...Wanderer....

Tips for team dinners and trips

2008-05-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

Off lately I have been working on a project to build an insurance aggregator. It was fun to build. Seeing it working across different WS implementation was great. After our multiple implementations to support multiple insurance products I was invited to join some project parties, dinner and trips. Here are some of the tips that you might need to go out with your team:
1. If your team is lead by an experienced organizer be on time and on location, else added at least 30 mins of buffer to your journey and confirm that your team is on the way before you leave. Clock of team member never works on BST or IST or GMT, it’s always WABL (Will Always Be Late). Some time back we had been to Winsor castle, person who organized this was great; everyone on time, pre-booked tickets, and well planned travel route ….it was just WOW. Of lately I was invited to a dinner, I was bang on time. Person who was supposed to lead us from station was late, team arrived in parts and spares and to add to the humiliation on being on time and at location, police had to whisked me for stop & search…great ..simply great..:(
2. Carry necessary ID proofs all the time
3. Take maps, print outs of routes that you travel (http://www.tfl.gov.uk or from http://maps.google.com )
4. Take liquids, fruits and food.
5. Be prepared to buckle out if you don’t like the place or the company.
6. Be away from PJ’s and mocks, it never does good for anyone to mock about someone. I guess the golden rule applies here as well “criticize the code, not the developer”
7. Drive home safely, if you had some drinks take public transport rather than driving your car.

Dell: direct delivery from Hell

2007-12-31T11:45:00.000-08:00

I have been using systems manufactured from Dell for about 7 to 8 years. Corporates I work for use Dell, even now I have two Dell Latitude D620 series laptops issued by my company. I never had problem with them, Right?...Ok..to be fair i had some glitches now and then but i could some how make them work. Dell hardware supported Linux, what else could I ask for? So I thought of buying a Dell laptop for my personal use.

But my opinion on Dell was about to change on 27th November 2007 when I place an order for Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop. Dell delivered me a 1720 laptop on 3th December. Laptop delivered to me was faulty, LCD latch and 9 cell battery was loose and they rattle rather than closing firmly.

I contacted Dell that on 5th Dec describing about the problem, and this is how I got myself into so called DELL-HELL.

On 6th I got a call from Dell customer service that they would send me a replacement laptop immediately and they would collect my fault laptop on 17th. On 17th Dec they picked up old laptop but I am still fighting to get an replacement.

As for now I am paying Dell for "Hardware support" for a laptop which I do not have. It is 6 weeks now and Dell customer care is intended to drag this issue more...:D

Bottom line is that Dell may be great for corporate users who have *special* contact with Dell to provide quality support but for home customers Dell is truly direct delivery from HELL.

Wish I had gone for Apple rather than Dell

Email conversation between me and Dell customer care:

hi,

Thanks for your response, apologies accepted.

CAN DELL PLS CANCEL THIS ORDER. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN DELL ANYMORE

Cheers,
~basav

-----Original Message-----
From: UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST [mailto:UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST@dell.com]
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 11:23 AM
To: Mahadevaiah, Basaveshwara
Subject: RE: Case #: xxxx- Email Customer Care -Incorrect (xxxx)

Dear Basaveshwara Mahadeviah ,

Thank you for contacting Dell online customer care.

I understand your situation and apologize for the delay in the order delivery.

There is a delay with your Replacement Dell Order Number xxxxx, so we had to change the Estimated Delivery Date to 18 Jan 2008

I can imagine your inconvenience and I?m sorry for this delay ? but it is due to an unexpected shortage of parts.

Customer service is very important to us so I have asked the production department to prioritize your order.

This means that as soon as the parts do become available your order will be one of the first to be completed.

The date provided to you is only an estimated delivery date and there is a high possibility that the order might be delivered before this date.

Kindly reply to this e-mail at the earliest in letting us know your decision to accept the order ,so that, I can check and do the needful accordingly from my end.

