Amruta

President Obama's First State Dinner

2009-12-16T03:06:52Z

President Obama’s first State dinner was held on November 24, 2009 at the East Wing entrance of the White House. It was for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gurucharan Kaur.

]]> Being an Indian, I was very excited about watching it live on TV.

The ceremony had about 320 people who were renowned dignitaries, artists, writers, doctors, and politicians. The evening was accompanied by music, dance, and a evening toast. A. R. Rehman, an Oscar winner for Slumdog Millionaire, also entertained the audience. The exclusive list of the guest is available herehttp://www.politico.com/click/stories/0911/be_our_guest1.html

First lady Michelle Obama’s evening gown was designed by American- Indian fashion designer Naeem Khan. Michelle was elegantly dressed in a golden color evening gown with a shawl and bangels (Indian name for bracelet)

Garden décor (green) was the theme of the evening. The appetizer salad and the dessert included arugula, mint, and lemon verbena. Marc Samuelsson, a celebrity chef from New York, was the chef for the State dinner. Here is the menu

Potato and Eggplant Salad
White House Arugula with Onion Seed Vinaigrette
Red Lentil Soup with Fresh Cheese
Roasted Potato Dumplings with Tomato Chutney, Chickpeas and Okra
Green Curry Prawns with Caramelized Salsify, Smoked Collard Greens and Coconut Aged Basmati Rice
Pumpkin Pie Tart
Pear Tatin
Whipped Cream and Caramel Sauce
Petits Fours and Coffee
Cashew Brittle
Pecan Pralines
Passion Fruit and Vanilla Gelees
Chocolate-Dipped Fruit

Two people, who were not on guest list, were found to be inside the venue, attending the dinner with the president. This was thought to be the biggest security breach in the presidential social events. Their publicist, Mahogany Jones, in an e-mail told CNN that, they had proper clearance documents to attend the state dinner.

The live telecast of the State dinner was really comprehensive and I really enjoyed seeing it live.

References
Black. Jane (2009) “ What’s for Dinner at the White House” Retrieved from,
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-can-eat/food-politics/whats-for-dinner-at-the-white.html

European Renaissance

2009-12-12T22:06:42Z

The European Renaissance underlines the period when cultural and social rebirth took place in Europe. It enhanced the cultural, philosophical, political, arts and scientific aspects of Europe.

]]> The European renaissance was developed specially in cities such as Florence, Italy, Venice between the period of 14th and 17th century. Before 14th century, church was the powerful element in people’s lives. During the renaissance period, people showed interest in many other places other than churches. They began a new life in exploring arts, science, politics, and fashion.
Around 1400’s, many artists came up with extraordinary creations in art depicting their works. Filippo Brunelleschi and Masaccio, an architect and a painter respectively showed that three dimensional effects can be achieved on a flat surface. Modern sculpture founder, Donatello, was known his sculpture named David. Later, in the 15th century, Pisanello, reintroduced the ancient practice of making a metal impression on medals in order to award the prestigious figures. This was followed by many artists such as Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna, and Sandro Botticelli, who made many portrait paintings.

In the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael got famous for various world renowned works.
Many inventions in science and technology were made in the renaissance period. The 15th century was particularly marked by the printing press of Johannes Gutenburg. This achievement was remarkable because it marked the era of mass-producing movable type and printing press.

Finally, the renaissance was the unique period during which many inventions and experiences started to spring up.

References-
The Renaissance, Part 1 Retrieved from,
http://www.blackstudies.ucsb.edu/antillians/renaissance1.html

Web 2.0

2009-12-09T23:42:17Z

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0The term Web 2.0 is one of the frequently used terms in the communication industry. So, what really Web 2.0 is? Web 2.0 represents an umbrella of technologies which are interactive in nature and help facilitate fast communication.

]]> It also focuses on the information sharing, collaboration, participation and staying on top of every news around the world.

