True story from IIT Bombay...Batch 1992-96

One Night 4 College Students Were Playing Till Late Night and Didn't





Study For The Test Which Was Scheduled For The Next Day.





In the morning they thought of a plan. They made themselves look as





Dirty and weird with grease and dirt. They then went up to the Dean and





Said that they had gone out to a wedding last night and on their return





The tyre of their car burst and they had to push the car all the way





Back and that they were in no condition to appear for the test.










So the Dean said they can have the re-test after 3 days. They thanked





him and said they will be ready by that time.





On the third day they appeared before the Dean. The Dean said that as





this was a Special Condition Test; all four were required to sit in





Separate classrooms for the test.





They all agreed as they had prepared well in the last 3 days.










The Test consisted of 2 questions with the total of 100 Marks.










Q.1. Your Name......................... (2 MARKS)





Q.2. which tire burst................... (98 MARKS)










a) Front Left





b) Front Right





c) Back Left





d) Back Right.....!!!










True story from IIT Bombay...Batch 1992-96

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)

NEW DELHI: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is set to expand its ‘Interactive Personalised Television and Video Services’ (IPTV) services to 98 cities and towns across India by March 2009, besides planning a big broadband rollout across the country.
Launching the IPTV service in the Haryana circle on Wednesday, where the service will initially be available in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ambala in association with Smart Digivision, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goyal said: “We expect to have one lakh IPTV subscribers in the country by March.”
In IPTV service, digital content services are delivered using the Internet protocol (IP) over a broadband connection using closed network infrastructure. Separate virtual circuits for voice, data and video applications are created in the same telephone connection to deliver the ‘Triple Play Services.’

Ambitious plans



“We have ambitious plans for broadband expansion. In the next three years, we plan to add 30-lakh broadband connections every year, thus promoting our unique IPTV service also” said Mr. Goyal, adding that with its unique two-way capability, IPTV is generations ahead of currently available cable and DTH services. “IPTV gives choice, variety and flexibility to customers, besides a great viewing experience,” he added. Along with the broadband connection, BSNL will also provide landline connection.
According to BSNL’s Director (Planning & New Services) R.K. Aggarwal: “We have already made IPTV a reality in the country with more than 10 cities offering the services on commercial basis. We have planned to extent this facility to 98 cities by end of current financial year.”

Long term contract



The Smart TV Group, consisting Smart Digivision Pvt Ltd and Smart Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, has entered into long term contracts with BSNL for providing co-branded interactive video services to their customers in 54 cities across India.
HFCL promoter Mahendra Nahata, who is also the chairman of Smart Digivision Pvt, said the company’s engagement with BSNL reflects their long-term strategy to become consumers’ preferred entertainment provider. “We plan to have 30-lakh IPTV subscribers in next four years. Using high-speed internet connection from BSNL and Smart Digivision set top box, customers would be able to connect to a set of interactive features through home television and watch more than 140 TV channels,” he added.

Out-of-Office replies

Out-of-Office replies!!!!!!!!!!!!!






1: I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. Be prepared for my mood.

2: You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at all.

3: Sorry to have missed you but I am at the doctors having my brain removed so that I may be promoted to management

4: I will be unable to delete all the unread, worthless emails you send me until I return from vacation on 4/18. Please be patient and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.

5: Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first ten words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message.

6: The e-mail server is unable to verify your server connection and is unable to deliver this message. Please restart your computer and try sending again.

7: Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks.

8: Hi. I'm thinking about what you've just sent me. Please wait by your PC for my response.

9: Hi! I'm busy negotiating the salary for my new job. Don't bother to leave me any messages.

10: I've run away to join a different circus.

Miss India is Runner Up in Miss World Competition.

Miss Kerala's Parvathy Omanakuttan is Runner Up in Miss World Competition.

Miss Russia is declared MISS WORLD 2008.

Russia's Ksenya Sukhinova was on Saturday crowned Miss World 2008 after beating scores of international beauties, including India's Parvathy Omanakuttan who finished first runners up, at a glittering African extravaganza held here.

The 21-year-old Parvathy, who hails from Kottayam in Kerala, narrowly missed out on joining five Indian glamour queens Reita Faria (1966), Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan (1994), Diana Hayden (1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999) and Priyanka Chopra (2000) who had won the title.

The second runners up was Gabriel Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago.

More than 100 international beauties participated in this year's Miss World pageant, hosted by South Africa.

Sukhinova, who took over the title from Zhang Zi Lin of China to become the 58th Miss World, was crowned after a two-hour long spectacle that combined elements of travelogue and reality show. She beamed as she was crowned.