Thanks
xxxx

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Hi xxxx,
My order has got postponed again and AGAIN. Great..!!

I have lost my patience with Dell. Can Dell pls cancel my order and provide refund for the same.

It is a bit hard to understand, why Dell cannot do refund for an order if they cannot provide service?

Regards,
Basavesh

Note:
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/calitem.cgi?file=ADV0043-1011.txt
Section 3) Repair or replacement states that "the repair or replacement must be carried out within a reasonable time and without causing significant inconvenience to the consumer. If this does not happen or the repair or replacement is not possible, then the consumer can rescind the contract (claim a refund) or request a reduction in purchase price." Since Dell has failed to deliver goods twice, I am legally bound to ask for a refund.

-----Original Message-----
From: UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST [mailto:UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST@dell.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 12:29 PM
To: Mahadevaiah, Basaveshwara
Subject: RE: Case #: xxxxx- Email Customer Care -Incorrect
(xxxx)

Dear Basaveshwara Mahadevaiah,

My sincere apologies for all the inconvenience you might have faced regarding the delivery of the order.

Kindly note that due to huge demand for the order we are facing an unexpected shortage of some parts at our manufacturing facility and hence some of the orders are getting delayed.

The date provided to you i.e. 03 Jan 2008 is just an estimated delivery date and Dell will explore everything possible to complete the order at the earliest.

We will keep a track of the order and will keep you updated on the order progress.

Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any other queries.

Kind Regards

xxxx | Customer Care Expert | UK & Ireland | xxxx@dell.com

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Hi,
Brief summary of what is happening with me & Dell:
1. Placed a laptop order on 27th Nov, got delivery by 3rd Dec 2. Reported that laptop was faulty by 5th Dec 3. Was promised that I would received a replacement laptop before they would collect the faulty laptop, didn't happen..:D 4. It was communicated to me that I would get a replacement laptop by 20th Dec 2007. Now the system shows that I would be receiving replacement laptop sometime during 3rd Jan 2008

What have I lost:
1. ONE MONTH PRODUCTIVITY
2. Have lost 1 month warranty
3. Lost 1 month in 3 year hardware support 4. Market value of the laptop

So, I have lost my interest in Dell.

I WILL NOT BE IN A POSITON TO ACCEPT DELIVERY OF DELL 1720 LAPTOP IF IT IS NOT DELIVERED BEFORE 20TH DEC EOD (Pls see below on how I got this date..:D ).

Please cancel the order and help me in getting refund for the same.

Thanks,

Cheers,
~basav

-----Original Message-----
From: UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST [mailto:UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST@dell.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 1:37 PM
To: Mahadevaiah, Basaveshwara
Subject: RE: Case #: xxxx- Email Customer Care -Incorrect
(xxxx)

Dear Basaveshwara Mahadeviah ,

Thank you for contacting Dell online customer care.

I have requested the collection department to arrange the collection on 17.12.07.

The replacement order xxxxx is In Production and the estimated delivery date is 20 Dec 2007 .

If there are any further concerns ,please do let me know , I would be glad to assist you.

Thanks
xxxxx

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Hi,
Thanks for the update, can you pls confirm that you would be collecting laptop from me on 17/12/2007.
It was confirmed to me that I would get delivery of relpacement laptop before collecting the old laptop, is it still true as the delivery date now stands at 20/12/2007

Cheers,
~basav

-----Original Message-----
From: UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST [mailto:UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST@dell.com]
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 1:05 PM
To: Mahadevaiah, Basaveshwara
Subject: RE: Case #: xxxxx- Email Customer Care -Incorrect
(xxxxx)

Dear Mr. Mahadeviah,

Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.

This is to inform you that the replacement order is in production and the estimated delivery date is by 20/12/2007.
The new order number is xxxxx.

I would register your email address to an automated system where in you would receive email once the order is shipped out of manufacturing unit.

Should you have any queries please send an email to me.

