Kannanb Writes

KERALA4u.in dont forget to visit this new ezine on kerala

2006-10-31T08:31:00.000-08:00

The new site http://kerala4u.in has been started. If you are a tourist who has ever visited kerala I request you to share your experience through this site.As far as I Know this is the first ezine excluzively about kerala.
If you are a keralite,please enrich this site to be used by the world.

Kannanb Writes

2006-10-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

Why Reuse a Square Wheel? On Using Unaudited Code From the Net

Why re-invent the wheel? We do not write our own code!! The young software engineer was beaming. We just search the net for code and use the code in our software. we may need a slight customization. "Do you understand the code you use?" I asked. "No, what is the need? Always it will be several lines and we will just check whether it works correctly!!
I was amazed!! Is software industry all about cutting and pasting and customizing!! On an enquiry I found that possibly this was happening in many places. In time pressure, software developers do not have time to code or even check the code inside out. They reuse uncertified code from the Internet!!
What are the disadvantages of this approach?
Firstly, there is no guarantee that it will work in all situations. Some times the code written by somebody may give unexpected results. Secondly, you cannot document the code in your own style because you do not know what it contains. Third is the question of copyrights. Finally you may end up with a product containing thousands of lines of code, which violates copyright laws. Also continuous use of such code degenerates your coding skills.
But the worst of this is the security point. The code you download may contain malicious instructions or code. This code may do a lot of unwanted things at unwanted times like transferring information from your site to somebody, stealing your mailing list and displaying an advertisement . Also even though not malicious, the code may not be secure, allowing for attacks.
So what are the precautions to be taken?
1. Before reusing a large number of lines of code make sure that the code is from a trusted source , and it does not infringe intellectual property rights.

2.As far as possible, perform an inspection of the code to understand the structure of the code and document it according to your company’s standards.

3. Scan the code for any insecure elements, or malicious code. A security expert can do this before allowing reusing the code.

4. Put such trusted code in your code library so that it can be reused with confidence next time, clearly documenting the source, name of the person downloaded, and comments.

How to get rid of your worries: 5 golden tips and a warning

2006-01-29T00:34:00.000-08:00

Suresh was a worried person when he came to me . Sir what if I dont get placement ? I feel that I will fail in the coming exam. I dont know how my family will face this! It seemed to me he was imagining all problems and getting very much worried!! This is the case of many of us; we keep worrying about events that have only remote possibility to happen. Once a friend of mine put on footwear and later knew that a dog may have bitten it the day before. The moment he knew it he began to worry; what if my leg had an unseen wound and the dog was a mad dog? Added to this was the doubt what will happen if he takes a vaccination and there is a reaction to it? Finally he had to consult many doctors to convince that he was worrying for nothing!! In this short article I try to give five methods to avoid unnecessary worries.
1. Be in the present:
When a thought train begins or when you find that a thought train carries you away, intentionally come back to the present and look at a tree or beautiful or interesting scene in the present and think about it.
2. Analyze:
Get the facts and analyze them to see whether your worry is well founded. In many cases you will find that you are worrying for nothing. Also if it is problem with an emotional factor you will benefit very much from looking it from an outsiders perspective, or even in the perspective of some other person. Another way is to look at the problem from a future point of time. You will find changed dimensions of the problem by this.
3.Think positively:
Positive ideas and constructive thought have great power, while negative ideas and destructive thinking poison your mind. Whenever you find that you are slipping into negative thoughts, make a conscious effort to replace them with positive thoughts and positive feelings.
4 Become Engaged. It is often told that an Idle mind is devils workshop. An Idle mind is just like a monkey, moving to unnecessary places. But if you engage yourselves in activities, your worries are forgotten and you are better off. Find a hobby or creative activity which will detract you from your worries.
5. dont get isolated. Talk to other people, not about your worries but about them, their plans and their views. Also assume the role of a patient hearer. When you find that you are sharing their problems and trying to solve them, your view will be changing from a worried man to a problem solver. Also you may find that your worries are petite compared to their real problems!!
Warning : Never use intoxication as a solution of your worries. It will increase the depression and also cause more damage.

Managing elder subordinates: 5 ice tips

2006-01-28T23:34:00.000-08:00

My subordinates are very experienced and older than me . How do I control them? ramesh asked me. He was just 26 and working in a managerial position in a multinational company.