Brief History of Web2.0-

Web 2.0 has given the world a new face of communication which is faster, reliable and upto some extent secured. That being said, how Web 2.0 came into existence anyway? The term was coined by Tom O’Reilly of O’Reilly publication. Web2.0 is powered by users, humans and focuses on their needs- the communication. In early 2000 (especially around dot-com boom), web applications were static and had one way traffic, where users had limitations on expressing their thoughts and connecting with other users. The internet applications were read-only and user had no voice on it.

Web 2.0 eliminated all the pitfalls. It has opened doors to communicate almost instantly and interactively. The applications such as eikis, blogs, iPhone, search engines, twitter, Flickr, facebook, mySpace, XML, RSS, youtube are the few examples of Web 2.0.

Click here to view the comparison between Web 1.0 (the previous version of Web 2.0) and Web 2.0.

References

"What is Web 2.0" Retrieved from,
http://blog.concentricsky.com/2009/09/what-is-web-20/

Theory of Human Communication

2009-12-06T14:37:14Z

Human Communication, in simple terms, means a conversation. Communication is one of the basic characteristics of all human beings. Humans are social and communication is essential to this. Although the process of communication seems easy, according to Littlejohn (2002), “Communication is one of the most persuasive, important, and complex aspects of human life” and involves many factors such as encryption and decryption of messages, and giving and receiving feedback.

]]> These factors are necessary in the process of human communication in order to have a meaningful and understandable conversation. Verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication are the basic building blocks of human communication. Verbal communication can be thought of as an easier way of communicating with others. It involves sounds, words, grammar, rules, and vocabulary. It is also the fastest way of communicating and expressing ideas. Nonverbal communication involves aspects such as gestures, silence, crying, sending signs and signals, expressions, touch, feelings, and body language. Nonverbal communication is often caused by moods such as depression, sadness and sometimes due to physical inability.
Human communication is cyclical and interactive in nature. Intelligent discussions or conferences often invite a meaningful and resourceful feedback, making the communication cyclical and interactive. Cyclical and interactive human communication involves giving and receiving feedback. The advancement of technology has heavily impacted human communication. The “texting” feature of cell phones has revolutionized human communication. Instant messages (IMs) are becoming popular and are used aggressively to speed up the process of communication. This nonverbal form of communication is becoming greatly popular especially in the teen population. Cell phones have become a fast, reliable, and easily available form of modern human communication. Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) involves sending and receiving images, videos, text, and audio files and extends the process of communication.
While communication is prominently used in all human beings to communicate, language as a communication medium may be different across communities. Language and culture are closely knit entities and play a very important part in communication.
In conclusion, communication is an intense need of all humans to survive. Communication enhances social, behavioral, and emotional needs. A clear and concise communication using its verbal and nonverbal aspects can elevate the overall process of communication.

References-

Littilejohn. S, Foss. K(2002) "Theories of Human Communication" Pg 12.Wadsworth Publishing; 9 edition.

Search- a peek into today's internet search and Google

2009-12-05T16:03:57Z

The author John Battelle, gives the journey of search. He explains this by giving the example of big search engine giant, Google and its rivals. Google is doing an amazing job of keeping internet pages alive. Internet is immensely huge and growing every day. Internet is of no use without getting to know what it contains.

]]> Google and its search engine rivals give this ability to search through all these internet pages. The author also explains search as who, what, where, why, when, and how. This explanation helps understand a layman person technicality of search. He says for search to work there are three basic factors. These factors must crawl, index and serve results for search engine to work. Before Google was born, search engines had simple keyword based rankings, Google made a strong search engine which involves a complex algorithm and set of programs.

The author gives Google’s example predominantly in the book. Google is the search engine giant in the internet industry. While Google can be a boon to companies hosting their advertisements on it, this big giant can also take the funds away from it. He calls the search engine as “Database of Intension”. Further, he also points out that how Google became $3 Billion company from 2000 to 2004 period. During this period, Google introduced its new feature called Adwords, giving search engine a commercial touch. Google made the mark of 18 million visitors and 1 billion indexed documents.
The author also touches the privacy aspect of search. Google, for example, has personal database of phone numbers and addresses, which may raise a privacy issue.

