tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-122759872024-03-07T19:11:14.961-05:00Just For KicksWriting is a talent. And so may be scribbling...Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.comBlogger277125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-62970771527087303232008-09-27T16:39:00.003-04:002008-09-27T17:07:51.403-04:00Ubuntu - installing and using lxsplitEver used <a href="http://hjsplit.en.softonic.com/" target="_blank">HJSplit</a> for file-splitting and joining? It supports multiple platforms and all are compatible with each other. While there is no HJSplit yet for Ubuntu, there is "lxsplit" which is the linux equivalent of HJSplit.<br /><br />Here's how you install lxsplit on your Ubuntu, fairly straightforward.<br /><br />1. Download and install these two Debian packages (using GDebi Package Manager or deb)<br /><br /><a href="http://ph.ubuntuforums.com/attachment.php?s=a08cd53a5d9101c323e05dee4b103024&attachmentid=22433&d=1168137542">lxsplit deb package</a> (command line)<br /><a href="http://ph.ubuntuforums.com/attachment.php?s=a08cd53a5d9101c323e05dee4b103024&attachmentid=22432&d=1168137542">gtksplit deb package</a> (GUI)<br /><br />2. Install 2 more libraries, libgtk2.1 and libgtk2.1-common, using Synaptic Package Manager<br /><br />3. You're ready to use - just type gtklxsplit in the command line and it opens up a easy to use GUI window that allows you to join and split files.<br /><br />paddu@home:~$ which gtklxsplit<br />/usr/local/bin/gtklxsplit<br />paddu@home:~$ gtklxsplit &<br /><br /><br />Just as HJSplit, lxsplit also uses the .001, .002 , etc. convention for the extenstions after splitting the files. So, files split with HJSplit in Windows can be joined together using lxsplit in Linux, and vice-versa.<br /><br />You will find these tools very handy especially when downloading/uploading huge files from/to the Internet. The storage websites like Rapidshare, MegaUpload, etc, all have size limitations per file uploaded for Free accounts. Most people use HJSplit (or lxsplit in our world!) to circumvent these restrictions. Enjoy.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com77tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-31748716979546103402008-08-17T22:21:00.003-04:002008-08-17T22:27:33.859-04:00MOSS to power Olympics portalMicrosoft Office Sharepoint Server <a href="http://www.ecmconnection.com/article.mvc/Microsoft-SharePoint-powering-Olympics-portal-0001" target="_blank">will be powering the search engine </a>on a portal that more than thousands of people will use to access information about the Beijing 2008 Olympics.<br /><br />Cool. Good win for Microsoft and MOSS.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-46691968249860721872008-08-17T21:56:00.003-04:002008-08-17T22:07:25.971-04:00IBM introduces eDiscovery to expand its Enterprise Content Management Solutions<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9QtUHHz7B9BQ9wYp5mWAxIcq2Eez8dDivL2_cuSJdX9E1TnFMDU-JEpyYbjZc3nPjXCzYVlytoP04vFR08jd1HrvGNbODyrzlPICnLZWUbDKpO40Ur6SUNm3Mh9qwF5uzxv-ow/s1600-h/ediscovery-530x140.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235673519878678930" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9QtUHHz7B9BQ9wYp5mWAxIcq2Eez8dDivL2_cuSJdX9E1TnFMDU-JEpyYbjZc3nPjXCzYVlytoP04vFR08jd1HrvGNbODyrzlPICnLZWUbDKpO40Ur6SUNm3Mh9qwF5uzxv-ow/s320/ediscovery-530x140.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Over and beyond FileNET and Content Manager On Demand, <a href="http://www.ecmconnection.com/article.mvc/IBM-adds-eDiscovery-to-ECM-platform-0001?atc~c=771+s=773+r=001+l=a" target="_blank">IBM just introduced </a>its new enterprise content management software <a href="http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/content-management/ediscovery.html" target="_blank">IBM eDiscovery</a> for its clients to meet legal discovery requirements. It is intended to help organizations to proactively take control of electronically stored information across the enterprise and help reduce eDiscovery costs and improve responsiveness to litigation.<br /><br />It is also expected to integrate with IBM (or FileNET's ?) records management technology.<br /><br />In industries like healthcare, auto insurance, financial services, which are regulated and are subject to litigations from time to time, eDiscovery and records management are key to success and reduce the costs of litigation. IBM, which is a big player in the ECM sector, with this product, is in line with taking things a step forward in the electronic documents world.<br /></div>Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-9638399197628791962008-08-17T21:30:00.003-04:002008-08-17T21:39:15.720-04:00Google maps blooper! Russia invades Georgia - Atlanta ! ???<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYE1vQio3vQ3fjp-HgNinhkE33ZQ0fiHSGu63JzcLZrDxNygMIpS92m7lhVUeqi0eIBOcbDmm8dmUbwqAlH9Tiw645ZcjO-gGpClFzWogVmKqcIYnSCHCWiwKLYruTN52tIC2jw/s1600-h/georgiagooglegoofsmall.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235666186568915810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYE1vQio3vQ3fjp-HgNinhkE33ZQ0fiHSGu63JzcLZrDxNygMIpS92m7lhVUeqi0eIBOcbDmm8dmUbwqAlH9Tiw645ZcjO-gGpClFzWogVmKqcIYnSCHCWiwKLYruTN52tIC2jw/s320/georgiagooglegoofsmall.png" border="0" /></a><br />Google Maps, when used in an Associated Press Report about the Georgia conflict (that's the Georgia near Russia of course) got mixed up and used the Georgia in the United States. Yeah, right. And this is the image they had in the report<br /><br />I tried Google Maps for "russians invade georgia" as my search string and <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=russians%20invade%20georgia&safe=active&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl" target="_blank">this </a>is what I get still.