Calculate Ideal Hourly Rate and Break-Even Hourly Rate

http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/ provides very effective way of calculating Ideal Hourly Rate and Break-Even Hourly Rate...

4 Steps involved are:
1> Calculate Your Business Costs.
2> Calculate Your Personal Costs.
3> How Many Hours Can you Actually Bill?
4> How Much Profit/Savings do you want?

Prashant

What should YOU do in these elections?

In the upcoming elections, Aamir Khan is helping ADR and NEW reach out to all voters, spread awareness and help them access information about candidates, before they vote. The information will be provided via sms, by a toll free telephone and in a website. To this end, Aamir has prepared some publicity material at his own cost, and is also the ambassador for this campaign for no fee.

What should YOU do in these elections?
1. First watch these videos.
2. Go to the website: www.nationalelectionwatch.org and get more info about your candidates.
3.And finally, vote for the BEST candidate regardless of which party he/she belongs.
Thats it. 3 small steps towards a better election.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized by Jonathan Jarvis

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Joomla Vs Drupal

Source: http://google.com/trends?q=Joomla,+Drupal

At CXI we started exploring more information on open source CMS. Joomla and Drupal were the leading contenders. Which one to choose was the major dillema like all developers. 

I started googling about it came across interesting facts for both of it.

Then, I thought of using Google Trends and found this interesting fact about it. We can analyse the graph by saying Joomla has more users then Drupal. 

Would like to hear from you on this.
www.PrashantPoladia.com

SEO - Flash Related Tip

Flash
Google can now discover and index text content in SWF files of all kinds, including self-contained Flash websites and Flash gadgets such as buttons or menus.

limitations:

• Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript. If your webpage uses JavaScript to load a Flash file, we may not be able to discover and index the contents of that file.
  
• We currently do not attach content from external resources that are loaded by your Flash files. If your Flash file loads another file - such as an HTML file, an XML file, or another SWF file - we may index the contents of those files, but we won't consider that content to be part of the content in your Flash files.
  
• We're currently unable to index the bidirectional language content (for example, Hebrew or Arabic) in Flash files.
  

You could also consider using sIFR (Scalable Inman Flash Replacement). sIFR (an open-source project) lets webmasters replace text elements with Flash equivalents. Using this technique, content and navigation is displayed by an embedded Flash object but, because the content is contained in the HTML source, it can be read by non-Flash users (including search engines).

-- 

Generic Work Process of UI Designer

Nice to know article for all UI Designers to understand the process involved.

http://project.cmd.hro.nl/cmi/hci/toolkit/index2.php

10 Useful Web Application Interface Techniques

This article is really useful for UI Designers & Developers to keep in mind new techniques while designing or developing interfaces.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/12/10-useful-web-application-interface-techniques/

Nano Ganesh named winner in Nokia’s Global Calling All Innovators competition

New Delhi, Feb 18: Ossian Agro Automation’s Nano Ganesh application has been selected by Nokia as a Grand Prize winner in the Emerging Markets category in the global Calling All Innovators contest for mobile applications and solutions to help improve the quality of life on the planet. 

Source: [http://www.zeenews.com/business/iceeconomy/2009-02-18/508601news.html]

How to be a Successful Entrepreneur

Read one of the nice blog about Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs at http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/38/Qualities-of-Successful-Entrepreneurs.html

The blog read as follows:

What makes a successful business owner or entrepreneur? Some say creativity, others say passion, organization, or leadership skills. In fact, there have been many qualities identified with successful entrepreneurs. Here ( in no particular order) are some of the most significant. How many entrepreneurial traits do you possess?

• Energy
• Passion
• Assertiveness
• Novelty
• Initiative
• Creativity
• Imagination
• Be a self starter
• Time Management
• Follow-through
• Be ready for anything
• Think positively
• Believe in yourself
• Ability to make decisions
• Don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help
• Effectiveness at persuasion
• Problem solving skills
• Ability to be flexible, adaptable, and creative
• Think "out of the box
• The ability to produce results
• Ability to take risks and do so in a calculated way
• Enjoyment of the ride
• Negotiation and compromise
• Exacting and exhaustive mentality
• Sense of Urgency
• Resilience after Failure
• Alertness
• Leadership
• Stress management
• Persistence
• Confidence
• The ability to reflect and improve
• The ability to think strategically
  

Do you guys have any further points to add?

Three Mobile User Experience Trends to Watch in 2009

Three Mobile User Experience Trends to Watch in 2009

Posted using ShareThis

Mumbai Bus Route

Very few people are aware that BEST has it's own website www.bestundertaking.com/transport/index.htm to check Bus Route by Bus No., by Area, by Hospital, By Airport and more services which they provides.

It's very useful website to check the BUS Route and their timings.

Web Design - Important Factors to keep in mind

The viewing area of web is always unpredictable and because of that web designers has to keep in mind few factors before they call their site "complete":
1) Operating System (Windows, Mac)
2) Screen Resolution (800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1440 x 900)
3) Browser with various version (IE 6.0, IE 7.0, Firefox, Safari)

Maharashtra SSC Examination Results, 2008

Directly go to following page to check results for Maharashtra SSC Examination.
http://mahresult.nic.in/ssc2008/ssc08.htm

Revenge of the Right Brain by Daniel H. Pink

Daniel Pink an author of A Whole New Mind explains about transformation of world from one age to another like from Stone age > Ice age > Metal age > Agricultural age > Industrial age > Information age (current age) > Conceptual age.