Ramesh's problem is not isolated. Many times ,young managers feel unhappy and embarrassed by elder subordinates. This results in total dissatisfaction of the employee and also bad work atmosphere . But you can avoid this by following the five principles given below.

1. Be soft but firm.

Elders often get irritated by a harsh tone from a young manager. But you can be convey the same feelings in a calm cool voice . This will not hurt him.
For example for a late coming person, the question "why are you late today?" can be put in many ways some of which hurting and some very gentle but firm.

2. Try to understand their problems.
Elders may have many problems which may seem irrelevant to you. This may include health related problems,family matters etc. A boss who understands them is more liked than a person who is indifferent to them and demands work without consideration.

3. Value the experience.
Many times the experience of an employee can be useful in handling situations. You as a manager can get their opinion about the problem at hand and try to improvise on the solution. Also discussions with elders valuing their opinions will be very much helpful to you in maintain a relationship.

4. Give them the pride by delegating.
After some time you get a feel of the capabilities and and limitations of each. If you find a subordinate capable you can make him feel a position by delegating important work to him. Only thing is that he should not have a feeling that you are delegating because of your incapability.
5. keep your cool.
Inspire of all these ,if you find that the situation is tense or unpleasing. try to keep your cool and handle it. It any even be better to leave it as it is for some time before you handle it. A gap may reduce the tension in the atmosphere
#post

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Making money over the internet: A 5 step formula By kannan Balakrishnan

2006-01-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

Making money over the internet: A 5 step formula

Getting rich is the dream of many. And internet is a good medium to get rich fast. But one have to do a great deal of homework and consistent effort to get rich. In this short exposure Kannan Balalakrishnan, the great Indian writer tells about the five step procedure to make money using internet.

Step1. Have a basic knowledge about internet.
Internet is a vibrant medium. It is also highly dynamic and evolving. What is selling today may be considered garbage tomorrow. So anybody planning to do an internet business should have a basic knowledge about internet, its evolving trends and the possibilities.
Step2: Get a business idea:
If you think that you have ingenuity, originality and enough time, you can workout your own business idea. Or if you are ready to research a little you can get enough articles discussing original business ideas. If you are a butterfly on the internet, you can adapt the idea from a successful business site (of course without infringing the intellectual property rights) and make your own variations of it. If you are still lazier you can approach a consultant for the purpose. The important thing is that you must have an idea.
Step3: Work out the idea to minute detail.
An abstract idea like I should have a site selling books will not fetch you money. So many things have to be decided upon. What content you should have on the site, how you interact with customers, how do you prevent frauds, how do you advertise your site and so on. Another very important thing is the user interface .In all these things a consultant may be of help to you, but if you want to learn and innovate he may be a hindrance too. This phase is a little time consuming, but it lets you weave dreams about your business. Also it is advised to document your design dreams. because these forms the blueprint of your business.

Step4. Implement the business:
Once you have the complete idea of a web business you must start implementing it. If your site permits you can go for an incremental implementation, starting with a minimum set of features and adding new features gradually. This will help you to start earning from an early stage. The advertisement can go side by side. In many phases you may have to get external help or advice.

Step5 Constantly improvise.
As I have said earlier trends in internet are changing at a rapid phase and if you do not make changes in the interface and working style of your site will not be liked by people. So you must constantly watch competing or similar sites and evolve your site over time. The feedback from the users is a good indicator in this regard. Also you must be willing to diversify ,expand and even divert your business according to market forces and user needs.

I would like to get your feedback regarding this article. Please feel free to mail me your opinions.

Kannan Balakrishnan is an Indian writer. He maintains a blog http://www.wbforu.blogspot.com which contains his articles as well as articles of selected authors on web business. His email is kannanb@post.com. He also gives advice on internet business related matters

Making a cool Business web site: Five great IDeas

2006-01-26T02:26:00.000-08:00

Doing business over the web has many advantages. First of all you have got a round the clock business. Secondly your business is no longer confined by your location. But what I consider the greatest thing of all is the freedom you enjoy. You can work and earn from the coolness of your home. No superiors, nobody to ask you questions: a really free bird you are. In this article I will try to introduce the concepts of five kinds of websites you can easily design. The Ideas are so general that anybody can adapt it to your taste and improvise. Your creative talents and imagination can implement these ideas with an unlimited number of variations, giving you a wide range of opportunities. I do not discuss techniques of generating traffic and building an income from these sites. That will be told separately.

