Let me take you to a journey which you don't often see or which has fade away from main stream india.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Speed Thrills But It Also Kills (why 4 days a week work is good for society)
If you think that this post is all about advice, you are mistaken.
Here by speed i mean the rate at which some one or some companies wants to grow. Every company wants to grow at a very high rate. But we have our resources limited. So we look at technology to solve our this problem and make our resources more efficient. For example when in old days the cars were very less fuel efficient, the demand for oil was increasing. So we wanted cars that are fuel efficient thinking this will solve our problem of oil dependency. But instead technology put us into more grave problem. Since the cars are more fuel efficient, people are buying more cars and once again the oil dependency is increasing. Which defeats our initial purpose of less dependency. By increasing fuel efficiency by 30% (suppose) we are increasing the fuel consumption or demand as a whole by some X%. Technology makes efficient systems. Which means with same labour and efficient system we can increase the productivity. Increase productivity demands increased consumption. Now with recession around people have started consuming less. Which means we have a surplus of labour and people lose their jobs.
So what many feel is, increased efficiency should not mean increased productivity. Rather it should be increased leisure time for the workforce keeping the productivity in sync with the demand and making a change for less consumption. Just because the companies (owners, profit makers) wants to grow at a fast rate (high speed) they are inturn making the planet a dangerous place. Lets have more and more efficient systems and also have more time to relax. So that we do not harm the natural balance of life and nature. Efficient systems should give us more time in hand not more work to do.
So what about 4 days a week work ?? :) If in 1933 US decreased working hours a day from 10 to 8 then i think its time for 6hrs a day or 4 days a week . :)
If you have some comments on this then pls do leave some comments at the end.
My thoughts here are greatly influenced by "Work Less Party 32 Hour Work Week Campaign " To know more about it visit http://www.worklessparty.org/
Here by speed i mean the rate at which some one or some companies wants to grow. Every company wants to grow at a very high rate. But we have our resources limited. So we look at technology to solve our this problem and make our resources more efficient. For example when in old days the cars were very less fuel efficient, the demand for oil was increasing. So we wanted cars that are fuel efficient thinking this will solve our problem of oil dependency. But instead technology put us into more grave problem. Since the cars are more fuel efficient, people are buying more cars and once again the oil dependency is increasing. Which defeats our initial purpose of less dependency. By increasing fuel efficiency by 30% (suppose) we are increasing the fuel consumption or demand as a whole by some X%. Technology makes efficient systems. Which means with same labour and efficient system we can increase the productivity. Increase productivity demands increased consumption. Now with recession around people have started consuming less. Which means we have a surplus of labour and people lose their jobs.
So what many feel is, increased efficiency should not mean increased productivity. Rather it should be increased leisure time for the workforce keeping the productivity in sync with the demand and making a change for less consumption. Just because the companies (owners, profit makers) wants to grow at a fast rate (high speed) they are inturn making the planet a dangerous place. Lets have more and more efficient systems and also have more time to relax. So that we do not harm the natural balance of life and nature. Efficient systems should give us more time in hand not more work to do.
So what about 4 days a week work ?? :) If in 1933 US decreased working hours a day from 10 to 8 then i think its time for 6hrs a day or 4 days a week . :)
If you have some comments on this then pls do leave some comments at the end.
My thoughts here are greatly influenced by "Work Less Party 32 Hour Work Week Campaign " To know more about it visit http://www.worklessparty.org/
Sunday, August 24, 2008
In pursuit of happiness
I dont know whether you will read it till the end. :)
Everybody wants to live in a healthy society. We all dream of it. Dream? Yes we only dream of it because its very rare to find a healthy society now. But what do i mean by healthy society? I mean a place where people leave together with peace and harmony. Where people are ready to help each other. They love each other. I know when you read this you will think what rubbish? Love each other!!! These are only good words to listen but it is far from reality. Yes i agree with you. It is far from reality. But we are the ones who made it far from reality. It needs everyones contribution. A very small contribution of care to the poor of your society, respect to the elder, help to the needy. Now i believe you must have got that all these are nothing but giving love.
I was listening to Dadiji of Prajapita BramhaKumari. She just said a single line.
"Give peace, take peace; give love ,take love and give happiness and take happiness."
Its not at all difficult to practice this. Its just in our mind that we think all these are very difficult. Okay lets try one simple thing. can you just stay in peace for 1 minute? Just for 1 minute. Close your eyes and wish to be good. (Say this in mind with a calm voice "Meri ichha hai ke main acha banu"). try again and again until you feel peace within you. Once you find it, rest will follow. It will change your attitude. Things which you thought are impossible will be well within reach. We just need to aware and contribute to our society. We need to help in improving the morale of the society. Every step however small it is will count. its just that we have to take that step.
i am talking this at a time when Kashmir is against jammu, Russia is against Georgia,
naxalites and terrorism growing, african dying without food. But i still see a golden era coming. I can see everyone happy. At least lets try for that. At least try in pursuit of happiness.
