As an IT professional looking for new opportunities from time to time, what would recruiters/managers say is a good time period to stay with a company before moving on to bigger and better things?
Posted: July 1, 2011 Filed under: Technology | Tags: IT professional jobs opportunities tim schedule google job market Leave a commentI personally find that 6 – 8 months into a job tells you what your future is with the company, as many a time, during the interview process, you are either promised permanency, or, further development so as to move into higher teams, and the companies dont come through on it. I understand sometimes the companies cannot fit it into their schedule of things to do, but would that be enough time for the employee to say look for something better out there in the job market?
Geek Pride Day
Posted: May 26, 2011 Filed under: General, Technology | Tags: 2006, 2011, 26, 300 Geeks, Big Bang Theory, Bilimoria, blog, Day, Farzan, Geek, May, Pac Man, Pride, Spain, technomate, wordpress Leave a comment
All Trekkies and Techies have something to celebrate today on 26 May 2011, a day of where a geek can be a geek and be proud of it. Happy Geek Pride Day.
Who knew, that a stunt pulled by “Geeks” in Spain in 2006, would lead to a day being celebrated every year in honor of the “Geeks”.
1 Human Pac Man game, 300 Geeks, Spain, not something you would find put into the same sentence normally. But, well it is. So here is to the 300 Geeks who led us to today and the many more to come.
Happy Geek Pride Day!!!!!!!!
Handlers on Google Chrome
Posted: April 23, 2011 Filed under: General, Technology Leave a commentGoogle Chrome has a few handlers which give you information about itself.
| Url | Description |
| about: | version information |
| about:version | version information |
| about:plugins | installed plugins |
| about:flags | list of available experiments |
| about:histograms | histogram data submitted/uploaded via UMA |
| about:objects | about tracked objects such as Tasks |
| about:dns | dns records information |
| about:stats | secret stats page |
| about:credits | chromium acknowledgments and legal information |
| about:terms | terms and conditions |
| about:memory | information about current memory state |
| about:network | current network status |
| about:cache | mapping to the view-cache: internal URL |
| about:ipc | ipc information |
| about:gpu | gpu information |
| about:conflicts | lists loaded modules and shows any known conflict |
| about:internets | some cool OpenGL screen |
| about:crash | crashes the browser |
| about:hang | hangs the browser |
| about:shorthang | short hangs the browser |
| about:blank | blank page |
Hope this is helpful for those who do need it.
Integrating CRMs and ERPs – Pros and Cons
Posted: April 18, 2011 Filed under: General, Technology | Tags: 2006, 2007, blog, business, corporations, CRM, cross, ERP, evaluation, Farzan, finance, integration, inventory, leverage, metrics, patterns, products, prospective, technomate, up sell, volume Leave a commentRecently many businesses have been considering the path of implementing the integration of CRMs and ERPs. Up until now they have been implemented separately and have functioned beautifully that way for years. A thought that arises to the new pattern of the integration is that, why would a business want to take on the added cost or even consider taking the risks that go with bringing them together?
Just a background for people who don’t know what an ERP or a CRM is, an ERP system is used by businesses for functions like managing receivables, inventory and finance, whereas, CRMs are systems used to manage relationships, and most importantly hold data regarding sales, may it be straight forward new sales or even cross or up selling. Now it is true that a company could definitely leverage a lot by integrating or in better words bring together these 2 systems.
There are many reasons why this is also a good idea, if a business were to disregard the risks and take it as a challenge. Integrating the 2 systems would help companies with high volumes of sales to see almost immediate to immediate benefits with regards to the process of order-to-cash. Marketing will also be benefitted greatly, one such benefit is the insight into the customer base. The integration of the 2 systems will allow business to concentrate on their most valuable customers and work harder towards the prospective ones.
Integration of the 2 systems will also bring about a benefit for the business in terms of money as that is one of the key indicators of a successful business. This concept was first brought about between 2006 – 2007 if I am not mistaken, and even now most businesses including many major corporations still fear the outcome of this concept.
The most important question for a business to consider before making the decision is, Does CRM and ERP integration make sense for your business? The answer should be simple once the business evaluates their key metrics namely, sales order volume, returns volume, financial calls, accounting queries and most importantly the personnel in your organisation who deal with the orders. Once all these metrics are evaluated, consider the option again evaluating, profitability versus productivity.
If one outweighs the other, figure out which one is more important.
Whinging
Posted: April 18, 2011 Filed under: General | Tags: blog, change, discussion, Facebook, Farzan, general, optimist, pessimist, realist, technomate Leave a commentSo a friend asked me the other day, how do you whinge about something and not make it sound like you are whinging. Looking at him at that point made me wonder, did he read my previous blog? https://technomate.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/changing-the-way-things-work/ Stop talking about it, is what I told him, do something about it. Whinging will take you as far as that – “A Discussion”.
Things can only be whinged about once you have made an effort to do something about it. Also yes whinging is a good de-stresser helps you calm down and makes you feel good inside, if thats the feeling you are going after why try to make it sound like you are not whinging.
Most importantly, people need to stand for what they think is right and how things should work, but if something is working for the other 99.99% of people STOP TRYING to CHANGE IT!!!!
Food for thought – “The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change……the realist adjusts the sails!!” – Dont know the original author, but I have borrowed this from one of my friends on Facebook. I think this is something to live by.
Help Desking
Posted: April 16, 2011 Filed under: General | Tags: Farzan, helpdesk, IT, Service Desk, Technology, technomate Leave a commentHelp Desking – a term I am hoping will catch on. A term that explains what a Service/Support Rep does for a living. Helping. Many a time people forget that the person on the other end of the phone who gets yelled at does not deserve their frustration that they feel towards the policies or procedures of a company.
