What Ho!

ICICI Bank Online Banking - Fund Transfer Changes

2008-02-20T19:27:00.000+05:30

ICICI Bank has made some very big changes to it's Online Fund Transfer service. It seems RBI has discontinued it's ETF service and now only the NETF service is available. This means you can no longer transfer funds to banks and branches that are not yet on the NETF service. For example the SBI branch in Cyber Towers, Madhapur is not on the NEFT service yet.

In addition to the above, ICICI Bank has introduced time restrictions. They will not accept transactions outside these timings:

NEFT Transaction Timing from Monday to Friday: Cut Off time 3:45 PM (IST).
NEFT Transaction Timing on Saturday: Cut Off time 11:45 AM (IST).

ICICI's PruTracker - Analyze Scheme Performance

2008-02-14T12:55:00.000+05:30

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund is one of India's leading AMCs. They manage a lot of money (AUM) and are innovative in their product offerings. They also have a good track record of technology use. Their web site was one of the first to offer direct purchase of Mutual Fund units as well as portfolio tracking.

Retired! Last Post

2008-01-19T10:17:00.001+05:30

I am retiring this blog. I have my own domain (satpathy.org) and a good hosting package from www.hostmonster.com.

My blog will hence forth be hosted at http://whatho.satpathy.org.

See you there.

How much is your Religion Worth?

2008-01-02T15:44:00.000+05:30

Most Hindus visit their neighborhood temple on a regular basis. Puja is done by the temple priest who uses the offerings brought by the devotee. Things like fruits, a coconut, insence sticks, flowers etc. The puja typically ends by the priest bringing out the aratii with the burning camphor for the devotees who after blessing themselves from the flames, put their offerings in the plate. This money typically goes to the priest and helps suplement their often meagre income.

How much do you give? How much is the priest's services worth to you?

I normally see small denomination coins in the thalli. With the odd 10 rupee note thrown in. I don't remember ever seeing anything higher than that. The hundies of the larger temples typically attract the 100 rupee notes. I don't know if any of the hundi money benefits the poor priests. I think not. It typically goes to the temple committee.

So, what is it worth to you?

Vote for Harry!

2008-01-01T23:53:00.001+05:30

Vote for Harry!

"White Night" and "Proven Guilty" are vying for Amazon.com's Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books of 2007, in the "hardcover" and "paperback" categories, respectively! They're up against some stiff competition, so please show your support!

Vote for "White Night" here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_5833022_15?ie=UTF8&docId=1000159331&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-6&pf_rd_r=18Y7NDZ74Y8SFSKYXE3H&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=329056901&pf_rd_i=383166011

and "Proven Guilty here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_5832942_19?ie=UTF8&docId=1000159381&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=right-3&pf_rd_r=19V5YCAWBQ5RS0X6MTT0&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=324167101&pf_rd_i=383166011

The Temple on New Year's Day

2008-01-01T19:53:00.001+05:30

We visited the local temple today and the did the usual puja. The place was crowded. I was stuck by a thought. Why am I here today? We go the temple fairly regularly but why on the first of January? Then I realised that I do not know the new year day as per the Hindu calendar! That was a sobering thought. I am a practicing Hindu but I lack fundamental knowledge about my religion. A sad state of affairs I must rectify as soon as I can.

Happy New Year..

2008-01-01T00:59:00.001+05:30

Happy new year to all of you. I hope this year will be all that you desire. Live long and prosper.

Mobile Blogging - Opera Mini Issue

2007-12-31T14:57:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I made a post to this blog via the Opera Mini browser on my SonyEricsson P1i. I accessed the Blooger Create Post page and used that to make the post. After typing the first two lines I decided to try uploading an image and clicked the Image toolbar button. The upload image page displayed properly but I was unable to upload an image. Then I canceled that page and returned to the create post page and continued typing. You can see that post here.

The post was successful. However this morning I found an "Draft" in my Blogger Posts page and it turned out to be a post with the first two lines I had typed before navigating to the image upload page.

Strange! I suppose this happened because of the Auto Save feature of Blogger. Not sure though. Will try to reproduce again when I have a minute.

Mobile Blogging - Blogger For SonyEricsson

2007-12-31T14:36:00.001+05:30

I have finally managed to download and install the Blogger software for SonyEricsson and this is the first test post. The text entry area is single line on my phone! Makes it rather difficult to read what I am typing. Anyway let's see how this works.

Mobile Blogging - Opera Mini

2007-12-31T03:04:00.001+05:30

This post is being made from the regular Blogger post editor accessed using Opera Mini.

Can I add images this way?

Clicking the image button on the toolbar does bring up the blogger add image screen but I was unable to do anything with it. The browse button is not clickable. Oh well.

Mobile Blogging - Posting from Gmail Mobile (J2ME)

2007-12-31T02:51:00.001+05:30

This post is being sent as an email from the mobile Gmail client
(J2ME). Let's see how it comes out. I must delete the signature before
sending the email.  Opps! I had to fire up Opera Mini and access the
Gmail settings to remove the signature. Gmail mobile does not seem to
have any way to do this.

