India's Ace Tennis Player gets Engaged

Hey Folks,

Have you heard of this recent news? Sania Mirza, India's top tennis player got engaged to a Hyderabad based businessman Muhammed Sohrab Mirza. Well I was also surprised to hear this first , but got the confirmation from one of the news media from hyderabad.

Well does this mean an end to the career or the ace tennis player of India who won many laurels for the country? Ofcourse of late, her game has been effected by injuries. But the question is will she continue to play for the country after her marriage?

Lets wait and watch

Hi-tech Ex-CM recommends/prefers against technology

With the post elections time, there are many funny incidents happening around in India. Some political leaders who could not be successful have been trying to play the blame game and i would like to name one such. - Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu, Ex-CM of AP known for the IT growth in City of Nizams.

I read an article in the newspaper which said that mr.babu suspects that there is some defect with the EVMs used in the 2009 elections and that is the reason for the loss of his party this elections.Agreed till here what he said may be one of the analysis, but the shocker is to come yet.He recommends saying, he prefers the tradition paper based ballot system, rather than saying to Election commission should look for more advanced and user friendly EVMs. How come the point of view and interests change with mr.babu not being in power. and why only his party will loose, other parties can also claim saying, some of their votes might have been put to TDP due to EVMs technological defects. our ex-cm is citing such reasons for his failure which will rather make him look silly.

When he was in power, he was the role model for many states for getting hyderabad onto the world map because of the Information Technology and now he is asking the to go away from the same. how sad.

How to Remember Web Adresses?

I use this website for storing all the important website links and addresses at one place. Its very handy. its like favourites in the computer browser, however a portable one which can be used from around the world and any computer.

http://www.whitelinks.com/

you can also categories your links into different folders and organize it accordingly.

I like this a lot as its simple and handy for me when i come across any good article or website i save the link in this site and use it for future references.

Tech Tip: System Restore in Windows...

It some times happens that we install a new hardware and/or software and then our system starts giving weird error messages or becomes sluggish etc.. well the best thing to try at that time is to undo the changes...
One good step is to do System Restore

System Restore takes a "snapshot" of the some system files and the Windows registry and saves them as Restore Points. When an install failure or data corruption occurs, System Restore can return a system to working condition without you having to reinstall the operating system. It repairs the Windows environment by reverting back to the files and settings that were saved in the restore point

System Restore to restore Windows XP to a previous state

To use System Restore to restore Windows XP to a previous state, follow these steps:

1. Log on to Windows as Administrator.
2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.
4. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the most recent system restore point in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next.Note: A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.
5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
6. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page is displayed.
7. Click OK.

If you successfully restored your computer to a previous state, and the computer is performing as it should be, you are finished.

How to start System Restore in Windows Vista

Open System Restore by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, clicking System Tools, and then clicking System Restore.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Note: System Restore does not affect personal files, such as e-mail, documents, or photos.

Is North Korea's Nuclear Program a bigger threat?

There has been a lot of news around the latest underground-nuclear-weapon testing done on last monday. This testing has created fresh concerns about the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology.

It is learnt that North Korea has been working on producing the weapons-grade level of plutonium since almost last 3 decades now. The testing is expected to be measured somewhere around 1.5 to 4 tons which is almost 10% strength of the bombs which were dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki during the second world war in 1945.

North Korea is believed to be working to develop a warhead small enough to fit on the tip of a long-range missile. Some experts say that North Korea has already created nuclear warheads for medium-range Nodong missiles that could strike South Korea and Japan.

Apart from this, what is the worst thing is that , if such advanced and catastrophic technology falls into the hands of some wrong people, it can cause a big disaster to the world and world peace. Now that most of the countries have been trying to develop their nuclear stock piles to scare the neighbouring countries, the race for this technology is growing.

But, the point here is to look at the RCA(Root Cause Analysis) as to why we such countries are going to upgrade themselves to nuclear warheads? Is it because of the sanctions on them or that they are fools and scared people? I dont think they are fools and scared, if they were, they would have not dared to challenge the world and do what they want. there cannot be a smoke without a little fire and similarly, its not just that all of sudden these countries want to develop their millitary. its a lot to do in the past and current oppressions as laid by some of the super-powers of the world. i can understand if the countries were involved in developing such technologies for solving the energy problems of their countries, but trying to develop just to power the millitary means that they do not trust their neighbours and their allies.