Thanks & regards

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Hi,
I was supposed to get a confirmation on this on Friday, any input on when I would receive my new system and info on how I can track the delivery would be great.

Cheers,
~basav

-----Original Message-----
From: UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST [mailto:UK_CC_HSB_DHS_POST@dell.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 10:13 AM
To: Mahadevaiah, Basaveshwara
Subject: Re: Case #: xxxxx- Email Customer Care -Incorrect
(xxxxx)

Dear Mr Mahadevaiah,

Thank you for contacting Dell customer care.

With reference to your order number xxxxx, we have dispatched a new replacement system to you.The dispatch number for future reference is xxxxx.

As per our conversation over the phone the old system will be collected on
17/12/2007 from the office address.

If you have any other queries or I can assist further in any way, please do not hesitate in replying directly to this mail and I will be glad to assist you.
Kind Regards,
xxxxx
Dell Customer Care - UK
Monday - Friday
9 AM - 6 PM

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
*** PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT WHEN REPLYING ***
*** This is a feedback Message from Dell Online Customer Care. ***
************************************************************************
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Explanation-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hi,
I received my dell inspiron 1720 laptop. I have started to use the laptop but have found that both LCD latch and battery both rattle (they are loose), they should be firm. I have company latitude D620 laptop both lcd and battery are placed firm in this laptop.

pls see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPrxVSazDDI , issue described there is similar to mine.

How do I get it fixed?

Cheers,
~basav

******************************************************
Referring URL
:http://support.euro.dell.com/support/emailcustomercare/emea/index.aspx?c=uk
&l=en&s=gen

Date Submitted:05/12/2007

Ninne Nera Nammi Nanu Raa.....

2007-05-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

Ninne Nera Nammi Naanu Raa O Ramaa Raamayya...song is composed by Shri Tyagaraja.

I heard this song time back in a telugu movie, song it that movie was fusion. I wanted to hear the original classical song. Finally I have got hold of this song, it is avaliable at my site http://basavesh.net/mp3/class/Ninne_Nera-Yesuda_K_J.mp3

This is one of those song which just makes you sing..:D

Ninne nera nammi nanu raa.....

Ps: If you want to more info/learn the song pls visit
1. http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/Homepages/shivkuma/music/ninnenera-panthu.htm
2. http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/Homepages/shivkuma/music/ninnenera-detailed.mp3

Watching Kannada movie - Mungaru Male in London

2007-04-15T03:58:00.001-07:00

It was a good to watch Kannada movie Mungaru Male in London.
Its theme is same old Love-Love, but has some good songs like Onde Onde Sari and Anisuthide. Pretty good ha...!!

For 'Y' Kannadigas I have uploaded two songs on my site ..:D
(For playing click on link, to save right click link and save as..)

1. Onde Onde Sari
2. Anisuthide

From Honnavar (India) to Sandown(Isle of Wight, UK)

2007-04-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

I posted my previous trip to Honnavar (Karnataka State, Shimoga District. Sandown & Shanklin of Isle of Wight is The Honnavar of UK.

Some of the interesting places to visit are:
1. Alum Bay
2. The Needles
3. Costal walk from Sandown to Shanklin
4. Carisbrooke Castle

Bacteria’s prove that LIFE can exist without essence

2006-10-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

By all accounts, they shouldn't exist. But two bacteria are beating the odds, living despite the absence of genes considered to be essential for life.

Read more in here

..just proves that there is a lot of stuff which human race might never know

Google Buys Garage Where Empire Began

2006-10-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

Google Buys Garage Where Empire Began...

Good going guys..:)

Torvalds is not happy with GPLv3 process

2006-09-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

Read more at http://enterprise.linux.com
Troubling times for FOSS

Ubuntu releases evolution…

2006-09-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

read post 'Ubuntu releases evolution';
very funny;

temples, can we affort them..?

2006-09-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Was reading natty’s blog ‘The Linga Park’ on Kotilingeshwara, just recalling my thoughts about the place.

