Neo Leo

Vinod Khosla is one of Silicons Valleys most astute Venture Capitalists. He founded SUN Microsystems and then later went on his own and funded technology oriented companies which fared well.

Vinod Khosla was born on January 28, 1955 at New Delhi. He was born into a family of Military Officers. He earned a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1976. Vinod’s career motivation began when he began reading the Electronic Engineering Times at the age of 16. In one of the issues, he read about the founding of Intel and that lay the seeds for his motivation of founding a company of his own. After finishing his Bachelors, he tried setting up a soymilk company in India to serve who did not have refrigerators, but failed. Frustrated by his experience, he went on to pursue his Masters in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and graduated in 1980. Vinod Khosla then went on to take up his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
The first company that he setup was Daisy Systems which soon closed down. Later he co-founded SUN Micrsosytems with Bill Joy,Andreas Bechtolsheim and Scott McNealy. SUN incidentally stands for Stanford University Network. According to MSNBC, Khosla is said to have created six new jobs for every day he has been in the country from 1976. Khosla now serves on the boards of Agami, eASIC, Indian School of Business, Infinera, Kovio, MetricStream, Spatial Photonics, Xsigo and Zettacore.

Khosla has been on the list of a number of rankings worldwide. They include
• #1 on the Midas List 2003. The Midas list is essentially the rankings of the top Venture Capitalists of the world.
• #445 on the Worlds richest people 2002
• #365 on Forbes 400 in 2003

Posted by dsmaratt at 06:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft Project (MS Project) is project management software, which is easy to use and assists managers in planning a project from scratch to production. I have found MS Project very useful and I have used it in very many of my projects. I am at posting some tips for those would like to better acquainted with it.

1. INTRODUCTION

Microsoft Project (or MSP) is a project management software program developed and sold by Microsoft which is designed to assist project managers in developing plans, assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing budgets and analyzing workloads

The latest version is Microsoft Project 2003 Microsoft Project and Project Server are the cornerstones of the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution.

1.1. Product Description
Microsoft Project 2003 is used by project managers who need a desktop tool to manage their projects independently but do not require strong coordination with other project managers or the ability to manage resources from a central repository. Project 2003 is designed to improve your ability to organize work and communicate effectively and succinctly through familiar, easy-to-use tools. Enhance your productivity and effectiveness by learning and applying project management practices easily.

1.2. Features
• Organize your work more effectively with new scheduling tools -- Track schedule and resource changes to
your project plans quickly
• New display options lets you show individuals the project information they need to review
• Increase your impact at work and create better presentations to print compelling and succinct copies of
schedules and goals
• Move information easily between Project 2003 and other Microsoft Office programs, such as Excel
• Updated interface and new templates available for downloading make this version of Project the most user-
friendly ever!

2. WORKING WITH PROJECT FILES
2.1. Create a New Project

To create a new Project
1. Click New
2. On Project menu, click “Project Information”
3. To schedule a project from the start date, type or select the date you want your project to start in the Start
date box.
4. To schedule a project from the finish date, click “Project Finish Date” in the Schedule from box, and then type
or select the date you want your project to finish in the Finish date box.

3. RESOURCES

3.1.1. To create resources
1. Click Resources on the Project Guide toolbar
2. You can add resources from
a. From Project Server
b.From Company Address Book
c.From Company Directory
d.Enter Resources Manually
3.Choose option of entering resources manually
4.In the Resources pane, add the resource
a.Specify General Information
b.Working Time
c.Costs

4. TASKS
4.1.1. Create a Task

To create a new task

1.Click Tasks on the Project Guide Toolbar.
2.Double click the Task Name in the Task List
3.On Project menu, click “Project Information”
4.To schedule a project from the start date, type or select the date you want your project to start in the Start
date box.
5.To schedule a project from the finish date, click “Project Finish Date” in the Schedule from box, and then type or
select the date you want your project to finish in the Finish date box.

4.1.2. Organize Tasks into Phases

To Organize Tasks

1.Click Tasks on the Project Guide Toolbar.
2.Click “Organize Tasks”
3.Select the tasks that would come in a common phase
4.Indent them and they would come under the task above.

5. TRACK PROJECTS
5.1.1. Incorporate Progress Information into a Project

1.Click Resources in the Project Guide Toolbar.
2.Choose “ Incorporate Progress Information into a Project “
a.Set the Status date for a task
b.Update progress by entering the percentage of work done by updating the “% Work Complete”.

5.1.2. Check the progress of the Project
1.Click Resources in the Project Guide Toolbar.
2.Choose from
a.Completed Tasks
b.Tasks on schedule
c.Late Tasks
d.Critical Tasks
e.Future Tasks
f.Unstarted Tasks to view tasks in those stages.

