tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86206602024-03-13T10:17:43.054+05:30Unleash Your PotentialThis blog is dedicated to personal development. Since of late, I have been taking a great interest in personal development. I am using this blog as a means of sharing the knowledge that I gather as well as to record my own thoughts on the subject.
The views expressed here are my own and not necessarily my employer's. I have the right to change my mind anytime. You may use this content as you wish at your discretion.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-73185190459882005972010-06-25T14:12:00.000+05:302010-06-25T14:12:11.024+05:30How to Dress Business Casual - Men | eHow.com<a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_41_dress-business-casual.html?utm_source=eHOD&utm_medium=email&utm_content=41&utm_campaign=21_06_2010">How to Dress Business Casual - Men | eHow.com</a><div><br /></div><div>This is an interesting topic for those who work. Doesn't apply directly to me as I do not work in a formal office environment. When ever I go out to meet clients, depending on the meeting status I will dress up accordingly. Generally, I tend to avoid jeans unless I am meeting my friends. But I do dress in business casuals for most of my meetings, specially if it is not the first time I am meeting someone and if I am meeting them out side their office, which is the case often.</div><div><br /></div><div>This article resonates with the dress code that my brother follows for his business casual. In my case, I can use some improvements to fall in line.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pn second thoughts, where does this put Steve Jobs dress code?</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-80452238397766642112010-04-30T10:05:00.000+05:302010-04-30T10:05:11.263+05:3013 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity - Stepcase Lifehack<a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/13-strategies-to-jumpstart-your-productivity.html?">13 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity - Stepcase Lifehack</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-20046318562809731052009-06-17T22:03:00.001+05:302009-06-17T22:03:49.145+05:30Idea Bank<p>If you are like me, there are plenty of times when you see or hear about some of the new web applications, you go “That’s exactly what I thought of! Now why didn’t I follow it up?”. But someone else has actually through it through and then followed it through and executed the idea and made it a reality. While you, just kept that idea at the back of your head.</p> <p>The difference between success and failure is in the execution. But in order to execute, you need to record and develop your idea. For this, you need to have an idea bank. </p> <p>This notion of an idea bank is promoted in many productivity, self improvement systems as well. In GTD, these are someday/maybe projects. You record your ideas or projects that are lingering in your head. If you cannot put in a time line to it, you record it anyways and get it off your head.</p> <p>I have recorded my ideas in so many different places that it is impossible for me to figure out where they are recorded at times. Worst thing that you can do is to record them in planners as when the year ends, the planner goes into storage and so does all your ideas in it. For this reason I have started to use a little black note book, to record my ideas. I was contemplating the options between high tech and low tech for this purpose. I have a few ideas stored in my phone as notes as well.</p> <p>But I like the notebook for several reasons. I can generally write faster than I can type. Now with my adoption of iPhone, my typing speeds have diminished even further. And I tend to think more about words and spellings when I type whereas when I write these flow without thinking. Hence writing gives me the ability to concentrate in the idea itself rather than on what I am writing.</p> <p>I am very fond of fountain pens. My love with fountain pens makes me want to write more. If I was typing I would keep the sentences short and type out a fewer sentences. But when I write, I would be more descriptive. Being descriptive when you are recording an idea is pretty good as otherwise there are times I have just written down a short sentence and some time later I cannot recall exactly what the idea was!</p> <p>I also love good quality stationary. This is also a part of why I chose to write down the ideas as opposed to storing them electronically. Also the free flow of ideas, ability to draw diagrams or pictures to support it, is much easier with pen and paper.</p> <p>But writing them down isn't entirely without its nuances. If you need to amend and expand and idea later on, it isn’t as easy as if you had recorded it electronically. Also I may not always carry my little black book with me whereas I will carry my phone. And these days, applications like Evernote, with it’s automatic syncing of notes makes it pretty easy to record an idea through one device and pick it up from another device. I did start using Evernote and I actually quite like the application. I think an app like Evernote will be a pretty good choice on a Windows Mobile device with the ability to draw things on notes in Windows Mobile. But this feature is not there (or I have not come across it if it is there) on the iPhone application and hence it is limited to what would be typed.</p> <p>The other advantage of high tech in this regard is it will be easier to share your idea with anyone else. Specially with apps like Google Docs, it is a breeze to collaborate and develop an idea using a shared document. And there are plenty more applications for mind mapping and allows sharing mind maps too.</p> <p>While I am still exploring all these high tech options, for the time being I am going to stick to my black leather book and fountain pens to collect my ideas. I would love to hear your views on these as well. Also, any pointers to great, free, web based mind mapping solutions are welcome.</p> <div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:9b4011e2-5ce6-45d9-b057-9de0199ef6d9" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Ideas" rel="tag">Ideas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Pen+and+paper" rel="tag">Pen and paper</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Evernote" rel="tag">Evernote</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Google+Docs" rel="tag">Google Docs</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Fountain+Pens" rel="tag">Fountain Pens</a></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-6977976872752679152009-05-04T08:31:00.000+05:302009-05-13T08:32:30.139+05:30Reflections on life<p>I can vividly remember my teens and my twenties. I'm glad that I lived up the years, experienced life to the full. Now that I am turning 33 today, life is taking a different path.</p> <p>Those were the years that you could eat anything you want, play as much and party all night long and still make it to classes or work the next morning. Had no care for cholesterol or BMI or blood sugar! We played cricket, almost every day and cycled a few kilometers daily.</p> <p>Now when I cannot play badminton for an hour at a stretch and when you do, the next day you feel as if a truck has run you over! Now the concerns are on losing weight and getting the waist line to a respectable figure, to a figure that you can tell a shop assistant without feeling shy! Typical life story of a Sri Lankan professional male?</p> <p>But I am not lamenting in any way about how my life turned out to be. I am glad and proud of it in fact. True, I may be a little over weight and a few muscles that needs shedding, which I am working on by the way, but what i have, I truly cherish!</p> <p>So on this birthday I like to thank all those people and circumstances that I am grateful about!</p> <p>Thaththa - It's been a while since you bid adieu. But you have been the biggest influence in my life, my mentor and my role model! Need I say more? Except, I miss you and there isn't a single day gone by without me wishing that you were around!</p> <p>Amma - Thank you for putting up with me for all this time. For bringing us up in one piece. You have been the strength of our lives! All relations tell me that I was a brat and now I know what it must have been like, because I have two of my own!</p> <p>Lush - You are the best a wife can get! I thank my destiny every day for bringing us together. You love me and support me unconditionally and that is all a man can ask for. And you put up with all my sillinesses. I love you and promise to love you till my last breath!</p> <p>Dinara and Dineth - You are the apple of my eyes. Thank you for bringing a joy into our lives which we did not know that existed before. You two are a handful (and more), but the joy of seeing you two blossom is the greatest joy in the world and brings a new dimension to our lives!