--
Sent from Google Mail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Mobile Blogging - Email to Blog

2007-12-30T23:28:00.000+05:30

Text emails to my blog's post-to-blog-email address works like a charm. I added my personal email (non gmail) as an blog author in the permissions page and I am set!

The P1i's built in email software seems to run pragraphs together and this post is meant to test that. Let's see what happens.

The next test will be to use the mobile Gmail client (J2ME) to blog.

By the way, I am using WiFi for email on the P1i. I have WiFi both at home and at work.

The only thing missing from this email-to-blog is post categories. Ah well. Nothing is perfect.

Test of Mobile Blogging from my P1i

2007-12-30T19:08:00.000+05:30

I bought a Sony Ericsson P1i in the beginning of Nov 07. One of the applications I had planned is mobile blogging. So far I havent had the time to try it out. Today I decided to check it out and see what i can do with the Sony Ericsson P1i.

I will post again about the results of the various experiments as soon as I am done.

My New Sony Ericsson P1i

2007-11-15T12:48:00.000+05:30

I traded in my old Nokia 6600 for a Sony Ericsson P1i. I was looking for a good business apps kind of phone for sometime and looked at a lot of options, including Nokia's E61i. Finally decided to splurge on the P1i and I must say I am pleased with my decision.

The P1i comes with a touch screen running at 240x320 resolution and a 1Gb memory card. The phone runs Symbian OS and works like a charm. The killer feature for me is WiFi support. I have a WiFi network at home and the phone works like a charm. We will be shifting to the main Oracle Campus from Raheja MindSpace in a few weeks and then I have will have WiFi at work too :-)

I use MobiPocket Reader on the phone for ebooks as well as RSS feeds from Economic Times and other favorites. The Windows XP version of MobiPocket can seamlessly download RSS feeds, convert to individual PRC files (one for each feed) and synchronize with my P1i over the USB cable. It should also work with BlueTooth & InfraRed but I haven't tried those yet. The USB cable and cradle is convenient and I haven't bothered with BlueTooth yet.

I also synchronize with Outlook for Calendar and Tasks (Oracle CollabSuite 10g). My personal mail (satpathy.in) is also setup on the phone along with the work email. Very easy to use. I don't have to fire up the laptop to check emails in the morning anymore :-)

I haven't tried any games etc on the phone yet. Haven't found anything interesting yet.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files & Codex Alera

2007-11-15T12:37:00.000+05:30

Jim Butcher's 4th Codex Alera book, Captain's Fury, will be released on Dec 4, 2007. It is available for Pre-order on Amazon. Wonder when it will be available in book shops here in India.

I enjoyed the first 3 books in the series and am really looking forward to installment number 4.

Also on my reading list is the 10th Dresden book, Small Favor. Queen Mab and Dresden make for interesting reading. Small favor is due to be released on April 1, 2008. It too is available for Pre-order on Amazon.

Call For Interview - LMS?

2007-11-14T16:53:00.001+05:30

I received a call from a consultant who found my resume on the web. He was kind enough to tell me that he used Google to search for "CV of LMS administrator" on Google (without the quotes and my resume came up as the last result on the first search result page! That is a position of 9 on Google for this particular search!

I have developed LMS systems. I have developed EAI systems to interact with LMS systems but I have NEVER administered a LMS!

Should I blame the idiotic Indian IT HR consultants who have a well deserved reputation for being idiots or should I blame Google for wasting 2 minutes of my life?

Goa Vacation!

2007-10-17T12:46:00.000+05:30

We are off to Goa today for a much needed vacation. The kids are very very excited and so are we!

New Railway Web Site - erail.in

2007-09-25T19:51:00.000+05:30

I came across a very nice web site today. It is dedicated to the Indian Railways and is absolutely great. Go over to eRail.in and experience it yourself. I have added a couple of screen shots below.

The site seems to use AJAX heavily and is intuitive. I could quickly figure out how to use the features and kept discovering new things to do. The site is fast and displays a ton os useful information on the same page. I was particularly impressed with the "Get Details" function. It displays a list of all stations where train stops, plus the fare. And you can set the number of adults, the number of children etc! Cool!

Some features have not been implemented yet. I look forward to seeing this evolve. It has been a long time since I have seen something this nice about the Indian Railways. The idiots who run the IT department of the Indian Railways are the biggest morons ever to be unleashed on the Internet.

Growth In Coconut

2007-09-17T10:57:00.000+05:30

I broke a coconut on September 15, 2007, and found a strange growth within. Padmaja was very excited to see it. It seems this is very very rare and is considered to be very auspicious. I had never seen such a growth before though Padmaja had.

Ram Setu: Advani questions Center on affidavit (video from IndiaTimes)

2007-09-13T13:57:00.001+05:30

A video from the IndiaTimes web site showing a Times Now News about L. K. Advani, the leader of Opposition speaking about the Ram Setu issue and the Lord Ram.

