Do I word for Cisco OR Holder?

We have a new building almost finished @ the Cisco SPVTG (what was called Scientific Atlanta, Inc.) campus in Lawrenceville - Building #6. Holder, I think, is the construction company. There is a huge sign posted by Holder in a few places.

The new Cisco sign is also up replacing the Scientific Atlanta signposts - as you can see drivers passing by must be wondering if this Holder Construction or Cisco?

BTW This is a very beautiful campus and I am one of the people who has moved to this building and guess what my cubicle/office has a enviable view compared to others... (company policy forbids camera's and I will respect that else I would have posted how it looks from my office)

Tech Tools That I Use Part 1: Email, Calendar & Contacts

While I am relatively new to the whole world of blogging and social-networking I consider that I am pretty good at using technology to increase my effectiveness. Here are a few things that I do:

1. I simply love Microsoft Outlook - it is one of the reasons of marital bliss. I ensure that all Birthdates, Anniversaries (not mine but the in-Laws) are setup, and reminders for a day before the events. The Calendaring & Contact function is phenomenal - yes I would want more features but I haven't seen anything that works so well and does not need an internet connection.

(And Yes I have tried Apple's email client, Thunderbird, Outlook Express, all kinds of web email - Gmail, Hotmail etc. - nothing in my opinion comes close to Outlook at least for what I use it for other than email!)

2. Having them on your Outlook is of course not enough - so whenever I have used any cellphone I have made sure that I can "sync" (using Cables or Bluetooth etc.) the calendars & contacts with the PC/Outlook. That, of course, allows you to be reminded when the laptop is NOT ON or at the office.

3. Another thing that I did (I say - "I did" because now I have automated the process) when using Outlook file messages. I rarely use an excuse that I have tons of email, I can dispatch and/or categorize emails very effectively. Of course it also helps that I am a BlackBerry addict since 2003!

4. I started using ClearContext a couple of months back and it has certainly helped me automate the task of keeping corporate email box limits. ClearContext allows me to setup "Topics" and any emails that are in the same thread get classified automatically. I can then file them away in separate folders as a single message or entire thread. (I must admit that the Apple MAC OS email client has this feature where it will show emails as "Threads" or "Conversations").

5. I am going to attempt to use Xobni (Inbox spelled in reverse) which boasts many features plus ability to connect to the social networks.

I will continue this post to follow up on Browsing and RSS tools to keep me updated on everything that is going on...

So far I like Blogger over WordPress!

I have tried blogging on WordPress, and for various different reasons found it difficult. I will keep trying/using to understand what are the advantages of using WordPress.

My take is simple - I don't want to go for their paid service till I know for sure that I will be blogging frequently. I googled and tried to go through their settings but I was unable to figure out how to get my Twitter updates to show up - something that we very, very simple with Blogger!

SEWA Holi Celebrations Pictures

Here is the link to the pictures from SEWA Holi Celebrations...

Holi Celebration

Like all Indian/Desi festival celebrations in the US, Holi is celebrated on weekends. This year chose to participate in the Holi organized by Sewa USA (a charitable organization)

I always wonder why end up attending, make no mistake I love Holi, but it takes second-seat to celebrating Diwali...

This time though I ended up taking a lot of pictures, going to sift through them and post them soon.

BTW before I headed out I had to take care to protect my Canon 20D and the lens using makeshift technique from the "gulal" (color, read more about Holi here), here is the picture of how I did it...

Cisco CRS-1 & the Pure Digital Flip Video

It is really interesting to note that I may have the distinction of working for a company (Cisco Systems) - the distinction of some of the most massive (size-wise), high-end technical equipment to entry level camcorders if the intent acquiring Pure Digital go through!

So I tried doing some math to show the equivalence of CRS-1 to the Flip Video has a fun exercise...

Interesting stats to note: A Fully Loaded Cisco CRS-1 is 84 x 23.6 x 39.71 inches and wieghs 1595 lbs (723 kg). And the entry level Flip Video is 4.12 x 1.25" x 2.25" and weighs 5.2 oz (0.325 lbs) !

Volume: 1 CRS-1 ~ 6793 Flip Videos (78721.104/11.5875)
Weight: 1 CRS-1 ~ 4907 Flip Videos

Twitter Changes ...

Changed my Twitter name my email/net moniker/handle that I usually use - TechTsunami to AshuJoshi. I think they kind of munged together, I wanted to have both of them and have the www.twitter.com/Techtsunami point back to AshuJoshi as the new follower name...

Not to worry, I have limited followers and nothing important that may get lost in the name change!

More than an year gone by...

More than an year has gone by without any blog post - not that I don't want to write or express, but it is next to impossible to post frequently. Y2009 has to be different. Between this blog and a new one that I will setup on Wordpress, I should be able to cover what I want to express. Plus I don't have to choose between WordPress and BlogSpot!