</p> <p>Malli - Thank you for being my brother, friend and advisor. Above all thanks for putting up with me. You give all you have and never expect anything in return. You have always been there for me and I truly value our friendship.</p> <p>Siri/Diana - Thanks for trusting your daughter with me and also accepting me for what I am. You give me the space and the freedom to lead my life but yet silently support me. You're the best in-laws anyone can ask for!</p> <p>Rukshan - I had a brother and then I found another! You are a brother to me and there is no in-law part in it!</p> <p>All my friends - You know who you are! Far too many to name individually. I treasure every memory with you all and though we don't get to meet as often as we used to, I know our friendships will stand the test of time and distances. The great thing about the friendships that I have with you all is we can always pick up where things were left off! I have learned from all of you and all of you have been there whenever I needed you all! Remember the good times mates!</p> <p>Relations - Thank you for being my relations! I do not regret anyone one of you being my relation. Some of us we meet only occasionally and some more often, but what ever the time and distances between us, our relationships will remain!</p> <p>I have also to thank my past colleagues and bosses who shared the fun times with me, and from those of whom I learned quite a bit. Thank you for sharing those moments with me.</p> <p>It is a great time to be alive. And a lot is going on in my life right now. So a few years from now, it should be interesting to see how my decisions have played out.</p> <div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:fbd7a6cd-29a1-4a0f-8d30-add2acfb5e37" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Life" rel="tag">Life</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Personal" rel="tag">Personal</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Birthday" rel="tag">Birthday</a></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-49840006892917420932009-04-18T16:09:00.001+05:302009-04-18T16:09:10.851+05:30Marc Anderssons productivity tips at work<p>I thought I would put Marc Anderssons productivity tips (at least some of them to work today). This concept is also very similar to the Zen To Done (ZTD) concept of Most Important Tasks (MITs). Here is my take on how it fared and how it came about.</p> <p>I tried to come up with 3-5 things that I wanted to achieve today. Then I first thought of it, I was overwhelmed, everything that I had procrastinated came to my mind and I had a tough time choosing only 5 of them.</p> <p>Another thing that I realized in this process was that I was not distinguishing between goals and chores. There are things that I have to get done in a day which are part of the projects that I am working on for clients. These are the daily tasks that I have to get done, no matter what. So if I was looking at MIT in this way, then there are basically three or four tasks that I am working on in a given day. In a way these are contributing towards the goal of earning a living, but then there aren't any room for any other personal or professional goals.</p> <p>Another important task that I have been omitting is in the front of fitness/health. I am the closest to a couch potato. I spend most of my time in front of a computer and get little or no physical exercise. Since I started to work from home, the time spent in front of the computer has increased. So I need to put in a task/goal of weight loss/exercise/fitness to my daily task list at least a few times a day. </p> <p>Another MIT to put on a list is to blog. Anyone reading this blog would notice how random the postings are. So maybe if I start to update the blog on a more frequent basis, with blog posts becoming a MIT for at least a couple of days a week, would do these blogs a great deal of good.</p> <p>Come to think of this, my new found fondness to GTD and in particular to GTDAgenda.com blends in nicely with this scheme of things. GTDAgenda.com has a feature where I can define recurring tasks and even create schedules for exercises, blogging with frequencies that I want and they start appearing on checklists, so it does its part of making us guilty of not checking them off (doing them).</p> <div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:c9cb712d-5805-45af-b509-e77f46ce2ef3" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Productivity" rel="tag">Productivity</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/GTD" rel="tag">GTD</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/ZTD" rel="tag">ZTD</a></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-75005312845212156102009-04-08T19:09:00.003+05:302009-04-08T20:07:53.170+05:30GTD in practice - an updateThis is a continuation from the previous post on my attempt with GTD, <a href="http://sampath.dassanayake.name/2009/02/giving-gtd-try.html">Giving GTD a try</a>.<br /><br />I didn't realize that it has been nearly two months since my first post on GTD. From then to now, I have managed to complete the part one of the book which covers GTD on a more theoretical level and am currently reading the phase of GTD implementation. I also managed to shed some misconceptions that I had about GTD, which I had written in my previous post. One of the main rants that I had was GTD's focus on stuff on the plate and less focus on goal setting.<br /><br />But reading through the theoretical part, I understood two things:<br /><ol><li>GTD has goal setting. David Allen calls it views from different altitudes and proposes that we take a look at different areas in our lives from these altitudes.</li><li>GTD is not a philosophy on HOW you should set your goals. It is exactly, what it proposes it to be, a WORKFLOW to get things on our plate DONE.</li></ol>Steven Covey calls this "Clock Vs. Compass". I do not think that we need to think of these as two mutually exclusive practices. I can think of incorporating both these practices, Steven Covey's principles to set direction and GTD to manage the implementation of these principles.<br /><br />I have been practicing a basic form of GTD. I started with Google tasks after reading a post from somewhere about how to use Google tasks for GTD. Then I came across a more specialized application for GTD, GTDAgenda.com. This is a fantastic application for a GTD practitioner to kick start GTD in thier lives. Also, I found it impressive that the site has also incorporated and has road maps on how to use GTDAgenda.com to implement GTD (obviously, ZTD and even 7 Habits).<br /><br />If you are using a site like this it is pretty easy to incorporate something like 7 Habits' staying on quadrant 2. As even Covey says, the tool should be flexible enough to shift things around and to keep our focus on quadrant 2. I think we can do this with a tool like GTDAgenda.com. I am planning on writing a post dedicated to my use of GTDAgenda.com. There are a lot of things that I like about that tool and at the same time there are a few areas that I think that can be improved to make the users lives smoother.<br /><br />So far I have set up the systems in place to capture the tasks and also in my case the processing happens on a daily frequent basis. I am also managing to stay on top of tasks most of the time. But I am currently facing a mini crisis with conflicting demands on my time. And I am hoping that diligent practice of GTD will help me manage that as well.<br /><br />The other is that I am sincerely hoping GTD would help me tackle my rather bad habit of procrastination. So far, GTD has been helpful in nudging me to get things done rather than putting things off. One thing of setting up next actions, is there is a mental push to get through the next actions. And the daily reminder email from GTDAgenda.com also serves as a daily reminder for me to focus on my daily tasks.<br /><br />My ultimate aim is to practice a synergetic practice of GTD and 7 habits. I am still not sure whether GTD falls under the third generation time management practices that according to Covey, simply does not work. But for me GTD is more than a time management tool. And if you are using the right tool, it can be used as a fourth generation time/task management tool. And that is what I am hoping would come out of this whole exercise.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-5007005404959147742009-02-24T12:52:00.003+05:302009-02-24T13:27:41.607+05:30Giving GTD a try<p>I have tried many productivity schemes from time to time but was never able to stick to one to see proper results or life changing habits. I seem to be getting back to my normal self after sometime and the latest seems to just die away. Adding to the list of many things that I have TRIED!