Can the rules get any more unfair??? Govt. in India wants to charge stamp duty of Rs. 1 Crore because Company name contains the words “Global”

Recently i have been planning on starting my own company in India. It will be a Private Limited Company and something like Global -----   -----  Pvt. Ltd. So i file the documents in Mumbai for registration of the name. Well it got rejected and came back… Why??? Because the company name contained the word “Global” so they want me to register it with Rs. 1 Crore and not Rs. 1 Lakh. What happened to a free country and equal opportunity? The moronic government passed a rule that allows a certain class of names to be registered by only the upper class of society.

This needs to be re-planned for India's growth. In the USA most companies are started by 1-2 people with little capital investment and many do very good for themselves. So why are we in India shooting ourselves in our feet???

Moronic People who passed that rule for sure.

Chill Out.

Vikram Jhaveri

Companies that never learn – Part III

Airtel is up to their worst tricks again. So i recently upgraded my internet connection to 1MBPS unlimited from Airtel. And what do i get for paying them more money? Constant sales call, FROM AIRTEL SUPPORT, to give them more money. Worst of all, they call me at 9AM on a Sunday. Those freaking losers can forget getting any other business from me. I have cancelled my Airtel post-paid cell, Airtel cable TV, and disconnected the phone line. Only kept the internet connection because they are good at something.

Why don't companies learn not to harass customers???

Big Bazaar Nightmare

Not sure why, but Big Bazaar (Mumbai – Bombay Central – City Mall) has around 10 check out lanes, but i have never seen more than 4 in action. This caused a huge problem on Sunday, when buying my groceries took 10 minutes and finishing checkout took 30 mins. They could not move any more slow there (i think it was new staff) and to compound the problem, they could not figure out how to accept a gift certificate the person in front of me had.

It was an absolute nightmare and they need to hire a competent floor manager and create a customer grievance counter too.

So far they have lost me as a customer. I am going to go to Reliance Fresh, which seems to have a better staff.

- Signing Out Vikram Jhaveri

Absolute Waste of an Hour

Today i was stuck in traffic of 90mins, for a drive that should have taken 15mins. The reason?

New Era School in Mumbai, was upgrading not only its facilities, but also its curriculum, which is a good thing. The bad thing, rather than planning it, they simply rushed through it, which resulted in all current students being relocated.

So the parents protested, on the streets, disrupting traffic, because they decided it was okay. I personally felt they should have been thrown behind bars for a few hours for disrupting civil peace. However we are an extremely tolerant society and did not.

One has to think though, what were the parents thinking? Does the general public care about the time they just lost, or about a school they do not care about. What were the parents and children getting? Curses or Pity?

It was complete chaos and a lot of people lost close to 5 good hours. Luckily i just lost an hour. However hope that all those parents that created so much trouble and pain for others, should be forced to have to send their children to the relocated school just for that.

By, Vikram Jhaveri

Companies that never learn – Part II

This is mainly a personal complaint against MTNL. I signed up for their unlimited 512 kbps plan. It was painless and took a few minutes over the phone. Which i thought was impressive.

Next they said they would install it in 7 days, however they came in 2 days to install it. I was impressed again.

However now came the nightmare. Since i was not at home, they left the equipment, said that it was all activated and all i had to do was connect it. So i did, and guess what, it did not work.

After spending hours registering a complaint, they sent a young technician, who after 7 days could not get anything working. So i decided to cancel. And guess what, they billed me installation fees and 1 month usage for Rs. 4000 even though the plan costs Rs. 1500 and did not work for more than a few minutes.

Guess some companies try to show that they have improved, but that is all smoke and mirrors.

By, Vikram Jhaveri

Companies that never learn – Part I

This is a small description of a huge mistake made by cell phone companies in India. Let the company be new or old, public or private, they all make this mistake.

What is the mistake?

Unwanted Sales Call and Sales SMS.

I have tried a variety of cell phone services, this was a small project of mine. I got Airtel, Aircel, BPL (Now Loop Mobile), MTNL, Idea and BSNL. Since i knew what i wanted, first day i got my cell phone, i turned send an SMS to the Do Not Disturb National Registry. So that should have told them that i do not want to be troubled.