Why and what made them do to go against other major countries? this is something to be thought. but whats the use? almost every body knows what major reasons could be pertaining to those countries and neighbouring conflicts but yet cant do anything.
CATALYST countries who fuel such situations should be identified and kept away from the local conflicts. its good to be an arbitrator but not to side one country and neglect other.

Now the current worry is, if a small country like North Korea, opens up the nuclear war, then the impact would be a World War III and i dont think , we will ever have the World War IV in future as there would not be any world left out after such an advancement of the technology.

Some Funny Pics...

Recession Proof Jobs...

Folks,

Have you ever heard Recession proof jobs, like bullet-proof-jackets?
Well some analysts belive that there are few domains and industries which can be categorized as recession-proof. Let see what those are ..

1. Security: No Matter what the economy is, there would hardly be any cut in the security personnel like, police, law enforcement officers, customs, fire department, Shops/mall security etc. Rather there will be more security concerns during the peak of recession as the concern would be for increase in the crime rate.
2. Personal Care: Jobs like, hair-dresser, beauticians etc might not have to feel that crunch as people still tend to go them irrespective of the recession.
3. HealthCare: No matter what the market dictates, still people tend to take extra precautions and insurance to ensure that they dont fall sick and get hospitalized and run into major bills during this time of recession. and there would definetly be increase in the type of pressure borne patients.
4. Education: being a student would be the best thing in life and no need to worry for next semester or academic year as hardly drop-outs happen during the recession period. However, i have seen an increase in the number of students going to colleges and taking admission in various new course which would help them to secure a new career.s
5. Food-Industry: My Father used to say, this is the industry which will never fade away. We have to eat inorder to survive and we look for lesser expensive, yet better quality food even during the recession and this will ensure that the demand to be met and competition to increase , enables the jobs ofcourse at lower pays.
6. Sales & Marketing: Anything to be sold has to be marketed and revenue can be generated only by sales and thus, in an economy like now, we will have more pressure on sales and ofcourse maintaining the low salaries.
7. Accounting Services: For every expense made, there has to be accountability and accounts have to be maintained for everything. Like food industry, accounting is another never dying industry.

Every thing is common though, reduced pay is the most common...

My Radio - Melody Music

Hey Folks,

Now there is a reason for the music lovers, for not leaving my site...lol

My blog site is now equipped with 24x7 Music from all major bollywood hits. Switch on my site and enjoy the music... No Need to download, store or worry about spywares and popup which come up...

PS: If you are not able to play the music by any chance, kindly check your browser as this is tested successfully for Internet Explorer.

DECCAN CHARGERS - IPL 2009 CHAMPIONS

It was an exciting and thrilling low scoring match. Very difficult to predict who could have won this even till the penultimate over of the match. But it was the day for the Deccans, the team which were the last in the last IPL Season, have become the Champions this Season.

Kudos to Gilly and his team, who kept the cool to win this Season Championship.

Once Again, IPL Proves, T20 is unpredictable.

Congratulations Deccan Chargers...

Pehla Nasha.. Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander...too cool.

Nice one...

Kabobs - The Taste of Hyderabad

Hey Folks,

Other day, i went to Kabobs restaurant in Maple Grove to pick up some delicious Hyderabadi Biryani. I called them up spoke to the chef and told him what i need in biryani and got that customized as per my choice for spicy one...

When I reached the restaurant to pick my parcel which i ordered, i was greeted by the staff in a nice polite and humble way with a comforting attitude. The Order was ready, it was just 5 mins back onway, i had ordered. I thought in the begining, may be so quick, so i might not get the taste i was looking for. But, I repeat, But - When I reached home and opened my parcel - the immediate look reminded me the look of spicy real hyderabadi biryani.

Now, it was difficult for me to even wait a min to start, Jumped on it along with my friend ravi and then i said it aloud - Kabob Rocks today...

It was the same authentic taste of biryani which i can find in the hearts of hyderabadi restaurants. This American Restaurant, being managed and owned by hyderabadi couple is delivering the same taste today. Kudos guys... keep the same taste and make us feel home while eating...

NB: Kabobs, i am referring to is in the Maple Grove, Minnesota. check their website link http://www.thekabobs.com/Default.aspx

How to change the Home Page in Internet Explorer 7 & 8

Hi Folks,

Ever wondered how easy is it to change the default home page to your preferred one? Well its a simple and easily do-able task. just follow the instructions as discussed below.

Set the Current Web page as home page (in Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8)

• 1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Internet Explorer.
  
