Of brands, boardrooms and balance sheets

THE HINDU Nearly 50 teams participated in the quiz which was a mash-up of concepts associated with business — Photo: V. Ganesan

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Many years ago, banks used to issue porcelain tiles to customers, which had the name of the customer, bank and credit limit written on them. And that gave way to a monetary term, quite frequently used today.

When a question regarding this was asked at Cerebration, the Hindu Business Line Quiz 2013, it took TCS employees R. Jayakanthan and G. Srikanth less than 10 seconds to get it right — going broke. “The tile is broken when the credit goes beyond limit,” answered Jayakanthan. The team was even faster in recognising the international group, ‘The Elders’ from a picture of peace activists, Nelson Mandela, Ela Bhatt, Kofi Annan and others.

“I started quizzing only seven years ago,” says Jayakanthan, a 29-year-old quizzer from the city, who has won almost every quiz in Chennai. “Winning is only a recent phenomenon. I have lost many quizzes to reach here,” he adds.

Jayakanthan and Srikanth won the Chennai rounds of the quiz by a heavy margin on Sunday. They are all set to compete with five other winning teams from other cities on January 26 in Mumbai.

The quiz was a mash-up of many concepts associated with business.

From the airlines whose cost-cutting measure involved taking off one olive from every salad plate served to customers (American Airlines) to the twin towers of Deutsche Bank being aptly called credit and debit, the quiz had questions on a wide range of topics.

Nearly 50 teams comprising employees of various companies took part.

Six teams made it to the regional finals after a written prelims of 20 questions. They were Kiran Vijayakumar and M. Siddharth from Cognizant, Anish Raju and Devi Karthiyayini from Accenture, Balaji Krishnan and Arun Laxman from Caterpillar, two separate teams from Infosys consisting of Vivek Venkatesan and Senthil Kumar; and Kartik Ramdas and Muthu Kumaran. Karthik and Muthu bagged the second prize in the quiz.

Quizmaster Giri ‘Pickbrain' Balasubramanium noted that said the preparations the teams had put in was a testimony to the fact that one could continue to learn and be informed about the world, even amid a hectic work life. Chennai, he said, had a history of producing some of the best quizzing brains of the country.

So, does it mean all general quizzers get attracted to business quizzing? “Not many do, most business quizzes have quite a heavy entry fee (between Rs 2,000 and Rs. 6,000).

And, now that most companies have stopped sponsoring participants, it is not affordable for everyone. You don’t want to take part unless you are sure you will do well,” said a participant at the quiz.

Keywords: Hindu Business Line Quiz 2013

I prefer Qwerty phones: SRK

The soldier of Fauji, the go getter of Circus, and now the super star of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan has been a perfect entertainer for the masses. Recently, he was in Delhi to launch Nokia's latest handset, E7.

In an interaction with The Mobile Indian, Shahrukh Khan shared his experiences with mobile phones.

TMI: Shah Rukh, you have been a big fan of Nokia Communicator and around six weeks back you got an E7 to test. How was your experience?

SRK: I am a technoholic, and a device has to be high on innovation and functionality to catch my attention. Nokia has always impressed me with novel and user friendly features -- I still have my Nokia Communicator from 1996! I have been waiting for the Nokia Communicator in a new avatar so when I heard about the E7, I couldn't wait to get one.

Nokia approached me to be a product tester and I was supposed to give feedback to the company. I have used the Nokia E7 for over a month. I am totally hooked to it and it has become my constant business companion. Not only does it keep me connected to my business at all times, but it helps me stay close to my friends and family wherever I am.

TMI: Most of the time you are busy travelling and shooting in different locations. Was E7 useful in keeping you updated on the progress of other movies that you might have just completed?

SRK: Oh yes, it was really useful. Most of the time my directors send me video clips of shootings that I have completed, through email, to ask for my suggestion or keep me updated about the editing that has been carried out.
With E7, not only do I look at those video clips on my phone but also share my inputs with the director. It made my life easier for me.

TMI: Are you hooked to games and apps on the phone?

SRK: Yes, very much. I am a big fan of Angry Birds and I enjoy playing it on my cell. Apart from that, since I do a lot of travelling I enjoy using apps which help me in managing my travels.

TMI: Do you prefer touch screen or Qwerty phones?

SRK: Since the days I started using computers everybody at home used to tell me to learn typing and as time progressed I started liking it, and now even in mobiles I prefer those handsets which have Qwerty support.

TMI: How much time do you spend on your phone?

SRK: Usually, I spend around two hours on the phone every day, and if time and distance are not an issue, I love face to face interactions with friends, relatives and colleagues.

Also, I make it a point not to carry my cell phone to the sets when I am shooting, I keep it in my vanity van and I would also like new actors that are joining the Bollywood fraternity to avoid using phones when they are on sets.