Everybody wants to live in a healthy society. We all dream of it. Dream? Yes we only dream of it because its very rare to find a healthy society now. But what do i mean by healthy society? I mean a place where people leave together with peace and harmony. Where people are ready to help each other. They love each other. I know when you read this you will think what rubbish? Love each other!!! These are only good words to listen but it is far from reality. Yes i agree with you. It is far from reality. But we are the ones who made it far from reality. It needs everyones contribution. A very small contribution of care to the poor of your society, respect to the elder, help to the needy. Now i believe you must have got that all these are nothing but giving love.
I was listening to Dadiji of Prajapita BramhaKumari. She just said a single line.
"Give peace, take peace; give love ,take love and give happiness and take happiness."
Its not at all difficult to practice this. Its just in our mind that we think all these are very difficult. Okay lets try one simple thing. can you just stay in peace for 1 minute? Just for 1 minute. Close your eyes and wish to be good. (Say this in mind with a calm voice "Meri ichha hai ke main acha banu"). try again and again until you feel peace within you. Once you find it, rest will follow. It will change your attitude. Things which you thought are impossible will be well within reach. We just need to aware and contribute to our society. We need to help in improving the morale of the society. Every step however small it is will count. its just that we have to take that step.
i am talking this at a time when Kashmir is against jammu, Russia is against Georgia,naxalites and terrorism growing, african dying without food. But i still see a golden era coming. I can see everyone happy. At least lets try for that. At least try in pursuit of happiness.
Monday, August 4, 2008
What?... Where?..Ohhh MY God.. When? and finally ..Why?
What...? This was my first reaction when someone pinged me this "Bomb Blasts in bangalore, one feared dead". I was dumb founded when i heard this. I was in office and safe inside my cubicle. But i can feel the panic among the people on the floor at least. Everybody was trying to call and get information about there near and dear ones. Some one asked from behind where exactly it has happened? I checked out on net and was shocked to find it out that it is very close to my house. Every body was asking their reltaives, friends over phone to know when exactly it happened?
With telephone networks jammed, the tension was turning into more panic, chaos and fear. Then i thought to calm down my team mates. I told them dont tell any thing to people which we are not sure of because rumours at this stage can cause more danger again. But the news of one after another blast failed all my attempt and made me complete nervous. So i first called up my parents who were not aware of the news since they stay in a different state and told them that we are safe. But for the first time i experienced the trembling voice of my mother who was more frightened than me after hearing the news. Some how i consoled her and came back to my seat. Then suddenly i realised my team mate had gone to that area as he had some important work. All my attempt to reach him over phone failed. But by the gods grace he was also safe. That day i saw panic among poeple who were completely safe but rattled with bomb blast news.
I took a late bus from office to my home and but my mind was not not able to answer me one thing. Why? ....Why? What is that they will get from this?
The media was saying terrorist are giving bangalore police a wake up call. But why the hell they will do this? Some one said they want the police to stop acting against them. but do you think police will stop acting against them after this? Then started the eternal blame game from politicians. No one able to answer me why some one is doing it? Why..?
What the person has done wrong, who lost his 25 year old only son?
what is that small kid Yash has done, who has not only lost his father but also his childhood? i am still searching for that answer...why is some one doing this? what will they get by this?...DO YOU HAVE THE ANSWER...
WHY?
With telephone networks jammed, the tension was turning into more panic, chaos and fear. Then i thought to calm down my team mates. I told them dont tell any thing to people which we are not sure of because rumours at this stage can cause more danger again. But the news of one after another blast failed all my attempt and made me complete nervous. So i first called up my parents who were not aware of the news since they stay in a different state and told them that we are safe. But for the first time i experienced the trembling voice of my mother who was more frightened than me after hearing the news. Some how i consoled her and came back to my seat. Then suddenly i realised my team mate had gone to that area as he had some important work. All my attempt to reach him over phone failed. But by the gods grace he was also safe. That day i saw panic among poeple who were completely safe but rattled with bomb blast news.
I took a late bus from office to my home and but my mind was not not able to answer me one thing. Why? ....Why? What is that they will get from this?
The media was saying terrorist are giving bangalore police a wake up call. But why the hell they will do this? Some one said they want the police to stop acting against them. but do you think police will stop acting against them after this? Then started the eternal blame game from politicians. No one able to answer me why some one is doing it? Why..?