1.Place or location sites
Tourists all over the world are eager to get up-to-date information on places they want to visit. People of a place are generally anxious to know about things happening around them. So if you can make a site on a particular location, your neighbourhood or a place nearby or even a distant place likes London it will be a good idea. Only thing is that you should search for and find useful information which is not available elsewhere. Generally such sites have a static part and a dynamic part .Static part deals with content that change slowly, while dynamic part deals with events and even creative thoughts that are updated frequently . Using a good combination of both can help you win the hearts of many. We discuss place sites in a separate article

2. Fan sites: Sites centred on great personalities is attracting many people. The main advantage of these types of sites is that you do not have to go out for information. A good search on internet will often result in thousands of sites about the personality. Then what is your job? You have to arrange the information in your own way that people find the content you provide more interesting and well organised. Also you can interpret the facts in your own way and arrive at interesting conclusions. If the person is alive options are much more wider and a little research may make your site unique. Again the many ways of generating income from a fan site will be discussed separately.

3. Theme sites: These are more general than the first two. Here we concentrate on a particular theme and build a site around it. The theme can be anything, like chess or fashion or movies or anything imaginable. You can provide interesting facts about the subject, History of the theme, current status, interviews, controversies and what not!! As I have mentioned earlier this is a place you can display your ingenuity and original thinking.

4. Trade sites:
Trading has a long history. Everybody wants to buy or sell something. This is the relevance of trade sites. These sites provide a global market place for buyers and sellers. You can choose any type of item to sell and allow people to add items to your site. This will be initially free but later a fee may be imposed. Trade site can be constructed in a variety of ways, and closely related are matrimonial and job sites. Again the options are limited only by your imagination.

5. Community sites.
Often people of a community or institution or company ,want a common place to interact and exchange ideas. Also there may be many people and institutions who constantly interact with this community. The official website of the community will have always limitations. Imagine the barber nearer to your company trying to interact with the employees through the official website. So an unofficial website of the community have high potential of attracting viewers from and outside the community. Selling and buying inside the group is also a possibility. Again possibilities and variations are endless.

In this short exposure I have tried to identify five areas where you can build a website with minimal expertise. Your comments on these topics are always welcome. Also if you want help or consultancy in building a profitable web business feel free to contact me.

2005-11-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

hello everybody I aM VERY UNHppy that nobody reads or comments on this blog? Why it is so?

How to buy a used car : Five golden rules

2005-11-02T02:16:00.000-08:00

{This wastyped by Mr.Biju K.K ,thanks a lot to him}
Many people, especially middle class, in countries like India goes for
buying a second had or a used car. But this is not so common in western
world where car is a common vehicle. But I India people used and re-
used things to their maximum longevity. This article discuss five things
to be considered when buying used car. This is no way an exhaustive list
but general guidelines.

A background of the previous owner must be checked

The job ,age , personality and family details of the previous owner of
the car gives clues about his driving habits and hence the condition of
the car. For example of a person uses the car only to drive from home to
near by office , there is a good chance that car is in good condition.

B check the genuineness of the papers

The registration certificate and insurance papers must be checked
carefully. They can tell you lot of if details about the car history if
you have purchasing from a trusted network selling used cars, this can
be avoid up to an extent

C Use the service of the trusted mechanic

many defects acumen are transparent to an ordinary person are easily
visible for the mechanic a good mechanic can tell whether the car has met
with an accident on the part , he can also infer a lot about the
condition of the car. The mechanic must be a person trusted by you,
picking a random mechanic may.

D Test drive the car

The cat should be taken for a test drive to ascertain its road behavior.
The test drive should be drive under various road conditions and care
should be taken to notice any unexpected noise. It is good to have the
mechanic with you on a test drive special car should be taken to check
the working of the gear, light ,breaks etc

E Compare prices

You should compare the prices with those in the market and use this
information for a bargain . in bargaining you should be objective ,
pointing to the defects noticed, but should net try for under profit
,when may have advise effect on your character
typed by Mr.Biju K.K ,thanks a lot to him}

How to utilize criticism: Five silver tips

2005-11-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

[ People often fear and dislike criticism bad comments or insults, but
these things can be used by us in a variety of ways . This article gives
five tips of using such adverse comment to work for you ]

When Rekha joined our college she was very sensitive to criticism, she
would cry and get upset when the slightest insult or criticism was
encountered from her teachers or classmates.