6. REPORTING
6.1.1. Select a view or Report
1.Click Track on the Project Guide Toolbar
2.Choose “ Display or Analyze Project information with a view”
3.Select from the following views to display the project in
a.Calendar
b.Detail Gantt
c.Gantt Chart
d.Multiple Baselines Gantt
e.Network Diagram
f.Relationship Diagram
g.Resource Sheet
h.Resource Usage

7. CITATIONS
(2003) Microsoft Project., Retrieved September 25, 2006 from http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/prodinfo/standard/overview.mspx

Posted by dsmaratt at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline,
And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed?
Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?
I name thee, O Shakuntala, and all at once is said.
(Eastwich's translation of Goethe's paen on Shakuntala)

I am proud of my name, a name, which dates back centuries, a name which is more than 2000 years old. King Dushyanta is first mentioned in Sage Vyasa Mahabharata . The Mahabharata is the longest epic poem in the world written originally in Sanskrit, which was completed in the first century BC, and some parts of it dates back to 8th century BC. Dushyanta is said to have ruled from Gandhara (present day Kandahar in Afghanistan) to the Vindhyas and from Sindhu (present-day Pakistan) to Vanga (present day Bangladesh).

The poet Kalidasa also mentions King Dushyanta in his play Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Shakuntala). This play written in Sanskrit is dated between 1 BC and 5 BC and was translated to German and to English. In this play, Dushyanta meets Shakuntala in a hermitage, falls in love with her and marries her. Promising to be back to take her, he departs giving her a royal ring as sign of their love. During this time, a sage visits the hermitage, but Shakuntala absorbed in her love for Dushyanta forgets to serve him food. The sage curses her saying the person whom she thinks of will forget her. Shakuntala begs for forgiveness and the sage then assures her that the person will remember her when he sees a proof of acquaintance. As the sage says, King Dushyanta gets busy in the affairs of the state and remembers Shakuntala only after the ring is presented to him.

One interesting link which I stumbled upon was about the 1914 Berkeley production of Shakuntala at the University of California, Berkeley which can be found here.

I thank my grandfather, R.N Maratt the erudite scholar for christening me with a name, which is profound in meaning and ageless. Right from when I was a kid, I remember people asking me "Where is Shakuntala?", when I introduce myself. At least now, I can tell them, she's waiting in India for me now...

Electronic References can be found at

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sha/index.htm
http://www.indolink.com/Kidz/Stories/mahabharat1.html
http://www.bashr.com/en_bio_pics/Dushyanth
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc60.html

Posted by dsmaratt at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"A few gifted people may become leaders; most of mankind must be led. Leadership potential is inborn, but it will develop only if a proper education is begun early and system-atically continued."

Source : http://www.education.umn.edu/EdPA/iconics/reading%20room/6.htm

During the European Renaissance, leadership roles were for the aristocrats and hence for sons of aristocrats, leadership education was sometimes mandatory. "Blood tells, but it does not tell everything and it does not tell enough of what is important" was how some theorists summarized how being born into aristocracy is not enough for being a leader. "Philip fathered Alexander's body, but Aristotle was father to his mind." (e.g., John Clark, Declamations, 1625) was a theme, which was found prevalent in the Renaissance period.

The studies, which were undertaken in leadership education, were centered on
i) Religion tempered by philosophy
ii) Broad selection of books that was both substantially and rhetorically profound

The use of philosophy in the Renaissance meant moral philosophy and would be intended on the cultivation of moral character. The selection of books that were considered for the leaders were from prose and poetry and they were considered for two reasons
i) They serve as examples of great lives and how great men faced challenges
ii) For cultivating communication skills, both written and oral

Substance and Style were both integral for Renaissance theorists and was summarized in the article as follows - "Substance without style cannot move imagination, cannot inspire. Style without substance is trivial; it may amuse, but it is useless in the formation of leaders, for leaders must be im-bued with moral principles."

The inspiration for this article came from this site here, when I was going searching for interesting aspects of the Renaissance which could relate easily to us and if it not be the study of Leadership, what else is more relative to CICS?

Posted by dsmaratt at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This famous drawing called "The Vitruvian Man" was made around 1490 by Leonardo Da Vinci in the Renaissance period.

A naked male depicted in this drawing is inscribed both in a circle and in a square. This drawing along with accompanying notes is called the Canon of Proportions and is on display in the Gallerie dell' Accademia in Venice, Italy.

De Architecture, the famous treatise on architecture was authored by Marcus Vitruvius a Roman architect in 1 BC. The treatise comprised of ten different books, which dealt with the aspects of architecture, city planning, and machines. In Book III of this treatise, in his discussion of temples is where the concept of the Vitruvian Man emerges. This drawing of Leonardo was based on Vitruvius' description in harmonizing the relation between parts of the body looking for perfection.

The emphasis on this drawing is on the rationalization of geometry, where small numbers build the composition. This picture also represents Leonardo's attempt to relate man to nature based on his beliefs that the workings of the human body are analogous to the workings of nature. It is also believed that Leonardo symbolized the material existence by the square and the spiritual existence by the circle.

This drawing is no doubt, one of the masterpieces of the European Renaissance.

Some of the sources from which i had got this information are listed below

http://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/submissions/clabaugh/history/leonardo.html

http://www.aiwaz.net/Leonardo/vitruvianman/index.html

http://thealchemicalegg.com/VitruviusN.html

Posted by dsmaratt at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)