What the person has done wrong, who lost his 25 year old only son?
what is that small kid Yash has done, who has not only lost his father but also his childhood? i am still searching for that answer...why is some one doing this? what will they get by this?...DO YOU HAVE THE ANSWER...
WHY?
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Uncommon Ground
When i first heard the name UNCOMMON GROUND i was excited because it was going be hosted by Rohini Nilekani. Yes you are correct. She is wife of our very own Nadan.
This is a show on ndtv 24x7. It brings one person from corporate world and one more person from not for profit organization and they debate on very interesting topics that atleast made me understand many hidden facts about which i earlier thought that i know much. Mr. Anand Mahindra and activist Medha Patkar discussed about SEZ. It was an eye opener.
i believe this is a great a start from Rohini. In her own words
"There are no simple answers. But sometimes, the right questions are very important – What must we all do , each one of us, to get the government and the society we think we deserve? I hope the answers will emerge from a constructive debate."
you can watch it out evry sunday at 9:30 on ndtv 24x7.
you can also visit http://uncommonground2008.blogspot.com/
This is a show on ndtv 24x7. It brings one person from corporate world and one more person from not for profit organization and they debate on very interesting topics that atleast made me understand many hidden facts about which i earlier thought that i know much. Mr. Anand Mahindra and activist Medha Patkar discussed about SEZ. It was an eye opener.
i believe this is a great a start from Rohini. In her own words
"There are no simple answers. But sometimes, the right questions are very important – What must we all do , each one of us, to get the government and the society we think we deserve? I hope the answers will emerge from a constructive debate."
you can watch it out evry sunday at 9:30 on ndtv 24x7.
you can also visit http://uncommonground2008.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Datawarehouse Concepts... What is Slowly Changing Dimensions?
Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD)
Dimensions that change over time are called Slowly Changing Dimensions. For instance, a product price changes over time; People change their names for some reason; Country and State names may change over time. These are a few examples of Slowly Changing Dimensions since some changes are happening to them over a period of time.
Below i am explaining different types of SCD which i have learnt and have got definitions from net. To understand them with easy examples follow this link
SCD examples
Type 1 Dimension mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new dimensions and overwriting existing dimensions. Use this mapping when you do not want a history of previous dimension data.
Type 2 Dimension/Version Data mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new and changed dimensions using a version number and incremented primary key to track changes. Use this mapping when you want to keep a full history of dimension data and to track the progression of changes.
Type 2 Dimension/Flag Current mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new and changed dimensions using a flag to mark current dimension data and an incremented primary key to track changes. Use this mapping when you want to keep a full history of dimension data, tracking the progression of changes while flagging only the current dimension.
Type 2 Dimension/Effective Date Range mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new and changed dimensions using a date range to define current dimension data. Use this mapping when you want to keep a full history of dimension data, tracking changes with an exact effective date range.
Type 3 Dimension mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new dimensions and updating values in existing dimensions. Use this mapping when you want to keep the current and previous dimension values in your dimension table.
The Type 3 Dimension mapping filters source rows based on user-defined comparisons and inserts only those found to be new dimensions to the target. Rows containing changes to existing dimensions are updated in the target. When updating an existing dimension, the Informatica Server saves existing data in different columns of the same row and replaces the existing data with the updates.
To know more about datwarehousing concepts please check
http://www.learndatamodeling.com/
Dimensions that change over time are called Slowly Changing Dimensions. For instance, a product price changes over time; People change their names for some reason; Country and State names may change over time. These are a few examples of Slowly Changing Dimensions since some changes are happening to them over a period of time.
Below i am explaining different types of SCD which i have learnt and have got definitions from net. To understand them with easy examples follow this link
SCD examples
Type 1 Dimension mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new dimensions and overwriting existing dimensions. Use this mapping when you do not want a history of previous dimension data.
Type 2 Dimension/Version Data mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new and changed dimensions using a version number and incremented primary key to track changes. Use this mapping when you want to keep a full history of dimension data and to track the progression of changes.
Type 2 Dimension/Flag Current mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new and changed dimensions using a flag to mark current dimension data and an incremented primary key to track changes. Use this mapping when you want to keep a full history of dimension data, tracking the progression of changes while flagging only the current dimension.
Type 2 Dimension/Effective Date Range mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new and changed dimensions using a date range to define current dimension data. Use this mapping when you want to keep a full history of dimension data, tracking changes with an exact effective date range.
Type 3 Dimension mapping.