I spend much of my childhood in K.G.F (about 30KMS from Kammasandra), I did frequently visited this place, but all I could see was ‘wealth’ being wasted to build temples (which by the way are big architectural joke, just not comparable to traditional Indian structures).

It would be good to see people putting in more wealth in creating more startup’s, building old age homes, building rural hospitals, play grounds, more libraries and good theaters (not movie theaters)

I recall a vachana by Basaveshwara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basavanna) which goes something like:

People who have money build temples
what can I, a poor man, do?
My legs are pillars, My body itself is the temple
My head is the golden tower
Please listen 0, Kudalasangama
The static has an end (/boundaries); But the dynamic has none (/limitless).

Find more info on vachanas at http://www.factbites.com/topics/Vachanas

Krrish...the brain crush

2006-08-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Tried to watch Krrish (http://krrishthemovie.com/) ; i couldn't sit tight for more than 30 mins, had to take 2 aspirins to ease my pain; its is a serious brain crusher;
I have no idea how people could watch these type of movies.
The film was more like one of 'Mills and boons' novel; shit the new Bolloywood suck!!

Cleaning uranium waste with bacteria

2006-08-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

found this page on Cleaning uranium waste with bacteria; this is nothing less than cool!!!
We need to find more ways to undo the harm that we have done.

Microsoft redesigns iPod packaging

2006-07-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

see this hilarious clip at video.google.com;
probably we need to do something like this about our outsourcing business too..:)

Quote from 'Good Will Hunting '(1997)

2006-05-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sean: Thought about what you said to me the other day, about my painting. Stayed up half the night thinking about it. Something occurred to me... fell into a deep peaceful sleep, and haven't thought about you since. Do you know what occurred to me?
Will: No.
Sean: You're just a kid, you don't have the faintest idea what you're talkin' about.
Will: Why thank you.
Sean: It's all right. You've never been out of Boston.
Will: Nope.
Sean: So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, "once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you're a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You're an orphan right?
[Will nods]
Sean: You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally... I don't give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from you, I can't read in some fuckin' book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't want to do that do you sport? You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief.

Watch it; it's cool..:) IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/) gives 7.8/10.
More quotes at http://www.mooviees.com/1414/quotes & http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/quotes

Ee Pariya Sobagaava.....

2006-05-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

The song 'Ee Pariya sobagaava' is an amazing one, this song is composed by Purandara Dasa(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purandara_Dasa), sung by Pt.Bhimsen Joshi (first half) & Dr. Balamuralikrishna (second half). In this song it feels like two maestros are in combat trying to prove whose voice is most melodious one.

You can hear this song at http://basavesh.net/mp3/Ee_Pariya_sobagaava.mp3; cool isn’t it..:)

This is one of my favorite song.

Ps:
'Ee Pariya sobagaava' in English translates to ‘this form of magnificence’; here Purandra dasa is referring to his Lord Shri Purandra Vitalla (an manifestation of Lord Vishnu)

no amarok on cygwin

2006-05-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

my friend nitin (http://chaosall.blogspot.com/2006/05/amarok-media-player.html) suggested to use amarok player; couldn't try it out as i am now struck on windows only desktop. http://amarok.kde.org/blog/archives/41-porting-amaroK-to-windows.html talks more about it;

it is really better to use cygwin on a win box rather than dumb windows apps;

Indian Microsoft Technology User...what the ****?

2006-05-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

http://indiamstechug.blogspot.com blog seems really funny; all these folks have is 'we did this, we did that, we had meeting(one more of them), we had snacks......'; come on folks get back to your IDE's and write good code under GPL;

I guess foss (http://foss.in/2005/)is much better;

~basav

Walk with Digambaras on a cool morning

2006-05-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

It had rained a bit heavily yesterday night, so today morning was cool. I walk from my home (near Gangadeshwara temple, Basavanagudi) to Ramakrishna asharma (approx 1 KMs) to catch up my Co. bus; today I had Jain digambaras to accompany me.