<br /><br />I think journalists will remember and laugh over this for a while. Google goofies.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-17130729956901824262008-08-17T21:19:00.004-04:002008-08-17T21:25:44.946-04:00Heights of security - using SMS to unlock public toilets in FinlandThat's what it's come down to. In response to an increase in arson and damage to public isolated roadside toilets, the transport authority in Finland <a href="http://www.cellular-news.com/story/29010.php" target="">has come up with a solution </a>(stupid ? but seems to work) where the user needs to SMS "open" (in Finnish) to a short code to open the door and use the toilet.<br /><br />The solution is as stupid as breaking into a public toilet and damaging it. Seems to work though, since they installed it in Feb 2008, or at least that's what they claim.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-62385800600893831522008-08-17T20:53:00.004-04:002008-08-17T21:14:18.951-04:00Smart self-service scales on the radar for future grocery storesGerman researchers have developed <a href="http://www.fraunhofer.de/EN/press/pi/2008/08/ResearchNews082008Topic5.jsp" target="_blank" closure_hashcode_="85">new self-service scales</a> able to automatically recognize fruit or vegetables placed on them. As says the lead scientist, 'The scales automatically recognize which fruit or vegetables are to be weighed and ask the customer to choose between only those icons that are relevant,' such as various kinds of tomatoes. These scales are equipped with a camera and an image evaluation algorithm which compares the image with other ones stored in its database. These scales are now being tested in about 300 supermarkets across Europe<br /><br />I think this is cutting edge. Useful ? Certainly, yes. Profitable ? Well, I'm not sure how much grocery stores would be willing to pay for this feature. But again, I'm not a big self-service guy when it comes to grocery-shopping, primarily because most often I cannot get it to work upto satisfaction and ease. I have to call somebody. Plus, I think entire grocery shopping should be done online, although I still end up visiting the store at least every week, because we're not there yet. Also, I don't see big lines in the self service stations which means the idea still hasn't taken off big. I do see value for grocery stores to go self-service or even enforce them for their customers - saves labor, time and money.<br /><br />So, I guess grocery stores still need to do a better job in selling their self-service lines rather than labored billing lines. Maybe offer a discount for a while? or some free coupons ?. On the flip side, these smart scales that are being researched on are a good idea and may make things easier for the consumers to check out faster and easier. Adoption period ? Not very near, IMO...let's see...The question is - when would you be ready to pick a grocery store over another because it has a smart self-service scale and makes checkout easier ?Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-52379124022724091392008-03-22T00:40:00.002-04:002008-03-22T00:42:44.974-04:00Bill Clinton sings about being back in the White House!No, just a prize-winning animation of that...;)<br /><br /><a href="http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/walthandelsman/blog/2008/02/animation_frisky_business.html" target="_blank">Do not miss the cartoon</a>Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-3071938717694983902008-03-21T22:40:00.004-04:002008-03-22T00:36:10.336-04:00Gov. Richardson endorses Obama ; Clinton tries her cheapshot!Gov. Bill Richardson from New Mexico, tha nation's only hispanic governor, today appeared with Obama at a campaign event in Portland, thereby endorsing him. Richardson dropped out of the Democratic presidential race in January. I think this is a great win for Obama, because this is certainly going to improve his stake with the hispanic population in the country, for whom Clinton has been the favorite so far. And that's probably why Clinton should be sweating it out.<br /><br />However, what surprises or annoys me the most in this thing is Clinton, who was also equally wooing Richardson's endorsement upto this point, on seeing this new endorsement, instead totally switched gears and has announced that Richardson's endorsement is not quite big a deal. Ha! You know what that sounds to me like? you see the girl you want walk away with another guy and you console yourself saying you wouldn't have dated her anyway! I think that was a total desperate cheapshot from Clinton. But hey, it's politics we're dealing with.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I think this is a great move for Obama's White House race.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-56048076910674456582008-03-09T14:29:00.004-04:002008-03-09T14:36:10.072-04:00NME Prize Disbursement - $2.1 M dollars!!!Got this mail today from National Magazine Exchange (NME) saying that I've won or am eligible for (was not clear) for $2.1M dollars as a sweepstake. It also said that the winner will be paid as 30 annual installments of $70,000.00.<br /><br />Haha! Looks good? Just another scam. Such scams normally give an -800 number and ask you to call back, don't even think to taking it further and doing it. My letter goes straight to the trash, there is nothing called free money. Be careful.<br /><br />One way to check on these numbers is to go to http://www.800notes.com and try to see if there is a match for the number you were asked to call, or you received a call from, in one of their forums and confirm that it could be a scam.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-28837131951760393832008-02-28T22:07:00.005-05:002008-02-28T22:26:20.546-05:00Important day for ECM!