Sukhinova also had won the contest's top model award and was third in the swimsuit competition. Miss South Africa Tansey Coetzee had made it to the final five.

"I think I can help people and I want to help people and today if I walk away with this crown I will do that," Sukhinova told judges through a translator after being asked why she should be crowned the winner.

India's Parvathy, who had won the Miss femina contest in April this year, said: "In India and South Africa people are warm and warm-hearted. I felt at home in Johannesburg."

"Presence of two great leaders Mahatma Gandhi (India) and Nelson Mandela (South Africa) have influenced millions of people in both the countries," she said.

Asked About her experience in the beauty pageant, the 5 feet 9 inches tall dusky beauty said: "It is a great journey for me."

South Africa, who hosted the event for the sixth time, became the country that has held more Miss World pageants than any other. The event was broadcast to millions of viewers in 187 countries.

Beauties from 109 countries were whittled down to 15 semi-finalists with India, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, Angola and South Africa named the five finalists as the audience willed their favourite to go forward. -- PTI

Parvathy Omanakuttan

Parvathy Omanakuttan, Miss India 2008, is the First Runner Up of Miss World 2008. She was crowned at the Miss World Grand Finale at Johannesburg, South Africa on 13 December 2008. She was also the second runner up of Miss World Top Model contest held on 3 December 2008.

She was crowned "Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2008" in Mumbai on 5 April 2008.

Biography

She was born on 13th July 1987, is 5 ' 8.5" tall and has vital measurements of 32-27-36.

She is originally from Changanacherry - Kottayam, Kerala and now lives in Mumbai, ^[2] Her hobbies include: Listening to music, dancing, glass painting, reading, playing basketball and badminton.^[3]

She follows the lineage set by many Malayalis in the history of the pageant like Shweta Vijay (Femina Miss India Earth 2003), Annie Thomas (Femina Miss India Universe 1998), Nafisa Joseph (Femina Miss India Universe 1997), Mini Menon (Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1996) and Shweta Menon (Femina Miss India 1994 2nd Runner Up).

Miss World 2008

She represented India in the 58th Miss World Final which was held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 13, 2008 and finished First Runner Up. Kseniya Sukhinovia from Russia won the crown.

The final round question drew great applause for her quick wit and excellent reply. As to the reply to the question - "What being in South Africa meant to her ?", she replied confidently that it was like home to her. She drew comparison to the fact the people of South Africa was extremely hospitable like the Indians and also that both the nations have given such respected leaders like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi who have influenced the lives of millions. Also she added that both the nations shared such a wonderful diverse culture that made them both similar.

She won 3rd place for the Miss World Top Model contest on December 3, 2008. She was one among the top 10 Finalists of Miss World 2008 Beach Beauty contest, where Miss Mexico emerged eventual winner, and Miss South Africa bagged first runner-up and Miss Russia finished the second runner up.[1]

Miss India 2008

During the question and answer rounds in the finals, she was asked "The rate of divorce in India is on a rise. Is Western influence the cause of this or something else?". Parvathy gave the reply "Divorces are not a result of Western influence. At the end of the day, it is we who decide our worth. Marriage is not when one completes the other but is when both share their completeness. "

After Parvathy's representation in the Miss World 2008 Event, Simran Kaur Mundi will represent India in Miss Universe event and Tanvi Vyas would represent India in Miss Earth event. Parvathy also won sub-titles like Miss Photogenic, Miss Personality & Miss Beautiful Hair in the Femina Miss India 2008 pageant. She was one of the favourites to win Miss India title.

The above three events along with the Miss International event are considered most prestigious beauty pageants in the world and are called Big Four events.

Miss India South 2008

In a star-studded ceremony at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre held in December 2007, Parvathy Omanakuttan was crowned the first ever Pantaloons Femina Miss India South 2008. Winning the PFMIS 2008 contest got her direct entry in the top 10 finalists of the Pantaloons Femina Miss India 2008. She also won few more subtitles in PFMIS 2008. She was crowned as PFMIS 2008 by Ramya Krishnan, a famous South Indian actress.

Other pageants

Before winning the coveted PFMI 2008 and PFMIS 2008 pageants, she also won several other contests. They are "Miss Malayali 2005", "Malayali Manka 2005", "Navy Queen (Southern Naval Command, Cochin) 2006", "Miss SVKM (Sarva Vidyalaya Kelvani Mandal, Mumbai) 2006", "Lions Club Dreamgirl 2007" and "Navy Queen (Vizag) 2007".

Film offers

Parvathy has evinced keen interest to act in films.

