death of Kannada film actor Rajkumar in Bangalore unleashed the worst of Bangalore. A veteran of over 200 Kannada language films, Rajkumar was the Bacchan of Bangalore. His fans adored him. They wanted to show their love for him and pay their last respects to someone who was a living legend to them. All this is well and good. But the behavior portrayed by the citizens of this “global” city was nothing short of pathetic and shameful. Police had to resort to lathi-charges, tear-gas and even opening fire to control the crowd. Their grudge? That they didn’t get the see enough of the dead body of Rajkumar. They pelted glass buildings with stones, over turned public and police vehicles and even set a few ablaze. The city was in standstill for three days.

Rajkumar, for all his greatness, was instrumental in trying to ban other local langauge films in the state of Karnataka. He urged fellow Kannadigas to level of fanatical patriotism and this was displayed by their behavior after his death. This past week is a black mark in the history of Bangalore. This is a city that services the global through its massive presence in the software and service industry. I’m hoping that the multinationals figure that Bangalore is currently a bad choice for any further investments. With the money invested, Bangalore has stagnated instead of showing any further development. Of course, the government is to blame for part of this. But as this past week shows, the people of Bangalore are more at fault. They have a incorrect belief that they are invincible. This jingoism is going to lead to their downfall. And personally, the sooner it happens the better. Come back Garden City. Come back Pensioners Paradise. Come back Bangalore.

My good friend, Vasu, has written a piece about this over at his blog, Vasuvius.

Regulating Disclosure

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According to a blog post on USAToday, the US Congress is debating a bill that would require call-center workers in foreign countries to disclose the country that they are from.  This will likely gouge this bill under a “right-to-know” argument.  I’ve heard many complaints about people not being able to understand foreign call-center workers and vice-versa. Mixed up airline bookings, wrong mailing addresses, incorrect credit card numbers are all part of the lore of the call made to the call center.

However, I believe that this is a problem that will work itself out.  If a company has employed a call center in India, Mexico or Philippines that leads to constant customer dissatisfaction, the company will be forced to make changes either by:

  1. Finding a different call center that will result in fewer dissatisfied customer
  2. Move the call center, or certain core parts of it, back to the US
  3. Give the customer an option to either have the call routed to a foreign country or (for a certain tradeoff), have it taken in the USA.

If a company does not care to take note of their customers complaints, they will simply move elsewhere.

E-Loans is a compnay that is actually employing this third option.  It is an interesting twist to the whole outsourcing controversy. The customers are told that if they choose to have their loans processed the through a US call center, it could take longer than if they got it done in India.

DRM, Apple & iTunes, etc.

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After my previous post I was struck by something so obvious, I kicked myself for not realising it earlier. The reason iTunes is so popular is that is can run on a Windows OS. The key is the device – the iPod – it works on Windows and Mac. The simplicity of it, along with the simplicity of using iTunes to purchase music (and now video) is what made it this popular. If Apple had wedded it to the Apple hardware/OS then it is unlikely that it would have reached the immense popularity that it has now. Apple is still paying for its mistakes with the P.C. market. It was the first manufacturer out there, but because of its closed architecture and refusal to license its OS to other hardware manufacturers, it lost the market to Microsoft. Microsoft was helped in its victory over Apple in the 1980s by Intel, IBM, Dell, Compaq, HP, Toshiba, etc. Intel chips were sold to P.C manufactures who could then license the Windows OS to put on there. This is despite Apple obviously having the superior OS. This story is known to everyone, so I will not dwell on it.

Apple, with its refusal to open iTunes in France has gone down the same path as it did earlier. Its closed architecture and tightly tied system for iTunes & iPod is reminiscent of what happened with its Macintosh hardware and OS. The only question now is who will be the company to dethrone Apple once again. Microsoft seems to have the right idea with PlayForSure. But who will partner it this time? The mobile phone manufacturers (Samsung, Nokia, Sony-Ericson, Palm, and Motorola) are on the front lines. Samsung also has deep roots in manufacturing flash memory that will give it an edge in this. Sony has its Walkman phone that seems to be doing well in this area with 4 GB and 8 GB models. Mobile carriers might also play a lead in this. The recent iTunes phone (ROKR) that Apple created with Motorola was a failure of huge proportions. Creative and other media-player manufacturers will also be important in this. Microsoft will license its OS once again and win out against Apple just like what happened before. Apple will surely retaliate. There is no way Steve Jobs is going to allows this to slip out of his fingers a second time. An iTunes phone is on the cards in the next few years. The other company that I predict might play a role in this is Google.

My last post was mostly about DRM and its issues. I have a little more to say on that. I recently read a report – I forget where – that Universal is going to digitize about 100,000 songs from its collection. This is music from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s that thus far do not exist with any legitimate DRM. What this tells me is that digital music has moved from being in the realm of early adopters to a place where it is accepted by mainstream customers. Those without much technical know-how (read as: those with who are interested in music from the 50s and 60s) are now willing to use digital stores like iTunes as their primary source of music. Now with DRM limiting the portability and transferability of music, I bet it is something that these people are not willing to put up with. With digital music reaching a critical mass among customers, it is even more of a reason to rethink the way DRM is implemented.