• 2. Navigate to the webpage you would like to set as the home page. Example: http://www.ashfaqblogs.blogspot.com/

• 3. Click the arrow to the right of the Home button , and then click Add or Change Home Page.
  
• 4. In the Add or Change Home Page dialog box, do one of the following:
  To make the current webpage your only home page, click Use this webpage as your only home page.
  •To start a home page tab set or to add the current webpage to your set of home page tabs, click Add this webpage to your home page tabs.
  •To replace your existing home page or home page tab set with the webpages you currently have open, click Use the current tab set as your home page. This option will only be available if you have more than one tab open in Internet Explorer.
  
• 5.Click Yes to save your changes.

Thats it.. quite simple.. Not much technical stuff involved.

Eco Tourism - Best thing to do in a competitive world

Have you folks been on any eco tours in india? I did once .. I was on this river godavari for the whole day experiencing the woods around near Rajamundry.

It was an awesome experience, though short, but was worth for a person like me who is busy in the city life amidst of sky scrapers. Best part was , No Phone Signals around. So nobody between me and mother nature.

I am not sure how many of us know that there are many such wonderful eco tours around the country and those happen to be the best ones and mind blowing. every lil care is taken is what is said by these folks who arrange such tours.

Before i take you around in some details about this tours, let me give you a brief about what is this "Eco Tourism"?

Ecotourism is entirely a new approach in tourism. Ecotourism is a preserving travel to natural areas to appreciate the cultural and natural history of the environment, taking care not to disturb the integrity of the ecosystem, while creating economic opportunities that make conservation and protection of natural resources advantageous to the local people. In short, ecotourism can be categorised as a tourism programme that is - "Nature based, Ecologically sustainable, Where education and interpretation is a major constituent and Where local people are benefited."

The declaration of several wildlife areas and national parks has encouraged the growth of the wildlife resource, which reduced due to the wildlife hunt by several kings in the past. Today, India has many wildlife sanctuaries and protection laws. Currently, there are about 80 national parks and 441 sanctuaries in India, which works for the protection and conservation of wildlife resource in India.

I would say, get onto plan your vacation to one such kind of toursim and enjoy midst the mother nature. enjoy those woods, that flowing crystal clear water, enjoy the culture of tribes around and many many others things.

I am really thrilled while writing this, i feel like going for one during this weekend, but i might not want to do so. Well I want my eco tour to be a successful one, so i would rather plan it properly and ensure i find a proper trip planner and service provider and gather all the information i need for my travel to be successful and then head for it. ofcours would promote my trip plan to my friends around as it would add to the trip to have some friends around while enjoying the beauty of nature.

My Favorite Song...

Hey time for some music. I love this song a lot and hope many of you too...

There are ofcourse many others which are the better ones, but i liked this one today..

have a nice time...

Swine Menace!!!! Be-Ware....

Hey Almighty.... whats this deadly pandaemic - Swine Flu.

It all started from Mexico and now the whole world is showing its signs. WHO is planning to raise the alert level to 6 from 5. This shall be the worrying fact as yet, we do not have any success in creating the vaccine. People are working hard to get this sorted.

I have been keeping a track of this in the United States, A country where the technology is highly advanced than anywhere around. But sorry to hear that we are still fighting to get a vaccine to stop this spread.

Its after all a Flu, however, a deadly one which can spread very fast and difficult to be contained as of now. As of today, the stats on the US CDC website shows - 5123 cases with 5 deaths.

Recent news reported that in the far east , in Japan, Swine flu is confirmed. So this shows how deadly this is spreading. I am more worried for the third world countries as the reporting system and containment for such kind of diseases is very low there.

For India - I heard the government had piled up the stocks for the medicine for this flu for about 2 million doses(not sure if i remember it correctly). but do you think is this enough for the world's second most populous country?

I m clueless what i want to spread the message to my readers. Should I scare them with this flu? or should i make them aware to take precautions and maintain good hygiene?

Remember folks, Health is wealth - so please take care of it and follow the precautionary measures seriously. avoid any kind of contact with the people who are sick and if you fall sick, just dont neglect and visit the doctor.

Hope we get away with this serious issue of the world.

Medical Negligence Continues in Govt Hospitals

Health is Wealth. But oflate, the governtments are forgetting this fact.