</p><p>The latest obsession is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">GTD</span>. I had read about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">GTD</span> about a year back and then read a few articles about it, mainly from 43Folders.com and other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">GTD</span> related sites. On the outset it seemed like quite a bit of work, just to maintain and keep practicing it. The work flow seemed like a it required a lot of work in itself. Apart from that, those days I was not so busy. I had a pretty laid back work load and had the freedom to pursue my other interests like coding (read <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">moBlog</span>) as well. </p><p>But with the change of careers, I was getting more and more work on my plate. Responsibilities of my role grew pretty much to the point that it became almost unmanageable. And I felt the need for the productivity system pretty badly. I was working across time zones, so my working hours morphed into my family or personal time as well. And I was being pushed to my limits.</p><p>Then again I started to think about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">GTD</span>. Call it synchronicity or whatever you like, I ran into David Allen's book at a department store a couple of weeks back. I read through a few pages, it didn't come across as an interesting read, but I bought the book anyway. And I started reading it leisurely. Now, with my workload I get to spend a very little time reading. I am trying to balance my free time between family time and reading time, so my reading of the book is proceeding very slowly.</p><p>So far I have reached the last part of chapter two. While I am sure that the process is proven and works, I am still a bit skeptical about it achieving the desired life that we all want to create for our selves. David Allen is pretty frank about it and he states that he is taking a bottom up approach to getting stuff done. His work flow is more focused towards getting the stuff on your plate done, but does not pay much attention towards qualifying them.<br /></p><p>I mean it helps you go faster, but does not give much thought about the direction you are taking. To use Stephen Covey's words it helps you climb the ladder faster, but it does not tell you much about figuring out whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall. Not much on goal setting either. The logic behind <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">GTD</span> is if you get more stuff done and clear your plate, then you will have a clear mind to think more about the lofty goals. So any goals can be put into a someday list!</p><p>Anyway, something is better than nothing and I will give a try to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">GTD</span>. At least if I can get the things on my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">plate</span> done, without allowing anything to fall from the cracks that will be a good start!<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-81367922791887213032009-02-12T15:16:00.003+05:302009-02-12T19:54:07.950+05:30Live Mesh from MicrosoftI have been looking around for a online storage for my frequent and important files which will also allow me to sync the files between my different computers. I use two laptops, a work laptop and a personal laptop. And I end up carrying my work laptop home because I sometimes have to work from home during a night, or just in case of an emergency.<br /><br />I was thinking if there was a way where I could just work in my office laptop, save the files, come home and resume where I left off, on my home computer, wouldn't that be great? Also, it will provide a backup for all my files, in my home computer as well as some where secure on the Internet, so I don't have to worry about computer crashes and virus infections wiping out my data?<br /><br />Sounds like wishful thinking? But isn't that what we all want?<br /><br />I think I stumbled upon something that comes pretty close. Of course there are a few shortcomings, but those can be circumvented.<br /><br />I just created an account at mesh.com (rather signed up with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">LiveID</span>) and also installed the client software on my Vista laptop. All the folders I created appear as folders on my desktop and all i have to do is to setup the synchronization settings on the folders and copy the files I needed to be synced to those folders. And the client software automatically syncs them with the Live Desktop (i.e. the online folder). And it will sync the files automatically if I install the software on another computer. That's what I am going to try next.<br /><br />UPDATE: I found a better way of adding files to the mesh. After installing Live Mesh (beta) on your computer, you can right click on any folder and select 'Add Folder to Live Mesh' and set the sync settings. This uploads the folder to the Live Desktop! Great! This is just what I wanted.<br /><br />Is this perfect or what? Well the answer is Almost! The only thing is it currently offer 5GB of storage space. But there is no mention of how you can get additional storage space, even at a price.<br /><br />There are a few competing (or are they complementing) product offerings from MS it self. They have the Live Sky Drive, which is kind of a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">GDrive</span> (well <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">GDrive</span> is still a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">mystery</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">SkyDrive</span> is here). I think this is mainly <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">targeted</span> for online file sharing. Live Mesh can also do online file sharing. And then there is Live Sync, which can sync files between two computers. A little bit confusing if you ask me. I think what MS can do is actually integrate all of them under one service, Live Mesh seems like the natural way, and maybe offer more storage space to the users! Now that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">MS's</span> service is out of the door before Google, maybe they should consolidate on this space and lock users in! More storage is definitely the way to go!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-6112949127763869132008-05-22T14:55:00.005+05:302008-05-22T15:28:28.512+05:30Things not to do when applying for jobs via emailI have been going through several hundred resumes for the past week since our company ran an advertisement for <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">recruitment</span>. The response had been fabulous if you take the sheer number of applicants.<br /><br />In this day and age, the most preferred way to accept resumes is through email. Email is fast, both for the applicant and to the company, and it allows rules based processing of hundreds of applications. So if you are not careful in how you send your resume across via email, chances are your resume may not go to the required person.<br /><br />Your job application to a company created the first impression about you. So you have to be careful about how you do that.<br /><br /><strong>Name:</strong><br />Make sure your name that appears on the email is your proper name. I was not impressed by the emails coming from names such as 'cool dude', '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">slgirls</span>', etc.<br /><br /><strong>Subject</strong><br />Make sure the subject of the email is proper. Sometimes the advertisement will ask you to put a reference number or a particular text as the subject. Do as exactly as instructed in such cases as these may be processed by email routing rules. So if you <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">don't</span> follow <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">their</span> instructions, chances are your application will get lost!<br /><br />Even if the advertisement was not specific about the subject line, use a proper subject for the email. The name of the post being applied for is a good bet.<br /><br />Never send out emails with blank subject lines or generic ones such as Resume, CV, etc. That <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">doesn't</span> appear professional or gives a good impression about you. That will certainly give the impression of missing out on details.<br /><br /><strong>Multiple To Addresses</strong><br />There were emails which were sent out to several companies in one email. That is not a good thing either. If you were trying to create demand for yourself, you better think of better ways of doing that. It certainly gives the impression that you could not be bothered to send out <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">separate</span> emails for all the jobs you were applying. If that is your attitude when applying for the job, what will recruiters think of your conduct when you get the job?