SONY-BMG caused a furor with the way it tried to limit customer rights with its implementation of rootkits on their CDs. This rootkit tried to cloak the DRM on the CD, but it also left backdoors open for those with malicious intent. This leads to privacy and security issues. Something tied closely to this is the use of P2P networks for obtaining free music. Although there has been a massive war against this, it is unlikely to ever vanish. Like prostitution (that is outlawed in almost every state and country), there will always be someone who will want to obtain music for free and will find a way of doing it. But older/obscure music will not be available this way. And P2P networks also face security and privacy issues. But the market has shown a willingness to purchase individual tracks at the right price. What is still lacking for me is the correct environment.

Pricing is another issue – the media is adrift with reports that the record labels are putting pressure on Apply to increase the price of a single of iTunes. Apparently, they already make about 40 cents per song (far more than what they recuperate from a CD sale). But commerce on the internet is still being sorted out. iTunes is not available in India as of yet. And when it is, the pricing and the currency will be different. If the cost of a single is far lower in Asia due to market economics, what stops a person from using a proxy and purchasing a song at a lower price from a different country? What about unreleased materials? TV shows and movies are now the new digital item to download legitimately. However, an episode of Lost may have been released for audience in the US, but could still be a few months behind in another country. Cyberspace is a global economy and this issue will have to be looked at soon. 2006 and 2007 will be very interesting years for digital media. Some of the wars will be dirty; others will be watched with keen interest. Personally, I can not wait for it to be done with so I can get on with consuming music that I enjoy without any hassles.

The Silliness of DRM

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I’ve been absent here for a while because of final exams. My penultimate term of 5 long years at college is over. A week of spring break ensues, followed by 13th and final term at Drexel.

About a month ago, the news media was adrift with reports about 1 billion downloads from iTunes. $0.99 Billion of cash spent by consumers in just under 3 years. All this money was spent on music downloads that are encoded in Apples proprietary format with their own DRM. I do not own an iPod. I doubt I ever will. I certainly will never use iTunes as my choice of music provider.

I’ve followed the digital music scene for as long as I can remember. Back in 1998 when one could use services such as MP3.com and AudioGalaxy to freely download music, I was right there. Sure, it was illegal, but honestly I was 16 and didn’t know better. I had rarely ever paid for music before. If I wanted a song, I’d grab the audio cassette (remember those things?!?) from a friend and using the hifi stereo my parents had, I’d copy it onto a blank cassette of my own. Occasionally, my parents might buy me an audio-tape. Birthdays were always eagerly awaited because it probably meant 3-4 different tapes from various family/friends as gifts. As my internet connection and computer were upgraded, I started downloading music. It was painfully slow over a dial-up connection. I now had a CD-ROM drive and this meant I could rip audio-CDs that I borrowed. I built up my MP3 collection in this way. In my 12th grade, I remember making a presentation as part of my senior year graduation requirements. The topic I chose was titled: “MP3 – A Revolution”. But even then, I never quite fathomed the drastic changes that digital audio and video would bring to use as consumers of entertainment. A lot of the changes are for the better – better quality, more portability, and easier availability, just to mention a few. But one of the worst changes is DRM. And the worst proponent of DRM is Apple, with its iTunes + iPod combination.

Recently France passed legislation requiring Apple to open up its iTunes store to be compatible with other music player. Denmark is also thinking of something along the same lines. Go Europe! I think all those who are investing money into iTunes and its proprietary DRM are silly. These people are essentially betting that Apple and its music will be the format of the future. Sure, the way it’s going this may well be so. I’ve seen numbers floating around that 82% of all digital music sales belong to iTunes. But if there is one thing we need to learn from the history of economics, it is that no company lasts forever. What happens when that insane combination of a phone, camera, music and video-player is here? All those idiots who spent the 1 billion dollars on iTunes find themselves in the cold. Or they wait for Apple to release something like that.

Let me set the records straight before I am lambasted by all on sundry for being a pirate. I’m not opposed to DRM in general. There are some implementations that seem better than others. But iTunes is not one of them. The PlayForSure from Microsoft seems a little better in that they are making the effort to support a variety of devices and a variety of digital music stores, but according to the EFF they suck too.

But then that is what record labels are there for. To make you buy the same product over, and over, and over and over. First they sold it to you as a vinyl, then as an audio-cassette, then CDs, DVD-audio was briefly the thing, now digital, who knows what is next? But I’m not about to waste my dollars finding out. And God help you if you happen to lose your collection and are unable to download them again.

Personally, I still collect all my MP3s the good old way. I rip them from a CD into high-bit rate digital files that are crystal clear. I can move these around to how many ever computers I want. I can copy them to whatever digital music player I feel like. I pop them into a remixing software and play around with the beats. I can burn to a CD how many ever times I wish. Metallica be damned. Music is an artistic expression that needs to be shared with the world. Artists are due their royalty for creation once. Not repeatedly.

For those interested in more information, downhillbattle has a great site on the issue.

Categories

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I’ve gone through all old posts in the blog and retrofitted them into categories. I didn’t realise how hard this would be. There are plenty of possible categories that posts can fit into. I’d be over doing it if I were to create a gazillion categories. Categories are always up for review though, and more maybe added in the future although, once again, I don’t wish break things down too much. There are some posts that may seem a strange fit, but I’ve put them into where they fit best.