Now i do not get any Sales calls. Which is a good thing. I wanted to try a routine here with sales call though. Any service i was offered, i plan to call these sales people to my office, let them waste a few good hours. I can live with that. My few minutes is worth their useless hours in time comparison.

Now regarding SMS, OMG, these companies just send one SMS after another. It has just got to stop. Again a side note, (Idea cellular service) only sent me one sms in a month, i would definitely recommend them. However Loop Mobile, Aircel, Airtel and MTNL, just stay away from them. I get SMS’s from them every few hours. How annoying is that for business people???

Just a huge corporate blunder is what i see here. No one will want their corporate employees to have a cell phone that constantly annoys them.

By, Vikram Jhaveri

Some Neat and Cheap Stuff worth Buying

Asus 1005HA P w/ Atom N280, 10.5 hour battery, Win XP, 160GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, 1.3mp webcam, 802.11b/g/n, BlueTooth, 10.1" Screen, $379.99 w/ FREE crucial 2gigs of ram & FREE S/H

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=AS1005HAPBK

Seemingly crafted by nature itself, the Eee PC Seashell draws its inspiration from seashells and its opalescent and glossy exterior is crafted by the innovative in-Mold Roller technology. It's so light and compact, you can take it anywhere with you! And with sleek curves and smooth lines hugging its lustrous shell, the Eee PC Seashell will easily charm passers-by wherever it goes.
Key Features:
10.1" WSVGA (1024x600) LED Backlight Display
Microsoft Windows XP Home Preloaded
Intel Atom N280 (1.66GHz) Processor
160GB Hard Drive + 10GB of Eee Storage
1GB DDR2 Memory
High-Speed Wireless 802.11n
Bluetooth V2.1
6-Cell (63W/h) Battery Up to 10.5 Hours of Battery Life
Item Includes:
1 Eee PC 1005HA-P Pearl Black
1 Warranty Card
1 User's Manual
1 Eee Carrying Case
1 AC Power Adapter
1 (6) Cell Li-ion Battery
1 XP Support DVD

 

AMD Athlon X2 7550 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ CPU + Biostar MCP6P-M2-GeForce 6150 Motherboard + 2GB(1x2GB)Kingston-DDR2-667 Memory + WD 500GB HDD + Mid-Tower Case + PS - $175 + $2Shipping

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4914556&SRCCODE=WEM1972C&cm_mmc= Email-_-Main-_-WEM1972-_-components

Biostar MCP6P-M2 socket AM2 Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7550 Socket AM2+ OEM Processor
2GB Kingston PC5400 DDR2 667Hz Memory
WD Caviar Green 500GB SATA Internal Hard Drive
Apex SK-386 Black Mid-Tower Case with 300 Watt Power Supply

 

Dell Studio Laptop w/ Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6400 and 17'' WXGA - Ruby Red (New, Open Box) $550 + shipping

http://www.weeklycloseouts.com/page/en/home.aspx?task=product&itemid=22886

Equipped with a built-in media reader and slot-loading DVDRW/CD-RW drive, this laptop makes it easy to enjoy a host of entertainment options. Video chat with friends and family via the 2.0-megapixel webcam. IMPORTANT: Open Box items have been inspected and are 100% functional. In addition, while the box may have been previously opened, the unit is still new in appearance, with little or no signs of wear. All essential accessories are included.
# Intel Core2 Duo mobile processor T6400
# 4GB SoDIMM DDR2 memory
# Slot-loading DVDRW/CD-RW drive
# 17'' WXGA widescreen LCD CCFL display
# 320GB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
# Intel? Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
# Built-in 2.0-megapixel webcam with microphone
# 8-in-1 media reader
# Built-in Dell 1510N wireless networking mini-card (802.11b/g/n)
# Built-in Broadcom Ethernet
# IMPORTANT: Open Box items have been inspected and are 100% functional. In addition, while the box may have been previously opened, the unit is still new in appearance, with little or no signs of wear. All essential accessories are included.