Recently there has been a case where in a Software Engineer suffered permanent disability due to the medical negligence at the government owned hospital - NIMS, in Hyderabad,AP.
The victim suffered permanent disability in the form of paralysis and other complications, rendering him incapable of all normal chores after undergoing a surgery in Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences.

This is one of the case where it has been taken to the court till supreme court and the victim was granted the compensation of rupees 1 crore for this negligence. But how many of such cases do go to courts? and in the first place why does this happen? dont the doctors at public health institutions tend to forget the oath which they take before assuming the practice? or have they thought the citizen of india doesnt deserve to get the better health care?

Government has been spending huge amounts on health infrastructure and supplies. however, i feel the check and balance of the final result of this spending is not being considered seriously. This is one of the cases which is making the people of this country to look for the private corporate hospitals, which take away your fortune but still take care of your health.

A tax payer like me gets frustrated when i hear such kind of news. Health is the basic necessity which is to be provided by these government agencies and if they lack this basic duty then whats the use of having such a system in place?

Atleast this software engineer was strong enough to take the hospital to the courts but what about the people who are suffering daily in villages, small towns who are not educated and who do not know where to approach with their grievances? Does government has a grievance cell or body in each town for such medical negligence? I am not aware about such things if any and i dont many of us know? and if it doesnt have any, dont you think we should have such ?

Its high time that the concerns of health are taken care seriously. Life is very precious, whether its about a common man or a rich man. Life is life. and these elected representitives and the public service officers have the responsibilities to ensure that the basic amenities as mentioned in the constitution has to be provided to each and every citizen of the country, irrespective of caste, religion, status etc.

Why dont our course curriculum in schools and colleges teach us how to fight back for our rights? Why do we fear of taking our grievances to next level and get them sorted out? are we aliens in this country? Is this country not our home? if it is, then why do we fear in our home? We all know the answers. we tend to live in our own comfort zone. we believe, to just take care of the problem when it comes directly to us. we do not tend to forsee the problems ahead and dump that saying, its not my job. If Gandhi would have also thought so while fighting for independence, we would have not enjoyed the liberty and freedom which we enjoy today.

Every book should have the basic rights and responsibilities mentioned in the first page, so that our students do not forget that. Government should take initiatives like RTI to promote the knowledge about the grievance cells, governing bodies, consumer forums. Having said this, it doesnt mean that a circular is posted at the Secretariat gate. Like how it is said, Success doesnt come to you, you have to go for it, similarly, information has to flow throw a major channels. Media should play a vital role in getting these things done.

I can write hundreds of pages on this, but its useless, until we like-minded people take some care to spread the awareness about the rights and responsibilities of every citizen of India.

Hyderabad Secretariat buys purified H2O

Look at the fate of the city of nizam; Adminstration of Supplying purified water for drinking purposes to the people of city do not trust their supplies and rather buy the purified drinking water. I read this today in the local newspaper that the CM and their babus are spending about 20 lakhs every month to drink the purified water. so pity!!

So what does this means - It means they dont care for the human life - errrr.. they dont care for common man's life .

An ideal situation would have been the one, where in the politicians and all the officers drank the tap water to ensure that the water purification was being taken in seriously. but these guys rather stay away from that and treat themselves as the most important people for the mankind.

Basic truth is that, why should these politicians be blamed.. its the common man who has to be blamed; if he cannot stand for himself then nobody will stand for him. Wish our people know what their rights are and how to go for it.

Intel gets fined - Customer Still the King...

European regulators slapped Intel Corp. (INTC, Fortune 500, the world's largest chipmaker) with a record fine of $1.45 billion after a nearly eight-year long antitrust case.As per European Commission, Intel violated the European anti-trust laws by following the unethical business practices to keep the competitor AMD out of business.

I would welcome such a judgement which ensures a check on the business giants not to run monopolies and at the same time not to play unethical tactics with the competitors. This would impact the end customer in a big way. Not just IT industry but rather we should have a good and powerful governing body which should act on such cases where in the customer is made to suffer because of the foul plays. Not just fine, we should also impose the ban of the business in that region for some time so that next time no other business house will even think of getting that way.

I m happy with EC on their judgement and at the same time sad that it took almost 8 years for the comission to give the ruling. We should expedite all such cases and show the business world that unfair means to achieve business will land them in trouble.

Having said this, ruling or fines will not just stop these actions, there have to be a proper and stringent Audits and compliance checks.

However, this ruling comes as boon for all the business houses who want to ensure a fair play in the market.

EC proves - Irrespective of competiton, Customer is the King.