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1gEPxtZFdAIJSyakmmlwyYNYlC2YxRMWyxtxUBapw-B4v1_cJ3JXemZvWT0ma2mX0TQbPM1_Yh9cY8oZ1P02H2aAjBSs5WIwVt5gcM8p82OzYrsk4teXfFOig4iycVpOzEpMGwA/s1600-h/rhd_logo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1gEPxtZFdAIJSyakmmlwyYNYlC2YxRMWyxtxUBapw-B4v1_cJ3JXemZvWT0ma2mX0TQbPM1_Yh9cY8oZ1P02H2aAjBSs5WIwVt5gcM8p82OzYrsk4teXfFOig4iycVpOzEpMGwA/s320/rhd_logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172236377044058194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">(1) R.H. Donnelley</span> - the company behind Yellow Pages, drops 48% this evening. That means, they lost almost half of their company's market value in one day! That's some heavy selling!<br />Do you still use Yellow Pages? If you answered yes, you're probably among the last few ones to do so. People are moving more towards managing digital content, indexing and searching, and away from paper.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(2) AbitibiBowater, Inc. (ABH)</span> - the 3rd largest pulp and paper compan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKfWr1k6A3ZuRQi6TiQO-9IltUgt6LV_jBAqlbvnlStTSY7vppV7lgyCRVc956ycpjjVlviShNgf-bm9n0msjwBQ7H0db202Ur_GqPc651xEKxPAhuXMU7VGKvlxOrH4cDLe9cA/s1600-h/abh_logo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKfWr1k6A3ZuRQi6TiQO-9IltUgt6LV_jBAqlbvnlStTSY7vppV7lgyCRVc956ycpjjVlviShNgf-bm9n0msjwBQ7H0db202Ur_GqPc651xEKxPAhuXMU7VGKvlxOrH4cDLe9cA/s320/abh_logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172236480123273314" border="0" /></a>y in North America and 8th largest in the world, also reported a Q407 loss of $250 M, with losses in both newsprint paper and specialty paper segments widening from a year before. Stock down 10%.<br /><br />With more and more industries going paperless, like the news and magazines industry for example, there is more scope for ECM related products for scanning, e-faxing, ingestion, archival and retrieval of electronic documents, etc. The losses that these two big companies reported for Q407 clearly point in the direction of this trend. The Auto Insurance industry is also starting to make inroads into going paperless, if you've started receiving all your documents via email from your insurance provider.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-64013381586482736862008-02-28T21:14:00.004-05:002008-02-28T21:56:53.360-05:00AIG posts largest quarterly loss ever<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1USbkehyDdt1-zL6FEFLXq5CayeVkvFP-CToMB9XQMh3lHrzc491fMHLZUcUuU8Oddyn3bvjex8KFUMrDuNhsizEHicYOIFKLW9dEYAOj900CFpAA022a72LivJu2PT6gyIDzA/s1600-h/aig_logo_tcm20-1620.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1USbkehyDdt1-zL6FEFLXq5CayeVkvFP-CToMB9XQMh3lHrzc491fMHLZUcUuU8Oddyn3bvjex8KFUMrDuNhsizEHicYOIFKLW9dEYAOj900CFpAA022a72LivJu2PT6gyIDzA/s320/aig_logo_tcm20-1620.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172230329730105410" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=hotStocksNews&storyID=2008-02-28T232628Z_01_N28546561_RTRUKOC_0_US-AMERICANINTERNATIONAL.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-hotStocksNews-3" target="_blank">Reuters Uncut</a><br /><br />American International Group (AIG) Inc. today posted their largest quarterly loss ever when they reported their Q4 2008 earnings. They <span style="font-weight: bold;">hugely, hugely missed the Street's expectations </span>and reported a <span style="font-weight: bold;">$5.29 billion or $2.08 a share loss,</span> as compared to a profit of $3.44 billion or $1.44 a share during the year-ago quarter.<br /><br />While we would attribute it to write-down of derivatives exposed to bad mortgage investments, closer analysis shows that if they exclude capital gains, losses and hedging activities, they still had a Q4 loss of $3.2 billion or $1.25 a share, as compared to analyst expectations of a $0.15 loss a share.<br /><br />Their <span style="font-style: italic;">overall 2007 Annual Net Income dropped around 56% </span>from $14.0 billion to $6.2 billion. More breakdown details from their Q407 financial reports that they released today, according to their different segments -<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A. General Insurance</span> :</span> --2.9% to $2.11 billion (compared to Q406)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> a. Domestic Brokerage Group (DBG):</span> +14.1% to $1.66 billion<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">b. Personal Lines</span> : from +$79 million in Q406 to --$184 million in Q407<br /> - California wild fires<br /> - unfavorable loss reserve development in prior accident years - primarily in agency auto<br /> - increase in current year accident loss ratio<br /> - transaction and integration costs in acquisition of minority interest, 21st Century Group.<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">c. United Guaranty Corporation (UGC)</span> : From +$27 million operating profit in Q406 to operating loss of --$348 million in Q407<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">d. Foreign General</span> : +2.2% to $805 million in Q407<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">B. Life Insurance and Retirement Services</span> : Overall - Increased 9.2% to $2.66 billion<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> a. Domestic Life Insurance</span> (+)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> b. Domestic Retirement Services</span> (-)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> c. Foreign Life Insurance and Retirement Services</span> (flat)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">C. Financial Services</span> </span>- $10.25 billion operating LOSS (-)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> a. Aircraft