 

Acer 20 inch LCD Monitor $100 (or $75 AC) at Staples

http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesProductDisplay?storeId=10001&jspStoreDir=Staples&productId=289628&cmSearchKeyword=805300&fromUrl=home&cmArea=SEARCH&catalogId=10051&langId=-1

Acer X203Hbd 20 inch LCD Widescreen Monitor $99.98 at Staples
Available online w/ free delivery or in-store while supplies last.
* 20" Active Matrix TFT Widescreen LCD Display
* Resolution 1600 x 900
* Contrast ratio 10000:1
* Response time 5ms
* Brightness 300 cd/m2
* Inputs: D-Sub, DVI
* VESA Wall Mounting: 100x100mm
* Dimensions 21.7"W x 16.5"H x 5"D (11.9lbs)
* 3 year warranty

Hard Finding a Formal Children's Watch – With a Leather Strap

Here is to finding a children's watch, an easy task by no means.

How hard can it be?

Well why don't you try. Walk into a store and you will find all kinds of watches, however all these watches are plastic watches with plastic straps. In fact, they are kind of kiddy too. I tried so many stores at the mall and even in specialty watch stores.

On the verge of giving up. I found the watch at an online store called Amazon. These watches are made by a company called Titan, around $20 are very classy and have leather straps.

If anyone is like me searching for a kiddy watch with a leather strap. Thank me cause i saved you a lot of time.

- Vikram Jhaveri

Comparing Different Resume (CV) Searching Sites – View of a Entrepreneur

Well i needed to hire fresher's for a new project i was starting. I googled India and resume services. I quickly found the top 3 sites, Naukri.com, TimesJobs.com and MonsterIndia.com

First lets compare how fast we can be set up. Naukri.com had an almost instant setup. I paid via HDFC netbanking and i was up and running in 1min. MonsterIndia took an entire day to get me up and running, in their defense i signed up on a Sunday. TimesJobs on the other hand, took 2 days to get me running.

Costs:

Naukri.com was the most expensive. I did not even bother to buy their database services, too expensive. I would advice them to have something cheaper that was a 24hr. pass. 

MonsterIndia.com has a good package. 2 listing and 7 day database access for an affordable price.

TimesJobs had a decent package too, 3 print AD listings and 3 online ads and 1 day database access.

Things to note: Timesjobs Print AD’s would not work in over 4 computers i tried at home and work. In 3 different browsers and they kept blaming it on me. Finally the CS was kind enough to take my AD over email and manually enter it.

Results:

Naukri.com – The matching emails had relevant emails to show candidates key skills and location. Once i figured out the system, i got pretty good matches.

TimesJobs – They have the worst matching system. Got lots of spam, but not just from my city, from all over India. Their database access must be outdated too, i contacted over 200 candidates and not even 2 responded back.

MonsterIndia – They have a keyword completion tool. I highly recommend using this. Once i figured it out, 60% of resumes were matched correctly. Their DB must be outdated too, again contacted loads of peoples and not even 10% got back.

 

I ended up getting all my employees from Monster India and Naukri in the end. DB access was worthless and only posting online ads was the best way to go. In fact if you read this, it will save you loads of money.

If i had to choose between MonsterIndia and Naukri, i would give the vote hands down to Naukri.com

Building a Cheap but Capable Security Camera Recording System

So i have some experience with security systems and security cameras. Well recently i wanted to make a cheap setup for monitoring a small office. So i started with the required research to compare products.

First, you need two things. Standalone DVR to record what the cameras show and a couple of Security Cameras. You can search eBay for Standalone DVR and you can easily pick one up for $200 with network capabilities and a few Cameras for around $30 a piece. Now i wanted a 4 camera system, so this came to close to $320 for me. I thought, there has to be a better way.

Well i found something cool. Wireless cameras, these new breed of cameras work with your existing wireless network and will record directly to your hard drive eliminating the need for a DVR.