<br /><br /><strong>Mail Body</strong><br />There were several errors made in this aspect, which could have <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">definitely</span> been avoided if you were a bit careful. Some email bodies had previous mail forward information included, which showed me what you had been applying for over a few weeks. All it would have taken is the simple task of deleting the previous email history from the body.<br /><br />There was one email which had a cover letter addressed to a different company!!! What does that tell me about the applicant?<br /><br />It is always a good idea to write a short cover note on the email body, highlighting your experience or qualifications or skills which are relevant to the vacancy. Telling me about thing that I am not interested in, certainly will not score any marks for you.<br /><br /><strong>Attachment(s)</strong><br />Make sure that you attach your resume before you send your email. I had a few mails without resumes. Some had cover notes, and some didn't have anything to go by. How do you expect a recruiter to asses your suitability if there is no resume!<br /><br />Then there were two resumes which were password protected. What are you expecting me to do? Email you back and ask for the password?<br /><br />As much as possible avoid sending your resume is rare file formats. There were a few file formats which <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">could</span> not be opened. Good examples are avoid latest .<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">docx</span> or the .<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">odt</span> formats. You may be using the latest MS office or the another application, but <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">don't</span> expect your <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">receiver</span> to use the same. Also avoid sending them as zip files.<br /><br />Send them as <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">RTF</span> or more common doc formats. The best bet is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">PDF</span>.<br /><br /><strong>Resume Content</strong><br />Make sure your resume highlights your skills, qualifications and experience necessary for the job. If the advertisement had asked for specific skills, tools or technologies, highlight them in your profile. For example, we specifically asked for people with .NET/C# experience or expertise. I got a load of resumes which highlighted their Java <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">experience</span> and expertise, with no mention of .NET/C#.<br /><br />When I was scanning through the resumes, I was looking for specific keywords; .NET/C#, ASP.NET. And when it came to looking for work experiences, we were looking for specific experiences. I had hundreds of resumes to go through, I could not spare hours on one!<br /><br />Also, always list your most recent or most relevant qualifications first. Starting your qualification list with the first public exam you faced will surely bury your more relevant qualifications! Same goes for experience profile as well.<br /><br />But most of the resumes failed to address the requirements we had listed in the advertisement.<br /><br /><strong>General</strong><br />These are general comments I thought of sharing after me experience of processing the resumes. Always keep in mind that you need to make sure your email reaches the right person and once it reaches that person, make it easy for them to open and view your resume.<br /><br />We hope to start the interview process somewhere next week. More on that once we conclude that.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-12211198642542663492008-05-19T20:52:00.001+05:302008-05-19T20:54:57.761+05:30Wesak, Wesak, Wesak!!Happy Wesak everyone. At least those of you who are in Sri Lanka are enjoying an extended weekend of 4 days this weekend. Some of you have been lucky enough to go out of Colombo. But I am in Colombo for several reasons as there were a few things we had to attend over the weekend.<br /><br />To start off with there was a ‘bana’ and an alms giving on Friday and Saturday. Then there was Vidara and Thedara’s birthday party. Then there is the fact that my parent company being in the US, requiring me to be in Colombo with broadband connectivity in order to support thier operations. This is one of the things that I will have to do, working on US calendar as my head office. Something I figured would nt be much of a hassle. But in the long run I will have to get some Sri Lankan holidays, at least ones like the Sinhala New Year.<br /><br />Coming back to Wesak, the recent bomb blast and the security situation in the country will put in a lot of restrictions on the Wesak celebrations. At least people will be a bit reluctant to travel to see the wesak celebrations due to security fears. Even my mother did not go to the usual temple that she goes to obtain SIL as today there is some big program with a lot of big shots in attendance and hence she was scared about being at a locations which is a prime target.<br /><br />So on this noble day my wish is for peace in this paradise island. May we be allowed to celebrate wesak in peace and harmony next year wihout the fear of bombs and loss of life!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-40461696595988306792008-04-02T12:32:00.000+05:302008-04-02T12:33:37.603+05:30A tribute to a fatherDear <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Thaththi</span>,<br /><br />I remember that day, four years ago. The day that changed our lives in a flash. Can't imagine how time flies and how we coped up. But life goes on and we have come to terms! Thought I'd write a short note in your memory!<br /><br />I am what I am today, because of what you made of me. The values you instilled and the love you bestowed. You taught me to live by principles and values. You taught me that knowledge is more important than money. You taught me love is unconditional. You taught me the virtue of patience (I was a brat and a half, wasn't I?). Above all, you taught me what a father should be to a child!<br /><br />Today, when I stand in front of my kid, I ask myself, is this how <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">thaththa</span> dealt with me. Because I know, if I parent my kid, the way you parented me, nothing can ever go wrong!<br />It's been four years since you took your leave from us. The gods must have thought that your place was among them rather than among us! But what they failed to see was the impact it would have on us, how we would go on without you around!<br /><br />We depended on you for everything. The mere fact that you were around was so much of a relief, we knew you would be there to put things right, if we messed up! Now that we are left to mend for our selves, I had no idea of the weight you were shouldering. Responsibilities you bore, with so much ease, you made it look like it was a breeze. Once they fell on our shoulders only did we realize the breadth and depth of them all. But with the grooming we <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">received</span> from you, we are managing!<br /><br />We are all doing good <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Thaththi</span>. I am sure you will be proud of us all. Then again, you must be knowing that! You gave us what it takes to live <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">honourably</span> and justly in this world. It wasn't money or assets. But it was an education!<br /><br />I am not wishing you the bliss of Nirvana purely for selfish reasons. That is because I want you as my father in my journey through <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Sansara</span>!<br /><br />Till we meet again,<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Loku</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Putha</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-33014627807760486402008-01-06T19:22:00.001+05:302008-01-13T23:28:16.640+05:30Photo blogging with moBlogmoBlog now supports photo blogging!<br /><br /><img src="http://lh6.google.com/sampath.dassanayake/R4Dc4awUqAI/AAAAAAAAEV4/gmmTFPEQiwU/Flower.jpg" /><br /><br />Posted from <a href="http://sampath.wordpress.com/moblog">moBlog</a> – mobile blogging tool for Windows MobileUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-25697571111858369512007-12-11T18:19:00.000+05:302007-12-11T18:24:11.930+05:30MoBlogger - Mobile Blogging tool for Windows Mobile DevicesI have been toying with the idea of creating a blogging application for the Pocket PC / Smartphone devices for sometime. i had done some extensive research on it sometime back, but due to limited time available for coding 4 fun (as I call my experimental coding activities) I had been pushing this idea away. But since I got myself a Windows Mobile phone, this need kept popping up.