TMI: Whom did you call first after getting a new E7?

SRK: I made the first call to my son, Aryan, and tried to impress him with my latest gadget. I think he was impressed.

SONY @XPERIA MOBILE

Sony Xperia Go
Featuring a rugged design, durability and water resistance, Xperia Go comes with a scratch resistant mineral glass display and meets industry standard IP (Ingress Protection) rating 67 to fight off dust and the effects of water immersion as well.
The device can also stay submerged under water for up to 10 minutes. Xperia Go comes with a wet finger tracking system that allows it to be used in extreme weather conditions.

The Sony Xperia Go features a 3.5 inch 320 x 480 pixel reality display, and up to four point touch input system. Xperia Go is based on the older Android Gingerbread operating system but the company promises Android Ice Cream Sandwich soon.
Sony Xperia Go comes with a 5 megapixel main camera but misses out on a front camera, so no video calling. It is powered by a 1 GHz dual core processor along with 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB onboard memory for smooth operation.
The phone is a good option only for those looking for a sturdy phone. Priced at Rs 16,000 it's not very expensive either.

Google Social Network Attacks Facebook And Foursquare

Google wants your attention! Google Social Network is here!

In its never-ending quest to catch up with, rather than work with, Facebook, Google is rolling out its latest effort called Google +, or the Google Social Network.

This blogger is not a beta tester for Google +, but as one who's used Google accounts almost since gmail started, and was prepared to hate the very idea of a Google Social Network, after reading through the online presentation, I have to say, Google may be on to something here.

The main question is, is Google + compelling enough to want to use, and is that enough to supplant Facebook? The answer is yes, but no. Yes, because it combines features, and in a way fuses a Foursquare-like check-in system into its social network, but no, because it totally misses the design element that makes Facebook so popular.

What's cool about Facebook is it's simplicity - everything starts from your profile page. The Facebook news feed is kind of the "town central" for what your friends are up to.

So, in a way, it's like living in a neighborhood with your house as the profile, and the downtown park and mall as the place where you go and see what everyone's up to. When they come to your house, that's when they comment or "like" on something that appears on your profile.

It's that function that makes Facebook so very, there's that word again, compelling.

What's that word again about Google Social Network is its' design, using circles and colors to designate places and actions. But, and I can see this without a beta account, it doesn't have that neighborhood feeling that makes Facebook work.

And I don't think Facebook was deliberately designed to work in the way I described above, it just turned out that way. But if you think about it, that "way" is so organic, so much the way we work as people, it explains Facebook's success.

That Google didn't copy that aspect of Facebook's design is why it will not replace, or really put a dent into, Facebook's dominance.

The problem is that Google didn't think about how the "circles, hangouts, Instant Upload, Sparks, and Huddle," all fit together, or about what really binds people to each other. Google's system connects people but it does not let me see what people - my friends - are doing.

People like to know what other people are doing. Facebook's News feed allows that, even more than the status updates. Google should find some kind of way to incorporate Facebook's user experience into the Google Social Network, or else, it's just not going to catch on with many other than early responders.

UPDATE: PC World, which was invited to try Google + reports that the "Stream" is equal to the Facebook News Feed. From PC World's account, Google does copy Facebook's "feel" but I have to try it for myself to be sure. I'm still skeptical.

Tom Cruise's height like it's the next big scandal

Tom Cruise Height
People talk and speculate about Tom Cruise's height like it's the next big scandal.  The Cruise height scandal seems to be synonymous with any news about the famous actor.  While Tom's stature may be below average, his career is not.  Tom Cruise has appeared on many influential lists throughout his career, and yet twenty plus years later, Tom Cruise height is still a hot issue.
According to IMDb, the official Tom Cruise height is 5'7.72”.  This is about two inches below the average height for a man.  Tom could the poster boy for short men.  Despite his short stature, Tom has been involved with beautiful women including ex-wife Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, and current wife Katie Holmes.  All three of these women are all taller than Tom Cruise.
The Tom height issue definitely did not influence People magazine, which named him the sexiest man alive.  Entertainment Weekly and Premier magazine could not be persuaded either.  Both magazines ranked him 31^st and 3^rd for greatest movie star of all time respectively. Tom Cruise was also not a factor for VH1.  He was honored at number 18 of the hottest hotties list.
Tom Cruise height followers can be found all over the Internet as they post pictures trying to decipher how he manages to appear taller in pictures.  There are several theories on the Tom height issue.  The first is that Tom has lifts in his shoes.  One company that makes lifts has even gone so far as to strongly suggest that Tom Cruise uses their product.
Another Cruise height theory is that he is simply a master of illusion.  Katie Holmes, his current wife, is 2 inches taller than him without shoes. Katie likes to wear 3-4 inch heels, which she refuses to stop wearing.  Fans have noticed that Tom is a fan of taking pictures on stairs with his wife.  He usually stands a few stairs up from her in order to even out the obvious height difference.  His previous wife, Nicole Kidman, simply chose to wear flats when hitting the town with Tom.
The Tom Cruise height issue has also affected Cameron Diaz, his co-star in the movie Knight and Day.  Pictures of the two of them at the premier show a slouching Cameron and a pair of one-inch heels on Tom's shoes to even out the height difference.
Despite the debate over Cruise height, his talent cannot be ignored.  He has been a successful actor, and one of the best paid of all time.  Tom Cruise has stood the test of time, and has remained a Hollywood superstar for more than 20 years. 