Finally, the author talks about Google’s competitor Yahoo and Google’s present as well as future. Yahoo is older than Google and is more disciplined in its work ethics. Advertisers and entrepreneurs believe that Yahoo is better in doing business than Google.

References-

Battelle, J (2006) "The Search: How Google and it's Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and transformed Our Culture" Portfolio Trade

Plagiarism- Do NOT do it!!!

2009-12-04T23:53:08Z

Plagiarism is a serious concern. Dictionary.com defines the term Plagiarism as” the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.”

]]> Plagiarism is a serious concern especially in universities where it is omnipresent. Students are either unaware about it or they simply do not care enough. It is individual’s responsibility that she/he takes extra care when writing papers and gives the credibility to those who deserve. Plagiarism happens when-
1. Using someone else’s idea/work without giving any credibility to him/her.
2. Copy/pasting someone’s writing without proper citation and/or using it without his/her permission.
3. Changing the sentence structure but keeping the main idea same and not sourcing its main author.

In academic arena, plagiarism is not tolerated at all and official actions are taken if someone is caught doing so. In today’s digital world, professors and faculties have got appropriate tools to monitor any plagiarism among student population. They also have software tools where it can store previously submitted papers and assignments. It is equipped with search capabilities where it can perform keyword searches. For more information please check here

'i' for Information

2009-12-03T20:52:45Z

Information is refined formed of data and I think that is why it is so powerful. Today, Information is born every second, in almost any shape or form.

(photo courtesy http://www.nyahsa.org/foundation/)

]]> Internet is expanding day by day and has a wealth of information that is never ending. The information is getting “reborn” in terms of new updates, and upgrades.

I still remember the time when I was a student in the high school and access to the Internet was very limited. I used to go in cyber cafes to check my e-mails. In those days, Cyber cafes were overcrowded with a long wait to get a desktop but today I can access anything and everything on my laptop with a wireless internet connection. The instances such as this can be called as Information Renaissance.

Information is omnipresent and has touched almost every corner of our lives. We are virtually connected to each other via e-mails, facebook, chats, IMs.

Finally, Information is indispensable and simply unavoidable. We should use it wisely and for betterment of humanity, and community.

Execution- The Discipline of Getting Things Done

2009-12-03T15:05:50Z

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, authors of Execution, state that in the business world, Execution is the bridge that connects an organization’s plan to its success. Execution can be thought of as a 3 step process. First, it is a discipline and integral to strategy, secondly it is a major job of the business leaders and last but not the least it is a core element of an organization’s culture.

]]> Execution is needed to fill the gap between creating a plan and actually implementing it, so that expected goals are achieved. Execution typically starts with the leaders and takes place when you have the right people in the right place. The authors cite in the book that execution often fails in an organization because the organization tries to achieve many goals at once in order to increase profits and revenues. Although the leaders are skilled in execution, they fail to understand the external environment and the organization’s capabilities.

Further, execution should be in the culture of an organization. This leads to behavior changes and turn them into actions. Execution cannot be achieved without robust dialogue. Such dialogue takes an organization’s communication to the next level of fostering creativity and openness and brings reality to the surface. For execution to be successful, having the right people on the right job is absolutely necessary. ‘Right’ kind of people are energizing and decisive. If the right kind of people are leading the organization, then they know how to follow through, how to get things done, and how to execute the plans so that the strategic goals are achieved.
Authors then talk about three core processes involved during execution. People process, Strategy process, and Operations process. People process involves hiring right people, working together and knowing whether they deliver results. Strategy process involves making a link between people and operations. Strategy should address how to accomplish a certain task. It has to be designed by those people who will execute it. These people should know the business environment, competition, market and customers, business issues and goals to increase the revenues. The operations process involves strategy and people. This process should involve all people. This is not work done just by the leaders. Synchronization is another important factor for execution to be successful. This ensures that all components in the process are going hand in hand. If goals change, then priorities and resource allocations also change.