<br /><br />My initial reaction was to go back to the applications that I had come across earlier and try them out on the phone. Well the fist one I tried refused to work on my blog unless there was an active Internet connection. This was a major limitation as I did not want to be online while I was writing my post. I know that GPRS/3G usage is charged for the actual traffic, but the downside was an active Internet connection on the phone drained the battery! So that experienced was very short lived.<br /><br />Then I did come across several other applications that allowed you to work offline, but I had small issues with them. Some I had issues setting up and running. They had exceptions. Some supported only one blog. I wanted something more as I have a couple of blogs. And I wanted my client application to support all of them without me having to delete and setup when I wanted to switch blogs.<br /><br /> Also, I still had the urge to develop an application myself. With my involvement in GMobileSync now I was experienced in working with the GData API as well. So I went to work on my Mobile Blogging Application: <strong>MoBlogger.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Here are a feature list:<br /><ul><li>Multiple profiles</li><li>Multiple Blogs within a profile. So if your blogger account has multiple blogs setup, all of them will work!</li><li>Work Offline - you can work offline and save your posts for uploading later.</li><li>Supports labels.<br /></li></ul>Sounds great right? Well yeah... except right now it only supports Blogger! But I am working on supporting multiple blogging platforms! The immediate platforms on the radar are Wordpress.com and Windows Live Spaces.<br /><br />In the mean time if you would like to have a go at it, drop me a mail, I'll be happy to send you an installation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-31119289389546104692007-10-03T14:34:00.000+05:302007-10-03T14:42:08.760+05:30October Challenge UpdateIt's been good so far. I know it's been just 3 days. But I have kept my pledge of daily dose of exercises! What I have noticed is that I usually keep it for about a week effortlessly. Maximum of two and then my motivation wanders off. But with regular updates on my progress, I am testing to see whether the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">accountability</span> factor has any impact on my motivation levels. Hopefully if I receive some encouraging feedback, it will work well for me.<br /><br />Since it is a bit of a hassle to update daily on the blog, I have chosen <a href="http://twitter.com/sampathd">Twitter</a> as my main medium of recording updates. The fact that I can update from the mobile is a big <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">convenience</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">factor</span> for me and the chances of missing updates with such a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">convenience</span> are lesser. In order to publish my Tweets, I have added a Twitter widget to this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">blog's</span> side bar. So this blog will also be updated with my <a href="http://twitter.com/sampathd">Twitter </a>updates.<br /><br />Please feel free to follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/sampathd">twitter</a>!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-1982155574072635212007-10-02T13:06:00.000+05:302007-10-02T13:16:34.544+05:30October ChallengeI should admit, my August challenge did not materialize even by end September. No, this is not a post to blame it on anything or anyone else. It was just my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">undisciplined</span> self that needs to be blamed. And the outcome was a pretty bad feeling of FAILURE!<br /><br />But still I am setting myself another challenge for myself. But this time I am going to go a bit more lean! I will target a more achievable goal. A goal that I am more likely to achieve without requiring a drastic change to my routine and something I am more likely to achieve with my lazy self!<br /><blockquote>I will lose 2 kilos by the end of this month. I will achieve this my<br />committing just 5 minutes of exercise on most days. </blockquote><p>Trying to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">give up</span> my food indulgence was a total flop. It brought me to the point where I started to question that I am a plain sucker for good food! So I will not fight my indulgences hard, but I will try to control my portions.</p><p>But the end result I expect, no matter how I achieve it is to be 88 kilos by the end of this month!</p><p>I would appreciate if you guys can make me accountable for this goal!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-85720499608521809242007-08-07T12:18:00.001+05:302007-08-07T12:43:49.737+05:30My Zen Habits August Challenge<a href="http://www.zenhabits.net/">Zen habits</a> is a recent blog that I subscribed to recently. It is a wonderful blog about personal development and it is written with a perspective of of Zen Buddhism. It is all about simplifying your life!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.zenhabits.net/">Zen Habits</a> runs a challenge for each month for his readers through the forum on his site. The users can register a challenge that they want to achieve within the month, and they are to practice and report progress online, through the forum daily. It is kind of like your personal accountability team.<br /><br />This process of practicing a new habit for 30 days to internalize it has been proposed by many a personal development trainers. I first heard about it on Steve Pavlina's blog, and then I read about it on several books and other web sites and blogs. I have tried this approach several times, but at all times, it didn't go through for more than 2 weeks. I think the biggest reason was he lack of a personal accountability team. I never made myself personally accountable for my goals.<br /><br />This time I decided to add that element to it. So I registered for the August Challenge on Zen Habits forum. I recorded my challenge for this month. But will I be motivated and to be accountable to the other people on the forum? Well, I could be, I could not be! But there is no loss of face if I don't!<br /><br />So the way I figured it, in order for me to be really accountable for achieving my goal, I should put it here, on this blog. And everyday, I can make a progress update by way of a comment and intermittently, I can write a post reviewing the process. And come the end of the month, I will have to update on the result achieved.<br /><br /><blockquote><strong>Lose 5 Kilos by the end of the month. </strong></blockquote><br />I will attempt this by:<br /><br /><ol><li>Eating moderately and not giving into indulgences</li><li>Exercising daily on the TimeWorks. The prescription is to do only 4 minutes a day!</li></ol><p>Stay tuned for my updates!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-58774677854721068552007-07-09T23:29:00.000+05:302007-07-09T23:48:24.348+05:30Intentions and goal settingAfter reviewing a lot of literature about setting intentions and goals, I wrote down a few goals that I wanted to achieve in the short term and a few far reaching goals. In one of the books that I had read called The Success Principles author Jack <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Canfield</span> stated that each of us should set a life changing goal.<br /><br />I was searching for this life changing goal and I finally settled down to wanting to create a killer Web Site that would have over a 100,000 unique visitors a day. The reason I chose this as my life changing goal was the thinking that such a web site has the ability to generate a large passive income which can pave the way for the financial independence that I seek in my life. If a web site attracts over a 100,000 unique visitors a day, that web site should have the ability to generate a few hundred, if not a few thousand dollars in passive income.<br /><br />To cut a long story short, I was thinking about a web site idea, as I had set myself the goal of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">launching</span> this web site before the end of this year. It is then that a friend of mine came to me with an idea for a web site and asked me if I would like to join in with him and a another friend to start off on it!