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Tom Cruise, a famous Hollywood actor. His complete name is Thomas Cruise and he was born on third July 1962. He is actually an actor as well as producer of American film industry. He was nominated for three different Academy awards and he had also won Golden Globe award three times. He had acted in a film Risky Business as a lead actor. This was a career maker for this actor.
Second successful film by this actor was Top Gun. He has also acted as secret agent in the series of movies known as Mission Impossible. Apart from these kinds of successful movies he had also acted in lots of other well-known movies of Hollywood. From long time, he has been given a charge of United Artists studio for films. There Tom is working as a producer.
Tom Cruise's birth city is Syracuse of New York. Her mother was a teacher and father was an electrical engineer by profession. He got his surname from his grandfather.
If you look at the history part then you can see that he was really born in poverty area and he was from Catholic family. Even his father has also beaten him many times. Now when the question comes, what is tom cruise height, then what should be your answer? You can find lots of rumors regarding the same on the Internet. Because of some close resources you can surely get the perfect measurement of his height. It is actually 172 cms. If you look at his image on Internet or in some magazine then you can surely get the idea about tom cruise height. You can see that even his height is lesser then his wife. But, in picture it is seen that he looks taller than her wife. So, how it could be possible? During his career or his complete film life, there were many rumors spread regarding his height. Even if you search properly or read some older magazine you can get the detailed information about the same controversy. Some of the people are having a doubt that he is wearing Taller Heels. But, we need to make sure that weather he is really wearing same or not? The company itself is not ready to provide this judgment that he is wearing it or not. So, it is totally up to us to judge that Tom Cruise is wearing Taller Hills or not.

Roddick fears he may never win the Wimbledon title

London: Andy Roddick fears he may never win Wimbledon after the three-time finalist suffered a shock third round exit against Feliciano Lopez on Friday. Roddick has always believed the faster grasscourts of Wimbledon made the tournament his best bet to win another Grand Slam.
    But the former US Open champion looks increasingly unlikely to fulfil his dream after yet another early exit from the All England Club.
    Although Roddick made the final in 2009 — losing in five sets to Roger Federer — the American has now failed to get past the fourth round in three of the last four years.
    With age no longer on the 28-year-old’s side, he concedes it has occurred to him that he may never get to lift the championship trophy. “Well, sure. You’re human. I mean, of course it does. You may never get your favourite job either,” Roddick said. “I haven’t played well this year. I don’t think I’ve played my best since probably April of last year. I’ve been up against some stuff. But it has to get better, there’s no doubt. You keep moving forward until you decide to stop. At this point I’ve not decided to stop so I’ll keep moving forward.”
    Although Roddick was hugely disappointed not to make the second week of his favourite Grand Slam, he insisted he wasn’t as devastated as when he lost in the second round against Janko Tipsaveric in 2008 and Lu Yen-Hsun in the fourth round last year. “It’s easier for me to walk out of here and move forward with that than, let’s say, 2008 where I lost to Tipsarevic and I felt like I completely choked or last year where I had a million opportunities and gave it away,” Roddick said.
    “He played an outstanding match. He served about as well as someone has against me. The stuff that’s enabled me to beat him seven times, making passing shots under duress, making him play defence on his forehand, he did well today.
    “The thing you guys have to understand is there’s no script. Some days you’re going to play well and lose, and some days you’re going to play like crap and win.”
    Roddick had won all seven of his previous seven meetings with Lopez, but the last of those encounters on grass at Queen’s earlier this month suggested the eighth seed wouldn’t have it all his own way on Centre Court.
    It had taken Roddick three tough sets to see off Lopez at the Wimbledon warm-up event and this time the Spaniard was finally able to break his losing run.
    Lopez, twice a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, served brilliantly and stopped Roddick establishing his power-game as the world number 44 secured a tie against Gael Monfils or Lukasz Kubot in the last 16. AFP

Andy Roddick during his match against Feliciano Lopez on Friday