This is must read article for everyone.
Link for the article.

User Experience Design Trends for 2008

Just read an article about "5 Critical User Experience Design Trends for 2008" by Human Factors International. There they have talked about 5 interesting trends which will impact everyones business.

1. Emotional Design and persuasive architechture
2. Designing for different generations
3. User Experience and human factors in healthcare
4. Trends in e-commerce user experience
5. Trends in e-Government

Please visit their site to get more detailed information for the same. www.humanfactors.com/downloads/webcastschedule.asp

Usability Methods (User Centric Methodologies)

Usability methods are also known as a User Centric Methodologies.

Every user interface can be evaluated using below mentioned usability methods:

1. Cognitive Walkthrough
2. GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods and Selection Rules)
3. Prototypes (from Low Fidelity to High Fidelity)
4. Usability Inspection
5. User Testing
6. Focus Groups and
7. Task Analysis

Depending upon the situation one can use the combination of methods. The selection of method majorly based upon:

• Time constraints
• Relevancy to project
• Implementation Cost

Google Labs: Introduces Voice Search in Hyderabad

Google Phone Search - Voice Search for Hyderabad, India
Google Phone Search is a new pilot service making local business information, movie times and real time flight status accessible from any phone. This sevice is completely free.

http://labs.google.co.in/phonesearch/index.html

Isn't google changing the world around for good!!! I wish one day I will be a part google's innovation team to come with such a great ideas.

UB Group Site - Time to Revamp your site Mr. Vijay Mallya

While surfing just thought of checking UB Group's website (owned by Mr. Vijay Mallya) I found something very interesting. Check the image above to see what I found on google's search listing. Google says "This site may harm your computer".

First I thought this site might load some virus on user's computer that is why google shows that information but than because of curiosity I still opened their website by pasting URL into new browser window. Their site has flash animation. What a mess of design? This is where usability comes into place. Does that UB group is not giving enough of attention to their corporate website despite having so much money?

Why do Intelligent Managers fails, too?

Many a times we wonder why a person who is par intelligent in his/her studies still he/she fails while performing certain task. There are various definitions on intelligence. It is not necessary that if you are intelligent you will always get success in whatever you do. Many managers do face the failure in their career path even though they are brilliant. Here, I would like to share few things about it as why do such managers fails.

Motivation
Motiation plays very important role in performing any single task. I know few people who have failed in their career though they have aclaimed several awards in their education. There are few people who have left their studies and got into their family business and today, they are doing great. So, unless any manager has motivation factor while working on any project, he/she will never be able to complete it.

Several things at a time
In many companies managers are loaded with several projects to handle at a time. Few managers could not say “No” to their higher authorities; they never say “My hands are full now.” Initially, they do get honors from the management but at the end they finish with faiture. Such a work load always tends to loose focus on important things.

Lack of Initiative
Many managers just complete their work given to them and do not show any sign of eagerness because if they do it they have to give commitment to it and they are agraid of these extra commitments.

Lack of interest in Implimenting Ideas
It is easier said than done. All managers do not have a capacity to convert their ideas into reality. Proritisation is to arrange ideas depending upon their importance and quick implementations. In any meeting after a concrete discussion if manager do not set the priority over the work, that meeting is of no use.

Procrastination
Many managers just complete their work at then end and that leads to various mistakes in their work. Many people file their tax returns at last moment. Many students open their book just few months before their board exam. This process of completing work at last moment and till that time to avoid work is called “Procrastination”.

Never to complete work
Many managers never complete their work by having various excuses. They start particular work with full of energy but tend to loose interest in it as the work progresses. Many times it happenes that few managers gets in too much minor details of the work which is not required and this leads to uncompletion of work. In that scenario management gives it to another manager.

Blaming Others (Blame Game)
Many managers believe that they never make mistakes and even if they do in their work, they make sure that the responsibility of making such mistake is transferred on others’ shoulder. Many managers give an excuses of sickness of their own or of their family if they could not complete their work. Basically, they never try to accept their mistake.

Lack of Perseverance
Perseverance means to stick to given work with full energy and concentration for longer duration. Many managers do give their full attention and full energy in initial stage of work but they loose interest if any objection arises.

Overconfidence or Lack of Confidence
Confidence is very important in today’s competitive world. If manager start excessive bloviation about his work, people around him looses respect and think that he don’t have greatness in his character as much he thinks. It becomes very important to balance between overconfidence and less confidence.

IPL - Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians have continued their winning stream from last 5 matches in Indian Premier League. Everything seems to be going right at the moment for them. When they were loosing, people were doubting on their existense, their name as "Mumbai Indians" and were considering them as a week team. Now, critics are not writing against them. Suddenly people are writing about all the positive points about them. Now, they feel that their new slogan "Duniya Hila Denge Hum" of Mumbai India team is making its mark... Their strategy is at its best... Their team spirit is high... blah blah.

Does that mean... if you win, poeple will see good things in you? or else like Banglore team ... if you loose, people will see only bad things in you? What a world.