ஐ.டி. துறை நண்பா உனக்கு ரோஷம் வேணுன்டா !!.டி. துறை நண்பா உனக்கு ரோஷம் வேணுன்டா

A good discussion on Indian IT field and Outsourcing: http://www.vinavu.com/2008/11/14/tmstar5/

While I don't agree with the opinion of the blogger, the comments section are very interesting.

It also makes me wonder why the blogger is blaming US for outsourcing issues. India generates more than 50% of its IT revenue from Europe and Japan. Yet, US gets blamed for most of its cultural and economic issues.

Outlook 2010 has crashed

Outlook 2010 has crashed.
It has something to do with enabling / disabling Mobile Services add-on. I ignored it when starting Outlook 2010 for the first time. BAD IDEA!
It failed to open. I tried to open my Outlook 2007 instead. It failed to open too.
After trying a few different options including repairing of Office 2010 beta and trying to opening Outlook 2007 in safe mode, I ended up restoring my system.

So much for trusting a beta software. I should try this whole exercise on a Virtual PC or on VMWare image. Also, next time I am going to make a clean install.

After all these years, Microsoft has not perfected the art of upgrading a software.

மைக்ரோசாப்ட் ஆபீஸ் 2010 பேட்டா

Installation Experience

The videos on 2010 Beta looked good. They were focused on explaining how Office helps real life people with their projects and lives.

Being the curious that I am, I dutifully downloaded 2010 Professional Plus Beta. The download was smooth. In fact, I like the new download ActiveX add-on.

The installation went really fast till it reached around 85%. Then the progress bar did not move for a lo...ng time. When I checked the CPU activity, I noticed that it was quite active. My dual core processor even reached 100% utilization at times.

I choose to keep my previous copy of Office 2007 during this install. Providing this option was thoughtful of Microsoft.

The installation added the new beta software to existing Microsoft Office group. I don't care for it. If I select 'Keep existing version', I expect that group to be left alone. Creating a Microsoft Office 2010 group would have been my preference.

A Word

Just like Acrobat, the flash screen shows the modules (building blocks) that are loaded as part of startup process. Unlike Acrobat, this is a fast process.

Not seeing the big 'Office Button' as in Office 2007 is a relief. It was more of an eye sore anyways. It has been replaced by File menu.

The task bar icon has been revamped and I like it.

Trying to open Word 2007 after opening Word 2010 initiated reconfiguration of Word 2007. Closing and reopening 2010 initiated reconfiguration of Word 2010. These (re)configurations take approximately 1 minute each. This sure is going to annoy me to no end.

I tried to enter this blog using MS-Word. It could not register my account. This is the same issue I faced with MS-Word 2007. So, I tried to register my Blogger account from MS-Word. No luck there either.

I don't care for the term 'Building Blocks' that is replacing the term 'Templates'. Even though it is technically correct, it sure is going to confuse the masses.

When Office 2007 came, the office ribbon was a big hit. Office 2010 has sucked the color out of this bar. It looks gray and pale. I know it won’t' change for RTM. What were they thinking? When I figure out how to bring back color to the menu, I will post it.


Things to explore further (note to self):
- The 'Restrict Editing' menu option under 'Review' menu sounds interesting. This may not be that much different from Office 2007.
- The PDF (PDF/A) format is now standard. You don't have to download any add-on. There is more optimization for file size as part of 'Save As' menu.
- There seems to be a better integration with 'Office Live' from the File menu.

Live long and prosper. :-)

Rajini Sells Product Even in the USA

I received this postal mail today. I wonder whether Rajini knows about his image being used. :-)

Caste in India

I came across the following video from one of the blogs I stumbled up on. I apologize for not remembering the author name.

It is disheartening to view the amount of injustice unleashed up on lower caste people.

Being from the uppermost caste, I did not have to face any of these discriminations. My parents and grandfather mingled so much with people from different caste and religion that I did not grow up with that much caste consciousness. We also moved around a lot, visited various states, and had friends from different walks of life. Still, I remember coming across a number of incidents from my collage year onwards.

During my undergraduate years, we used to go to a nearby village for cheap haircut. The barber is also the village tailor and vetenararian. While haircuts in our town (a big village) used to be 7 or 9 rupees, this guy will do it for 3 rupees. On top of it, he would get us a tea from nearby tea stall. I never drank that tea because it tasted awful. :-) Later I learned that he never got paid for his services in that village. He would get rice and other commodities as the other families desire. I felt weird about it.

In my house, my mother is conscious of caste. She used to not let a lower caste lady in the kitchen or touch her drinking water. She has changed since then. Still, she would not let a lower caste person to cook for her. She claims it on uncleanly environment they live in. She does have an argument about the un-cleanliness. Most of these low caste people are economically suppressed and cannot afford to live in a decent house.

The sadder part is that even in this lowest caste community, women and children are at the bottom of this totem pole. In my high school, we had a government program to teach the illiterate. I volunteered for one. One of my students was a young wife of an untouchable. She was so enthusiastic about learning. After two lessons, her husband stopped her from learning claiming that she cannot be learning from another young man. She should learn only from females. I thought that he was afraid of losing his control over his wife due to her education. This girl was older than my elder sister. I was not attracted to her at all. She was also one of my star students. Looking back, if only she had learned to read and write, she would have certainly mandated her children to go to school. Their education would have uplifted that family. I know it is just a possibility. Still…

Reverse caste discrimination also exist. In my high school, between 6th and 10th grade, I was tortured by my classmates because I belonged to a higher caste. That area was known for hatred against my caste -- for whatever reason. It left me a permanent emotional scar. The lesson I learned was not to be cruel towards anyone.

This video mentions that caste system is observed even when these people move abroad. I have not observed it in the US. I even joined diversity groups to learn more about such discrimination incidents.

Anyways...It is despicable to discriminate fellow human being because of who they are.