MagicJack VOIP calls to US Canada

MagicJack is a cool, simple to use compact USB device which can be used to make VOIP calls to US and Canada. Using MagicJack is very easy, plug one side of the jack to a traditional telephone and the other to any USB port on your PC. You can dial from your PC from a dialling application provided - just key in the US/Canada number you want to call or start dialling from the attached traditional telephone. A free 30 day trial is also available for customers after which there are applicable charges. Its an excellent value for money deal. If you are in US or Canada, the USB device can be mailed to India and folks here can start using this device for free/cheap calling to US.

Qualcomm Interview Questions

Recently I attended an interview with Qualcomm and was looking everywhere for interview questions. Although I could not make it in the interview, I thought it was my duty to post the questions for the benefit of others who aspire to score well.

First round was a telephonic round after which there will be a onsite day long interview session. This included three rounds of technical interview, one manager round and one HR - total five rounds. The whole procedure was very professional and an all round performance is necessary to get through.


Telephonic round

At the start of the interview, interviewer was mainly concentrating upon IPCs and Sockets, followed by VOIP protocols, and questions and C, C++.

1. Questions about pipes and message queues - difference between them, why one is better than the other, related questions.
2. Processes in message queues - (what happens when) multiple processes put in one message queue, (what happens when) reader is one, senders are many, related questions.
3. Questions related to sockets - connect() function call, questions related to select() system call - what does it return (return value number of fds), how do you manipulate the fds, questions related to readfds and writefds.
4. Questions related to SSRC, CSRC in RTP/RTCP.
5. H.245 (H.323) packet size.
6. Questions about what are CCSRL, NSRP.
7. Questions related to pure virtual function (what is).
8. What is a template.
9. What is volatile, where is it used and related questions.

After clearing the Telephonic round, I was called for interview at Qualcomm.

Round One
1. Write code to Fill 20GB of memory with "10111" bit pattern.
2. Write code to traverse a m*n array in a spiral pattern.
3. i=0, j=1
if(i,j)
printf("......");
else
printf("......");
What is the output of the code snippet?
4. Questions related to constants in C and C++, what is the difference between constants in both, etc.
5. What is name mangling in C++? Where it is used, related questions.
6. Showed a code snippet - asked questions related to that.

Round Two
1. Questions related to function pointers, array of function pointers.
2. Write code for Swap using pointers (don't use extra variable).
3. Questions related to string copy, strncpy (code snippets - writing and also showed code and asked questions on that).
4. Questions related to struct and union, differences, code snippets.

Round Three
1. Write code for deletion of nodes in Binary Search trees.
2. Write code for deletion of nodes in Double Linked List.
3. RTOS concepts related questions.
4. What is priority inversion.
5. What is scheduling policy - related questions.
6. Questions related to processes, threads, tasks.

Round Four
Manager round - Mostly questions related to Resume and Projects done.

Round Five
HR round - About Qualcomm, policies and how they are improving facilities, etc.

Dial A Job Service

"Surf the net for days to find a job. Or make one phone call" boasts an ad by Dial-A-Job service. Dial a job is a new service which is introduced to make your job hunting as easy as just a phone call away. No waiting, no depending on anything - as they say.

Just dial the number and Dial-A-Job will be actively working to find you the right job in the fastest possible time. For jobs, dial - 6999 6999. Timings are 7am to 11pm and the service is available 7 days a week. Also included is a toll free number 1-800-209-6969. The service caters to Hyderabad and other Tier1 cities in India. Good Luck for your next job - it might just be a phone call away!

Anti-virus for your mobiles

With downloads, 3G, Bluetooth, GPRS, GPS, third-party apps, etc on your mobile phones, they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to viruses from different media including your Bluetooth headsets that relay vital information from your mobiles to other snooping hardware.

Some tips to protect yourself from these viruses include putting your Bluetooth in Invisible mode (hidden or non-discoverable), using SMS Block and using anti-virus software.

Some of the important anti-virus for mobiles include Commander Mobile Anti-Virus for Symbian mobiles, Kaspersky Mobile Anti-Virus for your smartphones based on Symbian, Windows mobile and PocketPC. Also available are Bull Guard Mobile Anti-Virus for smartphones and PocketPCs, Virus Barrier X5 for your iPod and iPhones. More can be found at http://www.brothersoft.com/downloads/mobile-antivirus.html link.

SifyTalk Internet Telephony

Internet service provider Sify introduced SIFYTALK for unlimited calls to international numbers (USA, UK and Canada) using newly opened up local Internet Telephony market. You can make unlimited calls to one international number and calls worth Rs.300 to another international number for a price of Rs.499. Check out http://myaccount.way2talk.com/voip/products.html link for more related details.