<br /><br />I said yes without a blink. I agreed to meet up with them to discuss the idea further, as I had a gut feeling that it is a workable idea. The reason behind me writing this story is to go on record that the universe does respond to your intentions. When I wrote down the goal of creating a killer web site, I had no idea of what it was going to be on. But out of the blues, my friend came to me with an idea that they had been toying around with. The way I see it, the universe saw three people who were having the same intention and brought them together.<br /><br />I am not sure if the others who are in this with me will believe this, but as far as I am concerned, the universe has answered my call. Well I know that I have a long way to go towards achieving the targets I had set on my goal for the web site, but the universe has answered my call and had paved the first step towards manifesting my intention. I am waiting to see how this will work out and I will record the progress here, what ever way it goes!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-63261867855249118742007-06-30T20:56:00.001+05:302007-06-30T20:56:18.042+05:30Want to increase your productivity?<p>This guy knows his cookies. He was/is one of the best known guys in the technology space, he was the CEO of Netscape and now he runs two companies. And he presents interesting tips for increasing your productivity.</p> <p>Marc Andreessen's article on Personal Productivity called <a href="http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/the_pmarca_guid.html" target="_blank">The Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity</a> is pretty revolutionary coming from a guy who is so much connected with Internet and connectivity. I guess he also has felt the toll that connectivity can take on you. </p> <p>First we worked towards getting ourselves wired so we will not miss out on things. We invented the telephone and then the mobile telephone, so we can stay contact-able while on the move.</p> <p>Then we invented email and then figured out ways to get our email on our cell phones. Then we got wireless Internet also on our cellphone so we are always connected, where ever we were. And now, we are looking for ways to not to let the connectivity consume us. </p> <p>It is very much like the nuclear science. First we spent millions getting the knowledge. Then we spend millions from preventing it from being abused (and abusing it in the process).</p> <p>His tips are, in his own words, not suitable for people who have a structured lifestyle o a job. But if you can actually put them into practice, I think it will bring about a welcome change into most of our lives.</p> <p>I am not very sure about his tip about <strong>not keeping a schedule</strong>. In my job, as much as I love to operate the way he proposes, I have to schedule activities in advance. A big part of my work involves scheduling activities both for myself and for teams as a project manager. So this is not for me right now.</p> <p>I have had plenty of days, even after a full day at work, I end up thinking to my self, 'What did I do today?'. Sometimes what we do are not important but you end up doing them anyway's as they are in your face. As Stephen Covey suggests, we do urgent and un-important things and procrastinate Important but not Urgent things, things that can make a true difference in our lives. So his suggestion about <strong>coming up with 3 to 5 things to do for a day</strong>, the night before is a very good idea. </p> <p>Putting this into practice, I can plan to get at least one important but not urgent things done each day. Since the planning is going to be done the night before, before you walk into the office where another lot of problems to solve are waiting in your inbox.</p> <p>Again, due to the nature of my work, I don't think I can schedule emails for only two time slots during the day. I used to have my email client running in the background so I can respond to emails as soon as they arrived. But now I am actually closing Outlook when I run through my emails in the morning and switch to my other work. But I do check back a few times a day. Maybe I can have three schedules for checking emails, morning, afternoon and evening. I should give it a try and see how the response is from my colleagues and clients.</p> <p>In any case, it is a pretty good article and contains many good and somewhat radical tips on ways you can organize yourself to become more productive in the information age!</p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:c9c337fe-2af4-46fe-805a-b834971b893c" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Personal%20Productivity" rel="tag">Personal Productivity</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Personal%20Development" rel="tag">Personal Development</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Getting%20things%20done" rel="tag">Getting things done</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-87459882500922609852007-05-08T16:43:00.001+05:302007-05-08T16:43:40.154+05:30Be Lankan, Buy Lankan - the story of Micro Trend<p>This I saw on a Micro Trend Car. For those of who don't know Micro Trend it is a locally assembled Chinese car. It is the second car to be put on Sale by Micro, the first company to produce a fully indigenous car.</p> <p>When I saw this only it struck to me that I have seen only a very few Micro Trends on the road. You can't complain much about the looks of it, if I remember correctly it was designed by an Italian design firm. Since it is Chinese, it must be as good as any Chinese made car. But for whatever reason, you see more Cherry QQ's than Micro Trends on the road. And personally speaking I think the QQ is a bit hideous looking to start with.</p> <p>Maybe it's the price factor. The QQ is a few lakh rupees cheaper. So is the Maruthy 800. But what about the cars that are in the same price range. The Maruthy Zen and the Maruthy Alto. I think they are in the same price range. But they seem to be more popular than the local make.</p> <p>Maybe the deep down reason is that we do not trust our local makes. This lack of trust is keeping us away from the Trend. When I saw the Trend for the first time, I thought it was a pretty good looking car. There were two things that kept me away from it, it's size (I need a bigger car due to my long limbs) and the lack of automatic transmission (it's a luxury that I have come to enjoy too much with the bumper to bumper traffic on Colombo roads). </p> <p>So why do people choose the Indian or the Chinese varieties over the Sri Lankan assembled Chinese car? Maybe the price? So if the government gives the company enough subsidies to help them bring the price down, then they may have a pretty good market. </p> <p>But the good news is the two Korean SUV's assembled by Micro in Sri Lanka seems to be having a good response from the market. The secret there maybe because they enjoy a price advantage. So why not do that for the cars and create a Sri Lankan automotive industry?</p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:c16563d6-2c35-4bff-98a1-d6712678aa58" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Micro%20Cars" rel="tag">Micro Cars</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Sri%20Lankan%20Automotives" rel="tag">Sri Lankan Automotives</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-86994920701254334592007-05-07T11:55:00.001+05:302007-05-07T11:55:57.912+05:30Dependency on connectivity<p>We are having Internet connectivity problems at work these days. Due to lightning, our network equipment has got damaged and hence we are on a very slow Internet connection.</p> <p>This slow connection made me realize how dependant I have become on the Internet. Without a speedy Internet connection, I am seriously handicapped. Come to think of it, it is not just Internet that I have come to be dependent on. It is overall connectivity that I have come to depend upon.</p> <p>I feel seriously lost if I step out of the house without my cell phone. It has become a part of my lifestyle so much I feel insecure without it. More than the incoming calls, I need it in case of an emergency. Not that I have managed to come out of many emergencies thanks to my cell phone. I wonder how my mother does without one.</p> <p>The Internet too is becoming second nature. If I don't check my mail for a day, I feel as if something is a miss. It is not that I am expecting anything on the mail. Just that I need to be on top of my mails. I hate to come to my mail box with mails that are several days old and the total running into a few hundred. </p> <p>There's another side to emails. You feel a strange loneliness when you haven't got any mail for a day. But thanks my clients there's hardly a day that goes without me getting a mail with some lame and sometimes stupid complaint.</p> <p>What would it be like to spend a week without emails and your cell phone. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to do that while I'm on the job. I am obliged to answer my cell phone as it is a company phone and if I don't answer my mail within the day I am bound to end up with a few more complaining about the lack of a response. </p> <p>So has technology made our lives easier or has it made us more connected and tied down and made us slaves to the technology? Can we go home after work and just forget about work? We can't. If something comes up, we are bound to get contacted over our cell phones. We will have to answer our urgent emails from home. I even work from home over the week ends, responding to client queries and resolving issues.</p> <p>I think technology has blurred the line between work and private time. We can no longer have a truly private time away from work. If something comes up, by the mere fact that we are connected we will have to respond. So who gets affected? It is our families and the relationships that get affected.</p> <p>I think we lack a certain level of discipline. Just because we are connected we should not jump to work while you are at home. I had a client once in Singapore who had clearly drawn a line between work time and private time. If you contacted him during off office time even for a small clarification, he would politely tell you that he would answer the query when he gets to work. I think it is a worthwhile discipline or a practice that you should develop, unless of course you are a workaholic.</p> <p><strong>The ideal Scenario</strong></p> <p>The ideal scenario out of this connectedness would be an ability to work from home. To have the ability to spend more time at home but still get work done. To be able to remotely work from home. But our mind set and the culture has not come to that stage where our physical presence is not required at work. I think we have not got used to working in that fashion.</p> <p>But the good news is we are getting there fast. I have seen geographically dispersed project teams working on projects using collaboration tools and thier productivity is no less than them being on the same room.</p> <p><strong>Taking time off</strong> </p> <p>I want to take my annual leave for at least 10 days at a stretch and be away from my emails and cell phone during that time. I will dedicate all my time to spend with my family and maybe do some reading. That will be some holiday. </p> <p>Now if I can sort things that are pending so I can actually go on that holiday...</p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:d808a73d-c61a-4d5f-af3b-d3a781385d03" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Internet" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Connectivity" rel="tag">Connectivity</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Work%20Life%20Balance" rel="tag">Work Life Balance</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-21555947343592308922007-04-23T10:39:00.001+05:302007-04-23T10:39:45.646+05:30The Dyer Dozen.<p></p> <p>I just finished listening to an audio program by Wayne Dyer called The Power of Intention, which is based on his best selling book. This is a very interesting audio program which talks about a topic which I have developed an interest on lately. Wayne Dyer has been an authority in this area for quite sometime, but to me he was a late discovery. <p>I got introduced to this topic via <a href="http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog">Steve Pavlina's blog</a>. Steve called it Intention-manifestation. I have to tell you honestly my earlier dabbling's with this topic has been disappointing, which led me to be very skeptical about this topic. <p>But after coming across a new video called <a href="http://www.thesecret.tv" target="_blank">The Secret</a>, my interest in this topic grew again and my recent dabbling's have been quite revealing! In this program they call it The Law of Attraction. The concept is to attract what you want to your life. This process has what you need to do to attract / how to attract and being ready to receive. <p>Wayne Dyer proposes twelve rules for realizing the power of intention in his The Power of Intention book. Here are those twelve golden rules. I will just list them. <ol> <li> Want more for others than you want for yourself -This is selflessness.</li> <li>Think from the end - Think about the results. </li> <li>Be an appreciator - Look for what is valuable, not worthless.</li> <li>Stay in rapport with source energy - be in a state of harmony with your source. Always think <em>is this how my source thinks?</em></li> <li>Resistance - every thought you have that is other than that which you emanated from is resistance.</li> <li>Contemplate your self with the conditions that you want in your life.</li> <li>Understand the art of allowing - take the path of least resistance. </li> <li>Practice radical humility.</li> <li>Be in a constant state of gratitude - this is a great way to weed out the negative thoughts from your mind. </li> <li>Don't condemn the problems</li> <li>Play the match game - Am I matched up with the field of intention?</li> <li>Meditate - take control over your mind.</li></ol> <p>This list is an exhaustive list of things that you can follow to make the power of intention work for you. I found this list basically talks more or less about the same things that the other authors in this topic area also talk about. The difference is each author has one or two additional things in the list. But invariably, you will find the same core things appearing in all lists.</p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:17601bf8-dcfe-44a9-9ca3-a2ddc4df57fc" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Power%20of%20Intention" rel="tag">Power of Intention</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Wayne%20Dyer" rel="tag">Wayne Dyer</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Law%20of%20Attraction" rel="tag">Law of Attraction</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Steve%20Pavlina" rel="tag">Steve Pavlina</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/The%20Secret" rel="tag">The Secret</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-34758374842741842492007-04-17T16:15:00.001+05:302007-04-17T16:15:45.504+05:30A GLObal COmmunity for sharing the Internet Revenue<p>Do you know how Google makes it's money? By selling advertisements. It's search engine is used to push targeted advertisements to millions of users. When someone clicks on an ad Google serves along the side of the search results, it makes money. <p>Google realized that limited advertisements on their search engine alone is depriving them of hoarding space to publish their ads. So they then came up with AdSense, where web site owners could sign up to serve Google ads on their web sites. And through this model, Google shared the revenue with the site owners. <p>This and many similar programs are great if you have a web site or a blog and if you had people coming to your web site and clicking on the Google ads on your site. Click through rates will depend on a lot of things. For starters the ads shown on the site was based on the site content, so they were somewhat relevant, but is it what your site visitors are looking for? <p>And what if you don't have a web site or a blog and what if the traffic to your site was not so great. You were being left behind. <p>Cry no more- Welcome to <a href="http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBZ3327" target="_blank">AGLOCO</a>. The Global Community of Internet surfers. <p>Come again? Global what? And how is it going to benefit me anyway? <a href="http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBZ3327" target="_blank">AGLOCO</a> attempts to share the internet advertising revenue with the internet surfing community. Not the web masters and web site owners. Just normal everyday people like you and me, who spend a a significant part of our time browsing through the web, for information, for work, for entertainment or because we have nothing better to do. <a href="http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBZ3327" target="_blank">AGLOCO</a> through it's viewbar, which is to be released shortly, will serve ads based on your preferences, which means you are likely to get the most relevant information pushed to you. <p>Of course, <a href="http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBZ3327" target="_blank">AGLOCO</a> will charge the advertisers and content participants for doing this. But the beauty of this is, they will share that with you. Of course, they stand to earn a chunk. But then again, they are doing all the work, and they are sharing their revenue with you. So what? <p>The other thing about this is, there is no catch. You don't have to pay anything upfront, you don't have to sell anything to get qualified (of course if you refer others you stand to earn more - what do you think I am doing here ? ;)). You just have to download the view bar (when it becomes available, which should be pretty soon) and then go on surfing the internet just was you would do always. <p>So what are you waiting for? You got nothing to lose. Jump into the bandwagon. Earn a portion of billions of internet advertising revenue while you do surf. While you are jumping into the band wagon, go through this <a href="http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBZ3327" target="_blank">referral link</a> to sign up.