Leasing</span> (+)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> b. Capital Markets </span>(---------------------------)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> c. American General Finance, AGF</span> (-)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> d. AIG Consumer Finance Group</span> (-)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">D. Asset Management</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> :</span> --11.8% to $458 million<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">E. Other Operations</span> : $400 million loss compared to $414 million loss in Q406<br /><br /><br />So, anyway - it seemz like the loss was distributed across all their segments, but heavily stemming from their Capital Markets segment. Other segments of interest to me, like Personal Lines, also reported huge losses, although they were positive last year on that. I don't know what they include in "Other Operations", but it looks like they are consistent in their losses in that segment - time to retire? Although it is nice to see that they've got their portfolio diversified with various insurance products (that's how they got to where they are now!) and hence were able to balance their risks/losses, I expect some spin-offs to come up soon, considering that they've been performing poorly in almost all the segments. Maybe they have been stretching it too far. Maybe it's time.<br /><br />Shares fell 2.9% in the after-market trading, after having lost 4% in regular day trading.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-58896312043951611302008-02-20T21:36:00.007-05:002008-02-20T21:49:18.876-05:00Hillary is like an inverted yield curve with liquidation threat<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyojE16q7T3D5g9_Q0Sj8XpaCA7lDNKKYRQ8tP_KvhyphenhyphenVlUVYyXnJpes_7_ljSlKdqw7pD27ImFe31jDen3WVZ5i2fZlzawZCT-W1AZigu3t3C2B2pEnc9KI5p3G6Ge3PWWeEKoyw/s1600-h/5_61_debate_obama_clinton_111507.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyojE16q7T3D5g9_Q0Sj8XpaCA7lDNKKYRQ8tP_KvhyphenhyphenVlUVYyXnJpes_7_ljSlKdqw7pD27ImFe31jDen3WVZ5i2fZlzawZCT-W1AZigu3t3C2B2pEnc9KI5p3G6Ge3PWWeEKoyw/s320/5_61_debate_obama_clinton_111507.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169258478167334018" border="0" /></a><br />...says supply-side economist and television personality <span style="font-weight: bold;">Larry Kudlow</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">CNBC: Kudlow and Company,weekdays 7 pm EST</span>). I thought that was a pretty interesting analogy. Larry says, and I agree completely, Hillary Clinton is finished. She needs to win in both Texas and Ohio in the upcoming caucuses. Although she has a chance in TX because of the strong hispanic population there, she does not stand a chance in OH. Obama has knocked her off. All her campaign investments gone, nevertheless she gave an interesting and tough, I must admit upto now, fight for the Democratic candidate. At the Republican side, McCain seems to be sailing smooth. In the last 10 years, Democrats have won the election only 3 times. Can Obama pull it off this year?<br /><br />And also goes down hopes of John Mack, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, behind his stupidity in endorsing Clinton, although her campaigns were not pro-business. Mack's organization was hit bad by the credit market sluggishness and now will pay the price for the Clinton factor.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-81067590775939228832008-02-12T20:43:00.000-05:002008-02-12T20:46:56.253-05:00Faxing thro' OpenOffice.orgFaxing made easy through OpenOffice, without the need for a win-modem. I haven't tried it yet on my Ubuntu, but recently I bought a Brother 4-in-1, and am certainly inspired to try setting that up for fax through my OpenOffice, it's the question of time. Will keep you posted if I succeed.<br /><br />But here's how to do it anyway - on <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/faxing-openofficeorg" target="_blank">Linux Journal</a>Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-67795952281532532402008-02-12T17:25:00.001-05:002008-02-12T18:29:21.808-05:00Things get worse for AllstateOn January 30th, Allstate <a href="http://ir.allstate.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=93125&p=irol-qii2007" target="_blank">reported their Q4 earnings</a> in which they stated that <span style="font-weight: bold;">their profit dropped almost 37%</span> on higher catastrophe losses and increased costs. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Net income</span> was $760 million, or $1.36 a share, compared with $1.21 billion, or $1.93 a share, in Q4 2006.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Revenue</span> declined 1 percent to $8.99 billion, from $9.1 billion a year earlier.<br /><br />So that means their <span style="font-weight: bold;">Profitability Ratio</span> (Net Income / Revenue) fell by 58.3% from 0.133 (13.3%) to 0.084 (8.4%). That's certainly not good news for Allstate.<br /><br />Allstate said unrealized losses from mortgage and asset-backed securities totalled $502 million due to illiquidity in those markets. Write-downs on those investments were $82 million.<br /><br />I took a deeper look at their Q4 financials. Their <span style="font-weight: bold;">Property-Liability combined ratio</span> was 95.9 (vs 85.7 Q4 2006), and if they exclude their catastrophe losses, their combined ratio falls down to 88.6 (vs 84.3 Q4 2006). For Q4 2007, their combined ration consisted of:<br />- Claims and claims expense ratio - 69.6 (vs 60.6 in Q4 2006)<br />- Expense ratio - 26.3 (vs 25.1 in Q4 2006 - so not much change here, that is good)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Property-Liability premiums </span>written declined 0.7% from Q4 2006, <span style="font-style: italic;">reflecting :<br /><br />(a) growth in standard auto (+1.5% WPs and +0.9% in #PIFs) and<br />(b) decline in homeowners (-1.3% WPs and -3.4% in #PIFs) </span><br /><br />Well, (b) was mainly due to catastrophe management actions including the increased cost of the catastrophe reinsurance program. Some more interesting numbers caught my attention, but these could be equally impacting for all players in the auto insurance fight.