What does that mean for the Neo IT Pro? Read this article from IDC to gain a perspective of what the year 2007 holds. IDC lists out the top 10 predictions for 2007. Coming from IDC, my friends, I would not dismiss this lightly. It is a long read, albeit one that all of us should take the pains to go through.

Added 2/25:

I was browsing through the net, trying to catch up on what’s going on in the World Wide Web (catching up on the World is not enough), when I found articles which map directly to the predictions of IDC. So here is an attempt to map each 10 predictions to the world’s happenings as and when I find them. You could help me out too, by simply shooting an email on what you found...

Prediction 4 : Three Groups of Vendors Will Intensify Their Focus on Reaching " the SMB Long Tail “: The sign of this prediction ringing true is already in front of our eyes. Google has launched a paid version of its web applications to popularize it with the small firms. Microsoft has revealed partnership with BT for focusing on small businesses. Read Google charges for web programs.

Prediction 9 " Two - Minute Drill “: IP Competence ,
Channel Mashup , Pricing Shift , Networks + SOA + Solutions = IT : Did you wonder why CISCO changed the new logo? I did and evidently it was a rebranding measure , but "rebranding for what" is what I couldn’t figure. Which is when I read in Prediction 9 that network/communication equipment vendors will turn down their network centric messaging and turn up their IT centric, SOA oriented messaging. Don’t believe it yet? Read Cisco converts to SOA

Reference
IDC Predictions 2007 : Prospering in an Era of Hyperdisruption, http://cdn.idc.com/downloads/204631.pdf

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

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.

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

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)

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

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

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?

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

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

Shown below are statistics of how many searches happened within the United States in March 2006 according to
comScore

One thing that Search Engines do not understand are the meanings of the words that we type in. For ex. if we type in 'Pharmacist' in a search engine it gives you, a result based on pages, which ‘Pharmacist’ appear, based on its page index. Based on Ontologies, scientists are trying to develop a Semantic Web. With the Semantic Web, if we type in 'Pharmacist', we would get the list of the nearest pharmacies around the locale we are located. The Semantic Web is a vision of web pages, which are understood by computers. This would lead to giving meaning of the words that type to the search engines with which we seek information.

Frankly speaking, I do not understand the implications of such a system from all that I have read online. However, considering that the Semantic Web was an idea of Tim Berners Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web, I would not dismiss it as a mere transgression emanating from looking forward to take Search Engines further. An insightful read can be found at this link here . I think there would be another revolution on how we organize information, once this concept is running. I wonder if this would be part of Information Renaissance 1.0 or 2.0 ?

Rang De Basanti is a movie about the youth in India. The movie starts with a London based filmmaker Sue McKinley. Sue stumbles about her grandfathers (a British Army Captain in India, when India was a British Colony) and is mesmerized by the stories about the young freedom fighters and decides to make a docudrama about these freedom fighters

Sue lands in New Delhi to meet her friend Sonia who studies in the Delhi University. Auditioning for the roles of the freedom fighters, Sue finds that none who turned up in the Delhi University are capable enough to play such roles. Sensing her frustration, her friend Sonia invites her to go the 'Classroom’, which is an abandoned old fort in the outskirts of the city, where her group of hedonistic friends party.

She meets Sonia's friends DJ (Daljeet), Aslam, Sukhi and Karan. In these happy go lucky friends of Sonia's, she sees the same strong spirit of the Freedom fighters and convinces them to play the parts, although they are reluctant. Belonging to a generation of Consumerism, these young men and women find it hard to identify with the characters that lived and died for Independence sixty years ago.

This movie explores with the awakening of these youth from a meaningless life to a meaningful one, where they take responsibility of their actions. The movie juxtaposes the struggles that the freedom fighters and these youth had to encounter.

Nominated for the Oscars from India this year for the 'Foreign Film Category', this is a must see movie and reflects how the new generation lives in India. For those of you who would want to watch this movie, please get hold of Annamalai who has the DVD for this movie. I have seen this movie five times, myself.

Accenture — connotes "Accent on the Future". The ">" over the logo's t points forward towards the future. Prior
to 2001, the company was called Andersen Consulting.

20th Century Fox — after the merger of William Fox's Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures.

Accenture — connotes "Accent on the Future". The ">" over the logo's t points forward towards the future. Prior
to 2001, the company was called Andersen Consulting.

Adidas — from the name of the founder Adolf (Adi) Dassler.

Arcelor Mittal — Arcelor was formed in 2001 by a merger of Arbed (Luxembourg), Aceralia (Spain) and Usinor (France). After the recent merger of Arcelor with Mittal Steel, the new company was named Arcelor Mittal.

Blaupunkt — German for "Blue dot". The company's core business was the manufacturing of headphones. After
the headphones came through quality tests; the company would give the headphones a blue dot. These
headphones quickly became known as the blue dots or blaue Punkte. This quality symbol soon became a
trademark and the trademark became the company name in 1938.

Bridgestone — after founder Shojiro Ishibashi. The last name Ishibashi (石橋) means "stone bridge", or "bridge
of stone".

Cadillac — the 18th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit,
Michigan.

FCUK — French Connection United Kingdom

IKEA — the first letters of the Swedish founder Ingvar Kamprad's name combined with the first letters of the
names of the property and the village in which he grew up: Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd.

MRF — from Madras Rubber Factory, which was founded by K M Mammen Mappillai in 1946.

Nokia — from where the company originated in the Finnish city of Nokia.

Pepsi — after the enzyme pepsin used in the drink.

Samsung — which means three stars in Korean.

Six Apart — Ben and Mena Trott, the company co-founders were born six days apart (in September 1977).

Verizon — from veritas (Latin for truth) and horizon.

Vodafone — stands for Voice, Data, Telefone.

Wipro — Western India Vegetable Products Limited; from its beginnings as a vanaspati (hydrogenated vegetable oil)
and laundry soap producer; now an IT services giant.

Yahoo! — for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.

Do we all know the etymologies of our own names?