Original video web page. Copyright resides with original copyright owners.

3BHK Flat For Rent In Masab Tank, Hyderabad

2007-09-13T13:00:00.001+05:30

A new 3 bedroom, furnished, deluxe flat is available for rent/lease at Masab Tank on the main road, off Road No.1 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.

Car parking, security, 24hrs water, and emergency power supply. Within 100 meters of major hospitals, supermarkets, and banks. Very quiet and posh surroundings.

Company lease preferred.

Expected rent Rs.18,000pm (negotiable).

For more information, please contact, Capt. Mohapatra at 9391030129

Indian Central Government Says No Proof Of Ram's Existence

2007-09-13T12:13:00.001+05:30

The Indian Central Government in New Delhi claims that there is no historical proof of the existence of Lord Ram, the King of Ayodhya and of the hearts of all Hindus the world over. The beloved God of a billion Hindus never was. The shining beacon of Truth & Dharma is a mere hero in a fairy tale. He was not of this earth. He did not walk the land, with his brother and wife, fighting Ravana, He Who makes The Universe Scream, and his demon hordes that threatened the very existence of life on earth.

He did not exist!

He did not show the world how to live a life of Dharma. He did not show how compassion, truth & love conquer all. He did not show how even the Gods suffer from human frailties when they walk the earth among us as men and women. He did not show what it means to stand & fight shoulder to shoulder with the forces of Dharma & Good regardless of the nature of the being fighting alongside him. He did not show that humans alone do not own this world. That Vanars and all other beings also have a place and a right to live a life of Dharma.

He did not exist!

Rise ye, all you Hindus! Rise! This is blasphemy! An attempt to subvert the very faith that our lives are based on. A blow to every Hindu. Rise now and bring them down! Throw out these people that dare to say that our Lord Ram did not exist! Rise now before it is too late!

AMCs come together to oppose entry load waiver

2007-09-10T10:29:00.001+05:30

The Economic Times reports that leading AMCs have joined ranks to oppose the SEBI's move to scrap Entry Loads on direct fund investments, i.e., investments that do not go through a broker.

What SEBI is trying to do here is to ensure that when an investor approaches an AMC directly to purchase units or set up an SIP, he or she should not be charged an entry load. Quantum AMC is the only Indian AMC that allows investors to purchase funds directly and does not charge an entry load. Investors can create an account on their web site and transact directly. That amounts to a 2.5% saving every time you purchase mutual fund units, either through a bulk purchase or via the SIP route.

If an investor is capable of making their investment choices then why should they pay an entry load? SEBI's move makes perfect sense. Then why are the AMCs opposing this move? Or is it the brokers who are opposing the move and hence the AMCs are under pressure? I suppose the latter is the case because most AMCs pay out the entire 2.5% charge to the brokers.

The argument is that brokerage houses have spent huge amounts of money to set up investment centers across the country and AMC will have a very difficult time replicating this reach.

What? Does that argument make sense? Not to me!

We are talking about direct investments here. I don't talk to a broker anyway. I do my own research on web sites like Value Research Online and make my own decisions. On my own time. So why am I paying an 2.5% entry load?

Quantum AMC has a solution. You can either do all your transactions online if you have Internet banking facilities from your bank (like ICICI, HDFC, SBI etc). Otherwise you can download their application form, print it, fill it in and post it along with a cheque. Simple. Total cost is about 30 rupees even if you have to use a cyber cafe to access the Internet and print the form. Plus postage.

Do the math people. 2.5% of your money is lost every time you buy an mutual fund. That 2.5% would have earned the same return as the rest of your money.

Rakhi 2007

2007-09-06T13:35:00.001+05:30

Rakhi this year fell on August 28. This was Mamli & Bablu's 3rd Rakhi. Rohan Padhi (Gulu), my brother-in-law, visited us for Rakhi. Gayatri, my sister, had sent Rakhis for me and for Bablu (from her two daughters, Meghu & Chikoo).

We celebrated Rakhi in the morning.

Gulu had brought his camcorder and shot a movie of the proceedings.

Video Album 2 - Rakhi 2007

(Click image above to see the video on Picasa Web Albums)

Here is the embedded video.

Durgesh Nandini's New Web Site - Powered By Google Apps!

2007-09-06T13:04:00.001+05:30

Earlier this year I had registered DurgeshNandini.name on Net4Domains.com. I had not hosted anything on the domain and simply set URL forwarding to my web site, Satpathy.in.

I read about Google Apps a few weeks ago and decided to use the DurgeshNandini.name domain to set up a site using Google Apps. The sign up was straight forward. However Net4Domains does not have tools online to make all the required changes like CNAME changes etc. Some of the changes I could make on the Net4Domains dashboard but for the others I had to raise support tickets. They responded fairly fast, typically within 24 hrs.

I now have personalized email, Docs & Spread Sheets, Calendar etc along with web pages on the new web site. Do check it out.