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(a) Standard auto property damage frequencies </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">increased 2.8%.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> And, paid severity </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">increased 2.2%</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(b) Bodily injury gross claim frequencies </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">decreased 2.8%,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> compared to Q4 2006. BUT, paid severities </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">increased 9.3%</span><br /><br />So, (b) brings out a nice trend that the severity paid per claim for bodily injuries has increased drastically compared to Q4 2006.<br /><br />Anyway, what does it mean to you? If you're an Allstate customer, there's only one thing you can expect in 2008 as a logical derivation from their current reports. Your premiums could very well go much higher! They have to do the needful to survive and continue to operate. So, if you may, take the cue and do the needful too...Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-70402374695177432752008-02-12T17:17:00.000-05:002008-02-12T17:22:53.306-05:00A mad ALLSTATE customer says..."........... <p> </p> I have been a loyal client of the [name removed] (Allstate Representative) in Colorado for over three years. The one time that I actually called her to make <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQvb9mYZLBUwjMMFKKGbF2hB0pL1HgQwnXr9j0CelHYXDyGtrAyZBqMyB7U5xfvyvMSW_rAtTTzbpEemJLZz8qF49Vjde6RTK4yhhTOssQKVPwXvNUJ1u6SUPGnBYds0hlSz-yQ/s1600-h/allstate_logo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQvb9mYZLBUwjMMFKKGbF2hB0pL1HgQwnXr9j0CelHYXDyGtrAyZBqMyB7U5xfvyvMSW_rAtTTzbpEemJLZz8qF49Vjde6RTK4yhhTOssQKVPwXvNUJ1u6SUPGnBYds0hlSz-yQ/s200/allstate_logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166222430210301042" border="0" /></a>changes to my policy, she hangs up on me.<br /><br /><a id="KonaLink1" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=21097#" target="_top"><span style="font-weight: 400; position: static;font-family:VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA;font-size:14;color:#b00000;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid blue; color: blue ! important; font-weight: 400; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px;font-family:VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA;font-size:14;color:#0000e0;" ></span></span></a>Allstate is more than happy to take your money but when it comes to customer service, they are horrible at it......."<br /><br />For the full story, visit <a href="http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=21097">My3cents here</a>.<br /><br />It is because of these kind of stories that I think, <span style="font-style: italic;">15 minutes may save you 15% or more on car insurance </span>and then this is what you expect to pay later!Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-1242371193812867072008-02-11T20:15:00.000-05:002008-02-11T20:22:15.177-05:00Breaking news! Another critical ubiquitous Blackberry RIM outage!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATKGqTwBYRhqjQoBUENEZCS2qvbqemWh3YTi3pI_rGUv2oJU8P9E00IzGtoQEghiRcsRudIgKwN6MXkeO3Z7w2f_Vg9ce-WQySFWMYB68mGiJLrtSnqV3MAICqldp1PIXU-JN5g/s1600-h/rimm.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATKGqTwBYRhqjQoBUENEZCS2qvbqemWh3YTi3pI_rGUv2oJU8P9E00IzGtoQEghiRcsRudIgKwN6MXkeO3Z7w2f_Vg9ce-WQySFWMYB68mGiJLrtSnqV3MAICqldp1PIXU-JN5g/s320/rimm.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165897494459522146" border="0" /></a><br />They are not the almighty! They need to fail too, only that everytime their outages hit the headlines, it ends up being majorly critical!<br /><br />Research In Motion had a critical severity universal outage this afternoon for their Blackberry email. Members from Verizon, Cingular ATT, or T-mobile or be it any - if you're using a Blackberry, you wouldn't be able to get to your email. They have no estimate on the cause, how many people have been affected or when services will be restored. Certainly it's not going to do well on their already sinking stock...<br /><br />More on <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7301675" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-75965699342327195842008-02-11T19:36:00.000-05:002008-02-11T19:39:39.721-05:00Cultural thing?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4B6UUvH1_WO0pYSLlNVTzbrZ5sqUBVOpAjAxMq20UeeAZMyBwh1W-eDFmq2BBo3bu7poyZIRG18GShKOBocXxvUKo365spA_gAveZopbeTp7UL2wWbMCdhjoxW1hyphenhyphen6M2vh30aIQ/s1600-h/bush_hands.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4B6UUvH1_WO0pYSLlNVTzbrZ5sqUBVOpAjAxMq20UeeAZMyBwh1W-eDFmq2BBo3bu7poyZIRG18GShKOBocXxvUKo365spA_gAveZopbeTp7UL2wWbMCdhjoxW1hyphenhyphen6M2vh30aIQ/s400/bush_hands.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165886387674094674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">US President George W Bush <span style="font-style: italic;">holds hands </span>w/ Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah while walking past some blue bonnets at his Crawford Ranch, 25th April 2005</span>Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-92212353751326582802008-02-11T19:24:00.001-05:002008-02-11T19:30:49.313-05:00Force India launches VJM01..for lack of better names<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35VwLM23XZ4fjvf6oRxnQFpoZzOhwFThQK61KgrhDD_VXYgvQPxS0BlupxSaS6POsuJtXnjZr2QX8gppQlsdoGVhuGNqc2A6mqcNN-bi2wcNusQnCFkEivn5Zsctn7mw06y1RJA/s1600-h/force_india_f106_opt.