Searching and comparing products, i found the best ones will cost in the range of $200 each. Which is still to expensive for my taste. So i continued to search, here is what i found:

AirLink101 AIC250W Wireless Color Network Video Camera

http://www.buy.com/prod/airlink101-aic250w-wireless-color-network-video-camera/q/loc/111/210941311.html

These usually cost $70 but are available for a short time for $55 with free shipping and no tax.

AirLink101 SkyIPCam 250W AIC250W Wireless Color Network Video Camera General Features:

Connection: IEEE 802.11g Camera Sensor: 1/3-color CMOS Camera Resolution: 640 x 480 Focal Length: 6.0 mm Aperture: 1.8 S/N Ratio: 57 dBm Video Format: Image Compression: JPEG Resolution: 10 fps @ 640 x 480 (VGA), 25 fps @ 320 x 240 (CIF), 30 fps @ 160 x 112 (QCIF) Capable of still image captures, video recording, and e-mail notices Web browser viewing on any computer Intruder detection Use up to 16 cameras for complete area monitoring (only one camera is included) Security: Admin/User protected Password authentication WEP 64/128bit Protocol: TCP/IP UDP ARP ICMP BOOTP RARP DHCP PPPoE SMTP FTP HTTP DDNS Support Camera Dimensions: 1.5 x 2.6 x 5.3-inches (H x W x D, approximate) Regulatory Approvals: FCC CE

Has all the features one would need, for a fraction of the cost. I would recommend this over building a cheap system.

Dell Mini 9 – Vista on 4 GB SSD – Get rid of constant low space warning message

So i installed Vista on my Dell Mini 9, which has only a 4 GB SSD. However the problem i had was constant annoying low space warning messages. Here is a fix to get rid of it, took me less than 2mins.

 

Here's How:

1. Click on Start, type the following command in the search box, and then hit the Enter key.

   regedit

   This command will load the Registry Editor program.

   Note: Changes to the registry are made in these steps. Take great care in making only the changes described below.

2. Locate the HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder under Computer and click on the (+) sign next the folder name to expand the folder.

3. Continue to expand folders until you reach the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

4. Select the Policies key under CurrentVersion.

5. From the Registry Editor menu, choose Edit, followed by New, followed finally by Key.

6. After the key is created beneath Policies, it will initially be named New Key #1.

   Change the name of the key to Explorer by typing it exactly as shown and then hitting the Enter key.

7. With the new key, Explorer, still selected, choose Edit, followed by New, followed finally by DWORD (32-bit) Value.

8. After the DWORD is created beneath Explorer, it will initially be named New Value #1.

   Change the name of the DWORD to NoLowDiskSpaceChecks by typing it exactly as shown and then hitting the Enter key.

9. Right-click on the new NoLowDiskSpaceChecks DWORD you just created and choose Modify.

10. In the Value data: field, replace the zero with the number 1.

11. Click OK and close Registry Editor.

    Windows Vista will no longer warn you about low disk space on any of your hard drives.

Serious Dell Mini 9 Bios Upgrade Bug/Flaw Problem that will Brick your system

So you get your Dell Mini and find out that it has Bios A00 on it and the newest one is A05. So like me, you will want the latest version too. I put in the windows firmware on my USB flash drive and plugged it into the computer, i then decided to run the bios update from the floppy drive to make sure that the version was out dated. It was, so i clicked cancel and my computer started beeping and hung up. This is a bug dell has, even if you click cancel, the bios starts to auto update. I thought it was windows crashing and not the bios update, so i tried to shut the computer, when nothing worked, i pulled the battery out.

Now when i press the power button, the power light came on, but there was a blank screen. Nothing else. The system was bricked. Dell support was no help.

After days of searching i found the solution. You will need a External Floppy Drive for this to work.