I just couldn’t help but see the calm, smiling face; I guess someday I too would roam free just like them.

"I have renounced the finite for the Infinite whereas you are renouncing the Infinite for the finite"

Shivansamudram - Talkadu trip - 1

2006-05-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Me & My Bike

Shivansamudram - Talkadu trip - 2

2006-05-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

Trip was good; my bike did 115KMps quite cooly..:)

My room mates..:)

2006-05-13T04:14:00.000-07:00

Minature Buddha, Beetle hotweels, Ipod (playing creed..:))

My Gurus (Tux, Buddha)

Naughty Suse fighting with Tux

Lisp in a box.....!!

2006-05-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

try out lispbox (http://www.gigamonkeys.com/lispbox/), it is really good;
you can get book 'Practical Common Lisp' to read online here;

lispbox, cygwin can really may working on windows OS a bit less painful;

~basav

ps: i like Ubuntu more than any scrappy windows, ubuntu is a better debian distro

Hosur Road - My Co. Bus - Rain -Traffic jams

2006-05-10T19:05:00.000-07:00

It was an unbelievable 2 hrs 30 mins on Hosur road; I still don’t know why I am still stuck to E-city, I guess the following quote explains it

These walls are kind of funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, gets so you depend on them. That's institutionalized. They send you here for life, that's exactly what they take. The part that counts, anyways.

From The Shawshank Redemption (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/quotes)

~basav

Really miss MS

2006-05-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

Was listening to Ms Subbalakshmi's songs for most part of the day; it's hard to find singers like her these days who sing just for the pleasure

“Sri Venkatesha Suprabhatham” sung by her is an beauty;

Is India in babu's pocket?

2006-05-03T06:07:00.000-07:00

I perfectly agree with you Nitin (http://chaosall.blogspot.com/2006/04/why-my-generation-would-like-to-move.html).
It does scare the hell out of me and brings the big question "is india in babu's pocket?"; are these guys saying that India doesnt need smart guys;

Feel very sorry and let down.

Performance Testing nightmare

2006-04-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Recently I was working on a performance engineering exercise for one of our client, it was awful. These are some of my findings :

Don’t ever test code written by people who have just landed on to the job a Software Engineer; it is a nightmare.
Don’t try to explain people that profiling help’s; they will just hit back saying that code works just fine on their integration box
Don’t argue with Project Managers about expected response times

Other than these things ensure that code the you test is actually the latest, yes there will be at least 4 parallel release (first with developer, second Integration testing team, third with client and forth with you)

yANa continued....

2005-07-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

there was more to yANa than posted at http://pandita.blogspot.com/2005/07/yana.html

yANa was cleaner, greener and quiter than most of the other places i have ever been; i felt pretty amazed at community work that has been done; whole place was mostly plastic free apart from coke and pepsi bottles (pretty bad ha..!!); i think this is one of the places that we can proudly give it to the neXT generation;

Sirsi town too was quite a lazy place. I literally fell in love with green and rocks....:)
People too haven't got that busy-look yet and they had all the time to talk, think and feel about their little town.

Thank god these towns don't have places like MG road and Forum(in bangalore) so i didn't find any hi-fi folks will all their good dress, pep talks and crazy looking bikes.

i am planning to visit this place again sometime in mid of november along with Honnavar and karvar on my Fierro bike.....:)

frying a frog

2005-07-20T22:55:00.000-07:00

If you drop a frog into a pan of hot water, that frog will immediately react to the heat and jump out of the pan. But if you carefully place the same frog in a pan of cold water and then slowly raise the temperature a degree at a time, the frog will accept the change, perhaps without noticing it, and stay in the water until it is literally killed by the heat. Change has been the order of the day.

this is from "Surviving and Thriving in a Changing Business Environment" by Charles A. Sanders, M.D., Chairman, Glaxo Inc (April 24, 1994) presented at Walker College of Business