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35VwLM23XZ4fjvf6oRxnQFpoZzOhwFThQK61KgrhDD_VXYgvQPxS0BlupxSaS6POsuJtXnjZr2QX8gppQlsdoGVhuGNqc2A6mqcNN-bi2wcNusQnCFkEivn5Zsctn7mw06y1RJA/s200/force_india_f106_opt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165883149268753474" border="0" /></a><br />I was not sure if I didn't like the team name Force India, but am certain I don't like the car name VJM01 named after the sponsor Vijay Mallya, which is a repainted Spyker , although Ferrari-powered. Can't they think of something else? VJM01 ? blah blah...<br /><br />However, the latest 2008 car to join the Formula One tracks was launched in Mumbai, India and I look forward to the season start already and see how this car performs, with Fisichella behind its wheels!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/11/force-india-blings-out-the-vjm01/" target="_blank">Autoblog posted on it too</a>Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-17023087465919749622008-02-10T20:21:00.000-05:002008-02-10T23:25:56.084-05:003 Industry trends to change Web Content Management in 2008<span style="font-family:verdana;">Sitescore, the leading provider of .NET Web Content Management system, based on their research and customer experience, <a href="http://www.ecmconnection.com/content/news/article.asp?docid=24fa7b50-a7f7-4936-9c46-f09937791f2b&atc%7Ec=771+s=773+r=001+l=a" target="_blank">recently announced</a> that </span><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">three </span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sitescore.org/" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipMzWRHfgItDwB4mQUfsEPHVLrz8w8NdYhQpao283NVG4PGjw0v5OpJDXl0yz64k6cZnMNiRhvVHyyHdFOb_3O-YtlttDpKl8_ejSA08i31T5SHqCRs8-iN_tlAn0jydW3HZc1jw/s200/sitescore-logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165573074104818738" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">major trends are driving how enterprises are better leveraging web content management to create more compelling websites and provide better customer interaction.<br /><br /></span></span>(1) Integration of Web CMS into the Enterprise<br />(2) Growth of .NET Framework<br />(3) Adoption of Mobile computingPadmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-23674209185922805402008-02-10T19:32:00.000-05:002008-02-10T20:11:11.558-05:00White paper summary - What Legal WantsI read this white paper sponsored by Contoural, Inc. called, "What Legal Wants...and 7 things IT can do to meet Legal's needs". Here is the summary, in relevance to the Insurance industry and enterprise content management.<br /><br />Nearly all companies in the course of regular business activities become the target of lawsuits, which vary from simple employee wrongful termination to major litigations such as class-action lawsuits. Litigations, in fact, are a reality of doing business. In the Auto Insurance industry, a huge portion of the lawsuits that the companies face comes from their Claims division, as one may expect. The explosion of electronic documents, along with new regulations, new trends in litigation discovery and how end users handle documents are forcing organizations to re-think their document retention and discovery strategies. According to a recent study from UC Berkeley, more than 96% of all information of an enterprise is in digital format and even 70% of all paper documents are copies of electronic documents.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The different kinds of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) -<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NjJM4kTxkpmfcYpwYiHDCwZChxT_yP8KB0j-415hjDazMIOQlnIBsCyRSzePV074DjF5u_4JWwZC46hPaptjJ2X-b44J4IEvzjVh7TswximSdR56gDKZyvggOTkiW_xTZHvbQw/s1600-h/ecm_doc_classes.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NjJM4kTxkpmfcYpwYiHDCwZChxT_yP8KB0j-415hjDazMIOQlnIBsCyRSzePV074DjF5u_4JWwZC46hPaptjJ2X-b44J4IEvzjVh7TswximSdR56gDKZyvggOTkiW_xTZHvbQw/s400/ecm_doc_classes.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165518235962383378" border="0" /></a><br />I can tell in the Auto Insurance industry, we manage (scan, index, archive and retrieve) all these classes of documents which prevail as a result of the complexity of this data-driven industry.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is Discovery?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span></span>Discovery is the process in which both parties in a lawsuit discover relevant information concerning a case. Ordered by the court during the initial phases of a lawsuit, discovery can be required both of the plaintiff and the defendant. A business that receives a discovery request that calls for the production of electronic and other documents is obligated to make a reasonable effort to search its records for responsive communications.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Spoliation" - </span>is the term used by courts to describe the improper destruction of evidence, including email and messages. Companies are guilty of spoliation if they destroy evidence like company records relevant to a litigation with the purpose or intent of preventing the other party from using the evidence against them. Spoliation can occur through a "conscious" decision and also unconsciously through inactivity to prevent destruction of email.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Relevant changes to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span></span></span>The FRCP are a body of rules focussed on governing court procedures for managing civil lawsuits in United States. Here are some of the changes related to discovery that went into effect on December 1, 2006.