It loads a slowly changing dimension table by inserting new dimensions and updating values in existing dimensions. Use this mapping when you want to keep the current and previous dimension values in your dimension table.
The Type 3 Dimension mapping filters source rows based on user-defined comparisons and inserts only those found to be new dimensions to the target. Rows containing changes to existing dimensions are updated in the target. When updating an existing dimension, the Informatica Server saves existing data in different columns of the same row and replaces the existing data with the updates.
To know more about datwarehousing concepts please check
http://www.learndatamodeling.com/
No Time
I got the below poem as a forward mail. I am just sharing it here. I dont have any clue about the author.
" WAQT NAHI "
Har khushi Hai Logon Ke Daman Mein,Par Ek Hansi Ke Liye Waqt Nahi.
Din Raat Saudi Duniya Mein,Zindagi Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.
Maa Ki Loree Ka Ehsaas To Hai,Par Maa Ko Maa Kehne Ka Waqt Nahi.
Saare Rishton Ko To Hum Maar Chuke,Ab Unhe Dafnane Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.
Saare Naam Mobile Mein Hain,Par Dosti Ke Liye Waqt Nahi.
Gairon Ki Kya Baat Karen,Jab Apno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.
Aankhon Me Hai Neend Badee,Par Sone Ka Waqt Nahi.
Dil Hai Ghamon Se Bhara Hua,Par Rone Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.
Paison ki Daud Me Aise Daude,Ki Thakne ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.
Paraye Ehsason Ki Kya Kadr Karein,Jab Apane Sapno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.
Tu Hi Bata E Zindagi,Iss Zindagi Ka Kya Hoga,Ki Har Pal Marne Walon Ko,Jeene Ke Liye Bhi Waqt Nahi.......
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Cloud Computing
How will it be if we all get laptops and in the office we have no fixed chairs but only bean bags.
Even no need to come to office if you dont feel like. just work from your home because your office will no more have any infrastructure like server and network to connect. Simply get connected via net and start working. This is no more a dream. Companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon are making this possible.
Last month I attended a seminar on cloud computing given by Amazon. Its realy very exciting concept coming up. Let me share in nut shell what is this all about.
This is based on Saas(Software as a service) architecture and Pay-Per-Use service. Its like Amazon has its own server. I can register with Amazon to use that server. I dont have to buy my own server or infrastructure. I will just pay for what i use. If i need more, automatically depending upon my use, infrastructure will be provided. Its a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Security is also guarented.
Even no need to come to office if you dont feel like. just work from your home because your office will no more have any infrastructure like server and network to connect. Simply get connected via net and start working. This is no more a dream. Companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon are making this possible.
Last month I attended a seminar on cloud computing given by Amazon. Its realy very exciting concept coming up. Let me share in nut shell what is this all about.
This is based on Saas(Software as a service) architecture and Pay-Per-Use service. Its like Amazon has its own server. I can register with Amazon to use that server. I dont have to buy my own server or infrastructure. I will just pay for what i use. If i need more, automatically depending upon my use, infrastructure will be provided. Its a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Security is also guarented.
I wil come up with its pros n cons very soon.
Few Interview Questions (DW and informatica related)
1. What exactly is an informatica transformation?
2. What is active and passive transformation?
3. What is connected and unconnected transformation?
4. Is there any difference between pre-post session commands and pre-post sql commands?
5. Can we write an UNIX command in informatica?
6. What is SCD? Describe type1 and type2 SCD?
7. What is Confirmed Dimension?
8. What is the relationship between a dimension and a fact table? is it many to many to one to many?
9. What is simple star and multi-star schema?
10. How to avoid duplicates in informatica? At least 3-4 ways.
11. Difference between star and snow flake schema?
12. Explain the use of surrogate key?
13. What are the transformations that you have not used?
14. Do you have a distinct option in sorter?
15. If the problem is during target loading what all you can do?
16. What is OCI?
I will keep updating more questions and the answers in few days....
2. What is active and passive transformation?
3. What is connected and unconnected transformation?
4. Is there any difference between pre-post session commands and pre-post sql commands?
5. Can we write an UNIX command in informatica?
6. What is SCD? Describe type1 and type2 SCD?
7. What is Confirmed Dimension?
8. What is the relationship between a dimension and a fact table? is it many to many to one to many?
9. What is simple star and multi-star schema?
10. How to avoid duplicates in informatica? At least 3-4 ways.
11. Difference between star and snow flake schema?
12. Explain the use of surrogate key?
13. What are the transformations that you have not used?
14. Do you have a distinct option in sorter?
15. If the problem is during target loading what all you can do?
16. What is OCI?
I will keep updating more questions and the answers in few days....
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