Miss World 2008

Parvathy Omanakuttan has been crowned as first runner up in Miss World 2008

Failed! Technology Predictions

Failed! Technology Predictions

Throughout history man has been making predictions of the future. With the advent of technology, the predictions moved away from religious topics to scientific and technological. Unfortunately for the speakers, many of these failed predictions have been recorded for all future generations to laugh at. Here is a selection of the best.

"When the Paris Exhibition (of 1878) closes, electric light will close with it and no more will be heard of it." - Oxford professor Erasmus Wilson.

"Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia." — Dr Dionysys Larder (1793-1859), professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, University College London.

"[Television] won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." — Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946.

"Home Taping Is Killing Music" — A 1980s campaign by the BPI, claiming that people recording music off the radio onto cassette would destroy the music industry.

"Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever." — Thomas Edison, American inventor, 1889 (Edison often ridiculed the arguments of competitor George Westinghouse for AC power).

"How, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I pray you, excuse me, I have not the time to listen to such nonsense." — Napoleon Bonaparte, when told of Robert Fulton's steamboat, 1800s.

"The idea that cavalry will be replaced by these iron coaches is absurd. It is little short of treasonous." — Comment of Aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Haig, at tank demonstration, 1916.

"X-rays will prove to be a hoax." — Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883.

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." — A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876).

"The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys." — Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office, 1878.

"The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad." — The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer, Horace Rackham, not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903

"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." — Albert Einstein, 1932

"There will never be a bigger plane built." — A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people

"A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere." — New York Times, 1936.

"We will never make a 32 bit operating system." — Bill Gates

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." — Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), maker of big business mainframe computers, arguing against the PC in 1977.

10 LAWS OF COMPUTING...

1. When computing, whatever happens, behave as though you meant it to happen.

2. When you get to the point where you really understand your computer, it's probably obsolete.

3. The first place to look for information is in the section of the manual where you'd least expect to find it.

4. When the going gets tough, upgrade.

5. For every action, there is an equal and opposite malfunction.

6. To err is human...to blame your computer for your mistakes is even more human, its downright natural.

7. He who laughs last, probably has a back-up.

8. The number one cause of computer problems is computer solutions.

9. A complex system that doesn't work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine.

10. A computer program will always do what you tell it to do, but rarely what you want it to do.

What led to Lehman Brothers Holding's bankruptcy?

Answer could have been made more informative by giving simple answers to complex terms like "collateralised Debt obligations".

Nonetheless the answer explained the tragedy in simple terms

Lehman makes money by, among other things, lending money for home mortgages Obviously, the more money lent, the more profit.

In the 80's and 90's and into the early 2000's, real estate prices went up astronomically. Mortgage companies such as Lehman's saw a chance to make additional money by extending loans to questionable lenders (folks who would not have qualified under normal circumstances). They did this by creating what could be called speculative mortgages that allowed people of dubious financial means to borrow now at a lower interest rate and lower payments with the promise to pay back later at higher interest rates. Both Lehman and the home buyers expected that real estate would keep appreciating, allowing the borrowers to finance down the road when their incomes increased and the home value increased - these new loans would be at fixed interest rates and be more affordable to the buyer (see the part about increased incomes).

However, the market soon peaked. Real estate prices no longer went up at 10-20 percent a year. The first folks to get hit were the speculators - especially in such places as the two coasts where folks were buying second/vacation homes. Speculators plan on "flipping" land (buying now to sell it soon at a profit). When the market stagnated, investors could no longer flip and started losing money. These speculative investments soon went on te market, but with investors no longer buying, the market demand was reduced and the investors soon started flooding the market with these properties, driving down prices.

This soon snowballed as more and more folks got caught up in falling markets. Soon, all those speculative loans extended by Lehman and other banks hit the adjustment point and interest rates on the mortgages went up, some very severely, causing payments to go up. Unluckily, the rest of teh economy was stagnating and the expected income increases never materialized. Couple the stagnant wages with some drastically increased mortgage payments and people started defaulting on mortgages. The folks who had planned on refinancing found out that their homes had not only not appreciated, but had fallen in value. Thus, they owed more on their mortgages then the houses were worth. Now, no bank would refinance because banks won't lend more than a house if worth. Since folks couldn't refinance to more affordable terms, and couldn't afford to pay the new payments, they started defaulting.

Banks with higher performing, better (read more conservative lending policies) will be able to ride this out. Banks/lenders like Lehman, etc. who have higher levels of these speculative loans are being hurt as folks are getting foreclosed on and the foreclosure sales bring in less money then the person owed.