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKWP_FbZDDPVl8xpeSOZZ7CTynqwkgsbSxMhDe-QZPkIcqZx9F1hEzPwzqGB5dFyw1teLfHfqW70RrRS7YuyICgaKvWZicgtN7wIHhdrLQc5qO6EityeBO3Y1kv6l-4yr6Q0n4A/s1600-h/ecm_FRCP.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKWP_FbZDDPVl8xpeSOZZ7CTynqwkgsbSxMhDe-QZPkIcqZx9F1hEzPwzqGB5dFyw1teLfHfqW70RrRS7YuyICgaKvWZicgtN7wIHhdrLQc5qO6EityeBO3Y1kv6l-4yr6Q0n4A/s400/ecm_FRCP.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165523467232549922" border="0" /></a><br />As it is obvious from the above summary the importance that IT plays in working with Legal to ensure smooth and reliable discovery like archiving, maintaining proper records retention strategies, and the actual electronic discovery process in the event of a lawsuit. In addition, according to Contoural, here are 7 things that IT can do to meet Legal's needs<br />(1) Create fast, effective litigation hold processes<br />(2) Educate Legal on archival capabilities of the IT organization<br />(3) Find and retrieve documents in native format<br />(4) Create and update an ESI survey data map<br />(5) Partner with Legal in creating the document retention policy<br />(6) Disable PST files and other forms of underground archival<br />(7) Create process for deleting older email and files that are not under hold or needed for compliance or business processes<br /><br />By helping Legal with these activities, IT will move from a reactive state to a state of litigation readiness.<br /><br />Gartner lists Attenex, Aungate, Dataflight, MetaLincs, Summation as some of the key vendors of E-Discovery software. EMC, IBM FileNet, HummingBird, Open Text are some of the top players in the much more complicated Records Management product which enables organizations to create the retention schedules and automate the management of their records retention policies. Since these products are very expensive and mostly have license-based costing, it depends on the companies health and IT investment strategy to go for these!Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-24312472132493795992008-02-10T14:10:00.000-05:002008-02-10T14:19:08.285-05:00The ECM Market & major vendorsAccording to Gartner, ECM is a $2.9 billion market (wow! that's how big it is) in 2007, merely based on worldwide software revenues. They predict that the market size would grow at a CAGR of 12.9% through 2011. So, there's lots coming in this industry. Some vendors choose to specialize in some specific segments like Records Management or BPM and are successful niche players in those markets. Other big names like IBM (and now Microsoft - through its Sharepoint MOSS 2007 product) are trying to establish themselves as leaders in the ECM market. Below you may find Gartner's Magic Quadrant for ECM<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxfQVjWyC39l-TM90yoZjgpVFNnXByX0U_CJ-dKWLfqymoy46UE8YyE4pTRj7v2h_AyXOzoY9xKQ8ytB6Sr089SvKf-3b-aaztUyv5jJzJenQcyL55YWPLL7cV2QUvAKQIetnWQ/s1600-h/ecm_magic.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxfQVjWyC39l-TM90yoZjgpVFNnXByX0U_CJ-dKWLfqymoy46UE8YyE4pTRj7v2h_AyXOzoY9xKQ8ytB6Sr089SvKf-3b-aaztUyv5jJzJenQcyL55YWPLL7cV2QUvAKQIetnWQ/s400/ecm_magic.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165432392451038210" border="0" /></a><br />Copyright GartnerPadmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-44035583571236435102008-02-10T14:06:00.000-05:002008-02-10T14:16:26.352-05:00Gartner's hype cycle on ECM<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDIo8Eg7h7eH-F2IObPnqJwPqicH93xgPcIxJrf8qk2CvEJ0n6DZTdFNFq4XHP6h6njKvO9Wy7p3XnTWKvI-vMEXWmG8qV01xRjivjH9iRRlcbHYKozi1W1ZYjWgQeaT36aX8KA/s1600-h/ecm_hype.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDIo8Eg7h7eH-F2IObPnqJwPqicH93xgPcIxJrf8qk2CvEJ0n6DZTdFNFq4XHP6h6njKvO9Wy7p3XnTWKvI-vMEXWmG8qV01xRjivjH9iRRlcbHYKozi1W1ZYjWgQeaT36aX8KA/s400/ecm_hype.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165430644399348722" border="0" /></a>Copyright Gartner<br /><br />These are the various technologies that fall under the umbrella of ECM. Different organizations, depending on the industry, their size, their ability to invest in IT, their annual budgets, etc. implement a subset of these components.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-82903163976085919512008-01-28T18:58:00.000-05:002008-01-28T19:01:03.997-05:00Bored enough to do a home experiment?Do you know what happens when molten potassium chlorate reacts with sugar? Just try putting in a tiny gummy bear inside a vial containing some of it....<br /><br /><object width="425" height="373"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/txkRCIPSsjM&rel=1&border=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/txkRCIPSsjM&rel=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="373"></embed></object>Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-42962754037757808412008-01-27T17:48:00.000-05:002008-01-27T18:46:17.569-05:00More music..free...and on-demandFree and on-demand music on the web is certainly one of the big contemporary crazes, and it seems to be reaching new heights in 2008.