Many of us spend a lot of worrying over things told about us by others.
Many relations are broken because of such unwanted comments. But
criticism is like cow dung. Seen from the proper perspective, it can be
highly useful and some times it can be used as a tool. In this short
exposure five such applications are elaborated.

I Criticism help you retrospect

If somebody tells something bad about your behavior, the first thing that
may come to your mind is rise or dislike. But if you set aside this
emotional barrier and look at the facts, you may find that there is some
element of truth in the comment. In some other classes you may discover
that your actions and words are interpreted in the wrong way. This gives
you an opportunity to modify your behavior or adopt your actions for
better life.

II They can be used as a tool for understanding people

Looking at comment from a different angle, one may deduce the real
intention of the commenter. Sometimes he or she may have some hidden goal
for which he makes the comment. Once I had a friend who used to comment
that I was a miser. I would get emotional and spend money on a treat.
Later I recognized that his aim was precisely that he was spending less
and making others spend by this trick.

III They give you resistance

When she left the course, Rekha could with stand almost anything. What
happened? I wondered. Taking to her I gathered that continuous exposure
to comments has slowly made her bold and resistant to them. Similarly if
you live in a world of attacks, you will develop your personality with
the knowledge of hour to take them. That is you becomes tough. This
tough is one of the necessary conditions to victory.

IV They give you inspiration

If somebody says to me "I am sure that you do not have the ability to do
that " the comment is likely to inspire me to do that . Adverse comments
regarding your inability to do something with boost your sprit and help
you achieve things. In the history these are enough examples of this.
V They show that you are doing something useful

Nobody throws a store at a fruitless tree. So if somebody criticize your
deeds , it means that you are doing something useful. Looking through
this perspectives you may like criticism a bad comments or at least rut
hate them

{This was typed by Mr.Biju K.K ,thanks a lot to him}

Artificial intelligence : myths and realties

2005-11-02T00:35:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of myths, and also criticisms about the relatively
new field of computer science called Artificial intelligence(AI). Some
even believed that AI was the way to a rule by machines. Some say AI is
nothing but nonsense cladded in technical terms. In this article I try to
demystify this fascinating field to the common man
AI can be thought of as the quest of methods to make computers that have
intelligence. Since computers are currently nonliving things, we may
better think of it as the search for methods to extract intelligent
responses from machines.

Believe it or not Ai widely uses one of the methods which unsystematic
people like me daily uses in life: Search! Many problems are solved by
using searches. Kasparov was defeated by a machine only because the
machine could search faster and more efficiently, the sequence of
positions that could result from moves of it and the opponent. Search in
AI comes in many flavors like simple unorganized search to organized idea
based heuristic search. AI people use lot of jargon to mystify their
search methods like hill climbing, simulated annealing etc,.

Generally search is made on a network like structure joining the results
of various operations. This structure is called a state space or even
state space graph. differeant search methods crawl through this structure
in different ways for a solution.

Modern Ai programs also use a lot of memorizing. They call it a knowledge
base . But it is basically a set of facts or even rules stored in some
sort of database. Computers do knot have the common sense to know simple
facts like a man born in BC 1100 will not be alive now, or a mango cannot
have 300 ton weight. This is one of the bottlenecks in AI. No
commonsense!!

Also computers cannot do some things we do without intelligence. For
example it will be difficult for a machine to identify a cat in a bush
from the picture ,which even a four year child can do. AI have great
difficulties for routine tasks. What a contradiction!! a computer can beat
a grand master in chess, but cannot recognize a plastic mouse from a real
one.

Despite all its limitations AI is helping us a lot in various fields like
medicine, war, security and a lot others. About those things i will write
later

Keeping friendship: Five carbon rules.

2005-10-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

A good company is a blessing .But to keep a good friendship growing is
difficult .It is like growing a delicate plant. Much care and attention
are needed to maintain your friendship without breaking, especially in the
initial stages. In this article five tips for keeping your friendship
intact is given.
1. Listen to your friend:
People like the company of listeners . So if somebody starts talking
to you, listen, and show interest, then you will be liked. Also be
compassionate and have a heart to his problems and sorrows. Be happy
with his achievements. In short a good friend must be a well-wisher.