</p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:298c2568-a480-4af1-a74b-8c14a4d53b7f" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/AGLOCO" rel="tag">AGLOCO</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Advertising%20Revenue" rel="tag">Advertising Revenue</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Passive%20Income" rel="tag">Passive Income</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Context%20Sensitive%20Advertising" rel="tag">Context Sensitive Advertising</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Surfing" rel="tag">Surfing</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Browsing" rel="tag">Browsing</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-78191748428220419372007-04-11T21:07:00.001+05:302007-04-11T21:07:11.410+05:30Synchronicity<p>It's a strange thing. I am really starting to see some synchronicities. </p> <p>I did realize that our mind spots things when we plant an interest. The most common example is when you sort of notice a particular car model, you will start spotting that model quite often that will make you wonder how on earth all these cars are suddenly appearing out of nowhere. </p> <p>Similarly, I have been reading a few books / articles /audio clips and videos on the topic of law of attraction, or intention manifestation and it seems that everything I hear, including the songs that I notice on the radio seem somewhat related to that topic. </p> <p>Sometime back I was reading a post on Steve Pavlina's blog about the <a href="http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/06/how-intentions-manifest/" target="_blank">how intentions manifest</a> and he mentioned that there is an alpha state and a beta state. The alpha state is where you get some sort of an acknowledgement from the universe. I have been seeing a few of such synchronicity on some of the intentions that I intended. I had some of those ' creative winks' from the universe.</p> <p>The period that usually make us give up on the intentions is the period which Pavlina calls the ' calm before the storm' period. I too had such periods where after a small creative wink from the universe, where there was a period which was more or less silent. The acknowledgement that I received seemed to be the only thing that was coming forth. Things seem to have gone back to the state that it was before. Skepticism starts to set in to your mind, questioning your intention and the whole idea about the law of attraction. </p> <p>It is this period that you need to guard against. Intentions do become true. They are a self fulfilling prophecy. So when you start to question the intentions and start to think about the opposite, these opposite thoughts then become your intentions. Some other author has called this period, the period where you have hit a plateau. It is as if no matter what you do, you don't seem to be getting anywhere. This is the period where people give up just as something is going to materialize. It is like the last mile.</p> <p>In my case, after a silent period, I am starting to see beta reflections or some real positive and long term outcomes for my intentions. I may be a little too early to predict this as I am assuming that I am seeing beta reflections. But by the looks of things, they seem like substantial beginnings. And I am exited. I am looking forward to the universe guiding me through to manifesting my intentions.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-706548287942134152007-04-06T11:28:00.001+05:302007-04-06T11:28:58.437+05:30I miss you thaththi<p>It's been three years! Three years since you suddenly departed. Without a warning, without any signs, you suddenly left. I was out of the house at that time. By the time I came to you, you had already gone. Not even a good bye! And I found myself, hugging your lifeless body and crying, unable to believe that you are not going to wake up. </p> <p>I had to stop crying, I was worried about ammi. I was worried about malli. I was the eldest, I had to be responsible. I was old enough to take up the responsibility. But I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready because I never envisioned a life without you. I guess I took you for granted. But then as Buddha preached, life never can be taken for granted.</p> <p>You were more than a father to me. You were my best friend. You understood me perfectly. When I was restless, you gave me the space to grow. When I needed protection, you were a tower of strength, always by my side. You allowed me to live my own life. Never tried to force your dreams or expectations on me. When I did things that you knew were going to fail, you never told me not to. You allowed me to find out for myself. Always there, in case I fell. But when I fell flat on my face, you never said "I told you so". Instead you asked me, "What do you want to do next?"</p> <p>Last year was a tremendous year in my life thaththi. I too became a father. I now have a little daughter. She is such an adorable kid, I wish you were here thaththi, to see her! She is just five months old, but I sometimes tell her about you. I tell her how much you would have loved her, if you were around. I regret her never getting to know you. She missed the opportunity to know her other seeya. But I will make sure that she will know about you. And I will try to become the father, that you were to me.</p> <p>Lushi also misses you thaththi. Though doesn't know you that well, though she has met you only twice, she misses you too. She has instantly liked you the first day she saw you. She had thought you were a fun father-in-law to have. You with your jokes and mild manners, you had taken your place with her. She regrets not knowing you better. But I keep telling her about you, about all those little things that you did for us.</p> <p>Amma has still not got over your departure. She took a long time to get back to her self. Well not really her old self. I guess she can never get back to her old self, because you were such a big part of her for such a long time.</p> <p>I know malli misses you too. But we have never really spoken about it. You know malli is so much like you. He doesn't want to show his pain to anyone. He keeps it all inside. But I know he misses you terribly. You were his world!</p> <p>It was you who showed taught us to accept life gracefully and to make the most of it. You taught us the values of living by your principles. You taught us to do our best and to happily accept the results. Your lessons are still in our hearts. Your lessons allow us to live consciously and make the right decisions in these testing times. Not matter how long it has been I still miss having you around thaththi. I used to ask you before every decision I had to make. You never made the decisions for me, instead you showed me all the options. Now, I have to seek the options on my own. I miss your far sightedness. </p> <p>Above all, I miss your love. I miss your friendship. And I miss you!</p> <p>We will be having an alms giving in your memory on the 7th (tomorrow). I wish you a short journey through sansara and wish you the supreme bliss of nibbana. But until such time, I want you as my father in each reincarnation! So long thaththi, till we meet again!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8620660.post-60509786954362147812007-04-05T15:37:00.001+05:302007-04-05T15:37:54.842+05:30Picasa web albums upgrades free storage limits<p>Seems Picasa has upgraded the free storage limit from 250 MB to 1 GB. This is certainly good news as I had already used up my 250 MB limit. Since then, I had been uploading my pictures to <a href="http://www.webshots.com" target="_blank">webshots</a> and <a href="http://www.snapfish.com" target="_blank">snapfish</a>.</p> <p>Now that the storage limits have been upgraded, I can upload a few more of my albums to Picasa. That will be good for me as it will allow me to keep more of my albums in one place. Also, hope Picasa will allow uploading of videos as well.</p> <p>Wonder how long more I will take to use up my 1 GB space. Hope Google will keep upgrading free disk space on Picasa. Way to go Google!</p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:4e1546e2-57df-4746-b42d-10da42697b5b" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Picasa" rel="tag">Picasa</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Digital%20images" rel="tag">Digital images</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Free%20photo%20storage" rel="tag">Free photo storage</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1