Finally, authors talk about budgeting techniques to cover the execution financially. They also mention a contingency plan, quarterly reviews and sound assumptions for setting realistic goals. A contingency plan is absolutely required in a time of crisis. Quarterly reviews ensure fulfillment of the organization’s strategic plan and help the process of synchronization. Budgeting helps maintain the organization’s workforce and resources.

References

Bossidy. L, Charan. R(2002) "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done" Crown Business; 1 edition

China- how this superpower nation drives the World?

2009-12-01T14:54:03Z

China Inc

Ted Fishman, author of the China Inc states that China is becoming a giant in economy. China’s rapid growth in manufacturing, oil industry, food and beverage industry, and research and development in various fields is magnificent and increasing day by day.

]]> Chinese economy has expected to grow by nearly 17% pushing China ahead of Italy who is world’s fourth largest economy.
He points out that as China grows, world is shrinking. China’s export of furniture to United Stated is 40% and expected to climb further that could result in plunge of American jobs. For countries other than USA, China has become a customer and supplier. Thousands of factories closed in US as a result of expansion of the same in China. China is also on the verge of building a power plant which will further help to soak up the cash to China. Urgent privatization of roads and other infrastructure utilization further reveals the growing economy of China. To achieve this growth, Chinese work hard, nearly 70 hours a week. In 2002, according to Chinese government, average salary of women workers was $72.

Author also points out that despite of China’s rapid growth, China also faces some problems. As a result of urbanization and industrialization, China faces electricity shortage. Pollution is another concern for China which is a result of hundreds of millions of cars, new factories, and homes. Air pollution is inseparable in China. Seven of the ten most polluted cities in the world, WHO reports are in China. Further, China also suffers from health problems. The recent estimates put the Hepatitis B sufferers at 120 million and HIV positive Chinese at close to 1 million. The U.N. has warned of 10 million AIDS sufferer by 2010.

Finally, author Ted Fishman prudently explores China and points out that as China is flourishing and maturing as United States is empowering the world.

References

Fishman. T(2005) " China Inc: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World."

FTC Targets Massive Car Warranty Scheme

2009-11-30T18:00:25Z

Have you been a target in the recent past of anonymous phone calls which remind you of your car warranty getting expired? If yes, you are not alone.

]]> The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received numerous complaints from many such wireless consumers and also from consumers who are on the “Do Not Call Registry” list or chose not to be called for any marketing purposes.
According to court papers filed to the FTC, a company called Voice Touch and two of its principals, James and Maureen Dunne (defendant), claimed that they made “1.8 million dials per day and spent worth of $40 million in dialing for extended warranty companies” . The defendants used five telephone numbers that generated massive 30,000 call complaints especially from businesses, work places, government offices, and 911 dispatchers. The FTC also identified a company affiliated to Voice Touch called Network Foundations and its principal, Damian Kohlfield. The complaint received by FTC claims that a company called Transcontinental Warranty Inc and its president and CEO Christopher Cowart were also involved in the practice.
The scheme involved a prerecorded telemarketing message which was set to remind the consumers about impending expiration date of their car warranty. Consumers who chose to pursue the call by dialing one on the key pad were wrongly guided that the new warranty is an extension of the manufacturer’s original warranty. The defendant also tried to sell a contract with a price tag of $2,000-$3,000.

In addition to these phone calls, FTC has charged these companies for mailing deceptive post cards to consumers stating that their auto warranties are getting expired. The post cards were designed in such a manner that they looked like they had been mailed directly from a dealer or manufacturer.

The FTC is charging the defendant for violating FTC Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) on account of calling the consumers who were on the ‘Do Not Call Registry’, concealing defendant’s phone number on caller ID, and not disclosing the fact that it was a sales promotion call. “The FTC has asked the Court for temporary restraining order and to halt the illegal practices while the cases proceed impose an asset freeze on all the defendants, and put two of the corporate defendants under the control of court-appointed receivers”. AT&T and Verizon Wireless helped in the investigation.

References

Cooney, Michael “ FTC targets massive car warranty robocall scheme” Layer8 (May 5,2009).
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/41859 , Accessed June 10, 2009

Cooney, M (“ FTC targets massive car warranty robocall scheme ) from http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/41859