The same people who ring in at 8:59pm expect awesome customer service, whereas if they were on the other side of the phone or even working in a store, they would be shooting sparks out of their eyes at people calling up or walking in. My advise behave like you would want to be treated. Yoou wouldnt expect people to walk in yelling at you, then why call up and start yelling at someone who if there to HELP?
Technologically challenged people often call up frustrated, “my (object) isnt working”. Well get help or dont use it, but there is no need to call up and yell at someone who is helping you better understand how to work it out. They can very easily say if you didnt know why buy it?
Food for thought………….everyone is human, stop being an animal, sometimes even animals are more courteous.
How an RSA Token works.
Posted: April 16, 2011 Filed under: Technology | Tags: Farzan, RSA, Technology, technomate Leave a commentMy curiosity led me to find this. Hope it is helpful and informative.
The 6 digit code that you see on the token is generated using an algorithm that is existent in all tokens. The token also contains a clock and has a unique seed number. The current time and the unique seed are processed using the algorithm and produce the token code you see on the token. This is normally done 1 per minute. In this way a unique code is generated that appears to be random.
The server (Ace server), that is online and connected to whatever system you are logging on to, also knows the time and it also knows the unique seed number of your token. So it uses the same algorithm to calculate the code that you should see on your token. If they match then you are authenticated.
I guess the next question you are asking is what happens if the time is wrong on the token (or the server). Well this can happen and for that reason the server normally allows a 3 minute window. So it will calculate and accept passcodes based on the current time and a minute either way.
If the code is more than 2 minutes out and less than 10 then the server will recognise this code also but will ask for the next code as well to confirm you really have the token and didn’t just read it by chance on someone elses token.
If the time is slightly wrong then the server sets a time offset for the token and remembers that it is x minutes out. It then knows to expect this and has effectively synchronised the token.
Source(s):
RSA Security
The new i-Phone buzz
Posted: April 16, 2011 Filed under: General, Technology Leave a commentSo everyone has now started talking about the apparent launch of the new i-Phone 5 which is going to be launched in June. Why? June 2010, launch of the much awaited i-Phone 4, the 3G and the 3GS all came out in June of their respective years.
Whats so special about the i-Phone 5? Some say the aluminium body, some, the sleek design, more storage and blah blah. How many features in a phone are actually used on a daily basis? By a varied survey, 5% of them are used. Texting, calling, emails and listening to music, some may also add in some time to play games. What about the rest? flicking through screens using your finger/thumb. Innovative, but in almost every phone, tilt your phone and the screen moves to fit the screen in landscape mode, now a feature also in cameras, talking about which, the camera, doesnt do any tricks, yes the version 4 featured video recording for most phones.
My question here. What is so special about i-Phones that most phones do no have? At the risk of answering my own question and contradicting my previous statement about usage of features, APPs. The MIGHTY APPs, i-Phone a.k.a. Apple, now own 95% of the mobile app market, everyday a new app, every second of that day, an improvement/update. Apple has taken the market by storm. I can honestly say, if companies like Nokia, Sony, RIM, do no start thinking out of the box soon, the world will live on Apple.
Food for thought, an Apple a day keeps the doctor away, an App found on the i-Phone of one of my friends, treat yourself. An App that can tell you what exactly you need to do to treat yourself of common illnesses, just by you entering your symptoms. Simple and cost effective.
Just a thought……..keep tuned.
Changing the way things work
Posted: April 16, 2011 Filed under: General | Tags: Farzan, general, Technology 2 CommentsSo back with a little cynicism or not. It totally depends on how people view my views and opinions.
Now to a more common topic, changing the way things work. How many times a day do we feel frustrated and want to change how things work? Traffic lights, Railway crossings, mobile phones, computers, and the list goes on. Frustration can only take us this far. The right balance created by imagination and the will to change something often results in new discoveries.
I remember a few days ago, I heard someone at work suggest why can’t all this old computer equipment be changed, so we could have a fast computer etc. My question, what have you done about it? Have you even imagined going to your manager and saying, “Hey, my system’s old, its slow, and most importantly it slows my work process down. Can something be done about it?” No this is where we all lack the will to do something about it. In the hope that someday something will change just by you complaining about it.
The world started on the will to do something different than we were asked to. If Adam and Eve had listened then today the world would be different, on the other hand, sometimes telling someone something and them not doing it can also be deemed harmful. Food for thought here, think before you leap. Stop complaining, work towards the goal, discussion can only lead to pointers not actions.
The main goal, stop trying to change everything, at the same time stop going with everything given out to you. Find the balance.
Your phone, laptop and i-pad are dead. Can you make it through the entire day?
Posted: April 16, 2011 Filed under: General, Technology | Tags: Farzan, general, Technology 4 CommentsImagine a day where, your phone, laptop, and i-pad are dead (in this case no battery) I wont be cynical and suggest technology has been completely wiped out. That would be a sci-fi movie. Imagine its now 8am in the morning and you realise, last night you forgot to charge all your gadgets, you’re not carrying a charger either, and to make matters worse you work an hour away home. This is going to be the longest 1 hour of your life. The light at the end of the tunnel? Maybe someone at work has their charger that I could borrow.
I mean how dumb is it that someone forgets their charger…..hold on I just did. How am I going to make it through this day? Being the same as everyone, I would definitely have the exact same thoughts.
But here is the fun part. What has changed? Your phone is dead, use a pay phone, laptop out too, use the computer when you get to work and read the printed newspaper or book, its not different just have to move your hands sideways to change the page rather than click a button or slide your finger across the screen of your ipad.
How hard can it be to go a day without gadgets. I have done it and I am sure many of you must have done it too. Live the life to use gadgets and not the other way round. Food for thought for today.
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