Here is the fix:

1st: Get a USB Floppy (I don't know if you can use a USBKey but a floppy worked for me)

2nd: Go to http://mydellmini.com/forum/possible-experimental-bios-to-address-video-memory-p11787.html and download the file named 268076.exe.zip

3rd: Unzip the file and run the 268076.exe to create your boot floppy
4th: Get the most recent Dell bios Rom file from the dell support site.
5th: Rename it to "BIOS.WPH" and copy it to your new boot floppy (Overwrite the one currently there)
6th: On the mini...Connect USB floppy drive and insert disk
7th: Unplug the power, Hold fn+b and plug power back in, 2 lights should flicker (Watch, they flicker fast)
8th: If the machine does not power on at this point hit power
9th: Walk away.... The system should start accessing the floppy drive and you really need to walk away.
10th: The Floppy will stop reading but still do not touch, it will eventually reboot itself (10 - 15 minutes in my case)

On reboot there will be a checksum error press F1 NOT F2 and let the bios run at least one time, it will figure it all out.
And you should be fixed.

Dell needs to fix this problem. It is serious.

Updates to Dell Mini 9

If you have the base model of the Dell mini like me. Have no fear. I will teach you all i know.

1. Windows 7 – Too big to install on a 4GB SSD. Just Forget it. I vlited to almost nothing.

2. Windows XP – Size is small enough to fit. However without an external CD/DVD Drive, forget it. It will take too long to figure it out.

3. Windows Vista – Now we are talking. This fit in exactly 3GB Space. Leaving me 500MB to play with. Keep in mind that Dell only gives you 3.5GB/4.0GB space to use.

 

To install Vista

Required:

• USB Flash Drive (4GB+)
• Microsoft OS Disk (Vista / Windows 7)
• A computer running Vista / Windows 7

Step 1: Format the Drive
The steps here are to use the command line to format the disk properly using the diskpart utility. [Be warned: this will erase everything on your drive. Be careful.]

1. Plug in your USB Flash Drive
2. Open a command prompt as administrator (Right click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”
3. Find the drive number of your USB Drive by typing the following into the Command Prompt window:
   diskpart
   list disk
   The number of your USB drive will listed. You’ll need this for the next step.  I’ll assume that the USB flash drive is disk 1.
4. Format the drive by typing the next instructions into the same window. Replace the number “1” with the number of your disk below.
   select disk 1
   clean
   create partition primary
   select partition 1
   active
   format fs=NTFS
   assign
   exit
   When that is done you’ll have a formatted USB flash drive ready to be made bootable.

Step 2: Make the Drive Bootable 
Next we’ll use the bootsect utility that comes on the Vista or Windows 7 disk to make the flash drive bootable.  In the same command window that you were using in Step 1:

1. Insert your Windows Vista / 7 DVD into your drive.
2. Change directory to the DVD’s boot directory where bootsect lives:
   d:
   cd d:\boot
3. Use bootsect to set the USB as a bootable NTFS drive prepared for a Vista/7 image. I’m assuming that your USB flash drive has been labeled disk G:\ by the computer:
   bootsect /nt60 g:
4. You can now close the command prompt window, we’re done here.

Step 3: Copy the installation DVD to the USB drive
I went to Mininova.com and downloaded a Vista Ultimate Extreme install disk that worked for me. Download was around 1.3GB and install was 3GB. Best pain free method ever.

Step 4: Set your BIOS to boot from USB
This is where you’re on your own since every computer is different. Most BIOS’s allow you to hit a key at boot and select a boot option.

Dell Mini 9

Super cool netbooks. Well at least for the price. I got it from the Dell Outlet center using a 15% off coupon for $150 shipped. Specs were bare, 4GB HD and 512MB Ram with Ubuntu. So i plan on putting a 2GB Ram stick i have lying around. I did buy a 8GB SSD Card for additional storage. Lets see how it all goes.

Finally getting this Blog up and running…

Took me a while. Close to two years. That’s when i registered this domain name for Blogging, however i never got around to it. Finally today it is all set up and ready to go. I have a few posts that i planned to post way back, so am going to have a few new ones at one go. Then hopefully i can sustain it with a few posts a day. I basically plan to post whatever is on my mind here. Nothing specific, just some new idea i have or a task i accomplish. So lets see how it sounds and how it all goes from there on.