2. Don't Boast.
Many do not like to hear people boasting .Also the you boast too much
About your abilities used Buick the on your children then people may
laugh at you internally and make you a joker. So it is advisable not to
boast too much to your friend.
3 Don't be too inquisitive.
People dislike persons who peep into their personal matters. So when
talking with your friend don't insist upon information he is
reluctant to give. This will make you liked by many persons.
4.Don't be too dependant on your friend.
Too much dependence, either physically or financially or otherwise may
breed a contempt towards you in the mind of your friend . This may
sabotage the relation in the long run. So as far as possible become
independent and helping to your friend.
5. Criticize in private and praise in public.
Nobody wants to be criticized in public or in their absence. So
if you find some criticism is due, give it in private, when you
two are alone, or in close company. Also take care that your
words doesn't cause unintentional hurting to your
friend.(sugar coat your criticism). On the other hand if you want
to praise your friend , do it in public. This will boost your
friendship.

Emotional problems: How to face them ? Five mantras

2005-10-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

Many of us face emotional set backs and problems in life. In this article I will try to give five golden rules to avoid collapse.

Think of the problem as if you are somebody else.

When you look at a problem from a different view, suddenly you see emotions change . That is when you try to view a problem staying away from it, you will be more calm and you can coolly look at the problem and find a solution.

Look at the problem from a distant future.

Assume that years have passed and now you look at the problem, you may find that the pimple you were worried most in your teen age is not at all a problem now. Similarly your current problem may not look that big if you prepare your mind to look at it from the distant future.

Get all the facts about the problem: knowing all the facts about a problem may at times help you to get rid of the fear and give the courage to face it. You may find that many of your fears are not well founded

imagine the worse that can happen has happened:

Looking at a problem from that point changes your attitude. You will find that the worse is not so much bad as you have feared. Now you can face the problem headlong and overcome it
5.Get help:
Often the help from a friend or relative will be a soothing. Even if you are not solving the problem, the knowledge that somebody is there to help and comfort you will be of great advantage. And remember the best friend you can get is the god itself.

2005-10-14T01:14:00.000-07:00

kannan Balakrishnan

Avoiding Quarrels :five golden rules

2005-10-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

Many quarrels starts from misunderstandings ,some from incompatibility of
personalities, some from emotional games and a few intentionally. Many
quarrels can be avoided by the following golden rules.
Rule 1 :Look before you jump
Before starting any quarrel,you should wait for a short time to control
your feelings. A composed man can react more reasonably and effectively.If
you want you can simulate artificial anger for the effect.
Rule 2: Jump into opponents Boots before jumping at him.
Think from his position and try to see his emotions and logic. Then
you may understand the situation better and may have some other feelings to
him other than anger.
Rule 3 : Try to avoid the quarrel by talk.
Some times instead of blaming a person,explaining your
situation to him may stop a quarrel. This is one of the most important
steps.
Rule 4 :Take words in their good meaning: Many times quarrels errupts
because of misunderstandings. So make sure that you have not misunderstood
other persons words. Try to find the good things in it
Ruke 5: Try a cut off
it experienced that ignoring the other party and cutting off personal
relations for some period saves the day and later paves way for peace of
mind. Reduce talks,xchatting etc with him,try to become more formal etc.
This will reduce the chance of a quarrel.

2005-10-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

kannanb

Making money over the net. A primer

2005-10-10T03:03:00.000-07:00

The art of making money from the internet is very intersting. In this article I give 5 golden tips for money making.

use advertisements

use link exchange

increase web traffic

sell your products

sell ebooks

In my next articles I will try to elaborate on these.

Are machines really intelligent

2005-10-10T02:47:00.000-07:00

Are machines really intelligent? or is it true that intelligence is thurst
upon them? Is the whole field of AI a facade?these are the questions that
haunt me now.
machines never seem to really understand what they do. even when
displaying the picture of the most beautiful thing in the world,they are
dealing with 0s and 1's,and have no sense of beauty. every thing is just
0s and 1's so how can one say that these creatures are intelligent? I
think they can at most be called virtually intelligent, In reality they
are not intelligent!!