<br /><br />(1) <a href="http://last.fm/" target="_blank">Last.fm </a>- was relaunched last week, and I registered (free) over the<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://last.fm" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVETKT9VFGuwWXQMVph3J_nCeMaw6sfVLoTNNHI9JCrWzbrNIJJLD4KsjBR0PN1x4uGElnF04hRLh6zP16Ub0FnIanhwcJoBXDKsFikHg9wxpqhzfVfRQ580KyCSkWEnvvCd9_g/s200/lastfm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160305133212716770" border="0" /></a> weekend. They seem to be having a pretty huge collection of songs and these are mostly full tracks, unlike Lala. The best thing I like about Last.fm is that its player works just fine in Firefox, unlike most of the online radio stations which work only in IE. Their playlist capabilities is not very intuitive - I still haven't been able to figure out how to play songs from my playlist in order, rather than shuffle - and how to create multiple playlists. It looks like if I remove songs from my one and only (so far) playlist, I need to find those songs again if I like to listen to them sometime next week. It doesn't store more than one playlist. That is pretty primitive I think. But their collection is good, I could find almost everything I wanted this weekend, but certain famous bands like Black Sabbath and Floyd, I was surprised to notice, had more previews than full tracks, and that's what I hated about Lala, but nevertheless Last.fm is much better. I believe I could also embedd the playlist into my Blogger, but I haven't tried that yet.<br /><br />Unique listeners jumped 85% from the previous week on the day of the launch. And they stuck around: The next day, unique visitors were again up 80% over the previous week.<br /><br />(2) <a href="http://qtrax.com/" target="_blank">QTrax:</a> This is another name that hit the press this week. QTrax is the long-delayed, much awaited, first legal P2P music sharing service <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://qtrax.com" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_JK6WhZHA_FDc53PlootHOaMn9fpMKYE5dSoQ5B7S0OydbuXLe1lj1G2tKVqvdnUpcKiAgclaKPgkzZEAr1mn2LBCJHyXu8rmZVUdZAdNx_o_Qf8BQUPWkgXXRDybv8fwAQ_EQ/s200/qtrax_logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160305283536572146" border="0" /></a>that is expected to launch this week. But there already is a lot of controversy around the launch. QTrax has announced that all four major music labels, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, EMI, and Sony-BMG are on-board and that it can offer for free close to 5 million songs that Apple iTunes SELLS today on their music store. However, WMG has declined involvement with QTrax, so that could result in a potential lawsuit soon after the launch (midnight today!!). I'll be curious to see how many downloads happen tonight.<br /><br />(3) <a href="http://www.seeqpod.com/" target="_blank">Seeqpod:</a> This is a web crawler that allows you to search for playable songs. This is a great search engine, but has several limitations.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://seeqpod.com" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAIhywYNFeYexDdAV3XE8sItLRmR_JzMEtLhrvddHZJvt5IDPc0FP3wdK9BzaSlIZa4TD_qXGCh_MYVH9OvlqFWMFdXf4Qur005Vjpjp1NzWJNi5o8kpRPIQuSZKmvdcIoA3rxA/s200/seeqpod_logo.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160306245609246466" border="0" /></a><br />(a) As you may think, it depends largely on file names that the web page owners have used for the file that they've uploaded. I tried searching for Black Sabbath and I got tons of files,most of which were called Black_Sabbath.mp3. So until I started listening to the songs there was no way that I could know what song it is. Some were the actual Black Sabbath song, some weren't.<br />(b) It listed like 20 copies of the same song, doesn't attempt at uniqui'ng them out.<br />(c) Doesn't list duration - so I can't know if it is a preview or the full track. That's where Last.fm was much better, but I understand the two sites have a different purpose.<br /><br />Seeqpod is a very useful service, but it has a long way to go, it still is in Beta.I wasn't too happy with the search experience.But already, is is not left out of the controversies. WMG label has just filed a lawsuit against Seeqpod. This is very similar to the Viacom-Youtube case.<br /><br />The bottomline of this post, is that there's a lot of activity, various kinds, going on in offering free music to the world. Some may succeed, some may crash due to the controversies. At the end, music will certainly be a winner, and so will open sharing.Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275987.post-7526531504143827342008-01-27T17:27:00.000-05:002008-01-27T17:38:18.741-05:00World's largest sculpture<span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>Which is the world's largest sculpture?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>Mt. Rushmore, SD, U.S.A<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore" target="_blank">Mount Rushmore National Memorial, </a>near Keystone, South Dakota, is a monumental granite sculpture that represents the first 150 years of the history of United States with 60 feet sculptures of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHejGFhyphenhyphenkPjHu16oxAOIMJgNf7GrFOQzUoNnsV9aFyiCg4miuUIL2iRXsmo1XgUvb7mo_U_sc1Ucd8NkHm3lOMzxXlwyce_yC-wsFSjuizb-IWOIp2ou-CZLi5bzTkeokjMkd1g/s1600-h/288px-MountRushmore_monument.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHejGFhyphenhyphenkPjHu16oxAOIMJgNf7GrFOQzUoNnsV9aFyiCg4miuUIL2iRXsmo1XgUvb7mo_U_sc1Ucd8NkHm3lOMzxXlwyce_yC-wsFSjuizb-IWOIp2ou-CZLi5bzTkeokjMkd1g/s320/288px-MountRushmore_monument.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160288022063009490" border="0" /></a><br />It was a $1M project when it was first constructed in 1941 by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, to pep up the tourism industry in South Dakota. However, the recent renovations which ended in the 90's costed the government $50M. Mt. Rushmore is considered to be in the list of Man-Made Seven Wonders of the world, along with others like the Golden Gate bridge (CA), Hoover dam (CO river), etc., and I don't see why not.....Padmanaban Kumar (Paddu @ Just for Kicks)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13617168528231862415noreply@blogger.com0