Google Chrome Browser

Google introduced a new browser named "Chrome" in competition to Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox apart from Apple's Safari browser. The browser is supposed to be a doorway to the web on cell phones and other mobile devices.

The browser is based on a powerful JavaScript engine called V8 and also is based on an open-source rendering engine called WebKit and Google's Gears technology.

Chrome browser will be able to run in a privacy mode called InCognito, so that browsing history of the person is not collected. Looks like ...osome...chrom!!!

Work From Home Solution

I hope there are a number of people craving for some telecommute opportunities in India and Hyderabad where they can "Work From Home".

The concept is slowly but strongly picking up in India and a positive step in this direction is the "Work From Home" Solution released by Tata Communications mainly aiming at the IT Enabled Services sector (BPO/KPO companies).

The solution is based on their IP-VPN/MPLS network and ensures security and confidentiality for the respective businesses while providing the flexibility of the work from home option providing a better work-life balance as a whole and also increasing retention rates among the employees.

For, the complete article, check out http://www.tata.com/article.aspx?artid=2sInaQc0d/o=
The solution should be adopted by quite a few ITES companies based out of India and how soon is a possible question that would pop up to most among us. Also, the effectiveness of this technology can be measured only by adopting it.

Lets hope for better work options not only for the ITES sector but also to the more rigid IT sector where this option is being looked forward to.

TRAI allows domestic VOIP

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has made a statement that it would allow for domestic Internet Telephony paving the way for VOIP deployments domestically in Hyderabad and through out India.

What this means to us? This will mean lower tariffs for local STD, lower international rates, increased use of VOIP across the country. Also, its a big boon for the local VOIP service providers like Vonage. It also means that a number of VOIP ancillary industries and software companies will mushroom paving the way for more number of job opportunities in the domestic market in VOIP field.

No more ordering Vonage routers from USA and opening accounts abroad to make international phone calls. All this can be done with hardware bought locally and using local service providers. I wonder if they would allow re-use of old equipment imported for use in India. Let's wait and see how exactly will this benefit all by and large.

Cheers!!!

TelecomMentor.com

TelecomMentor.com is a knowledge sharing platform designed by a handful telecom professionals to help telecom students, engineers and professionals at large. Its a one-stop shop for those looking for guidance, interaction with professionals in telecom domain, professional and career help with telecom domain as the focal point.

They have news segments on mobile technology, VOIP, networking, etc. They have a directory listing hundreds of telecom companies and their products. They also have a "Click to Talk" feature to talk to a technology expert on the TelecomMentor Global panel. However, there is a small charge for this service.

Also included are features like Video resume, Telecom answers and weekly interview section. The success of the website is for all to be seen.

iPhone Alternatives

With all the hype surrounding the iPhone launch in India, consumers are forced to think what if not the iPhone. For those who cannot grab one from the stables or just thinking beyond an iPhone, there are really a good number of alternatives - a few of which are listed here.

HTC Touch Diamond sporting a "TouchFlo 3D" technology






Next is Samsung Omnia again powered by Windows Mobile like the HTC Touch Diamond.











The new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 featuring a touch screen and full Qwerty key pad again running Windows Mobile.













Apart from these, Samsung's new Instinct makes the cut










So does a last piece on my list - For all those iPhone wannabes, look at the iPhone duplicate made-in-China available at a gray market near you. Costs a fraction of the original with an impressive list of features, the only catch being no warranty.


Check out this site for the complete details - http://www.handcellphone.com/archives/made-in-china-faked-iphone-that-you-wont-believe.

Also, you might want to look at YouTube video - http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=f_8wuVEYMZ8

Cheers !!!

Apple iPhone 3G India Launch

The much hyped Apple's iPhone 3G is set to launch in India on 22nd August, 2008 - a few days more for all those waiting with bated breadth for its India debut. With its huge fan following and record sales across the world, the iPhone has already captivated many a eye with its rollicking features and eye-catching apps.

In India, iPhone will be offered through service providers - Airtel and Vodafone. The price for the Indian market is expected to be around 20,000 to 30,000 INR. The iPhone is slated to be a 3-in-1 device - a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device (including email, web browsing and Wifi connectivity).

The iPhone will be available in 8 GB and 16 GB variants in India. Although the iPhone supports 3G speeds (upto 14.4 Mbps), the networks themselves are not equipped in India to provide faster rates. The iPhone users in India will have to be content with 2G networks. Added to that, all features may not be supported in the Indian version of the iPhone.

The Wiki page for the iPhone offers a lot of information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone).

There are a host of other sites including the Indian blog for the iPhone which offers very useful information (http://iphoneindia.gyanin.com).

iPhone's official India web site - http://www.apple.co.in/iphone offers specific information relevant to our geography.

Silverlighting Olympics 2008

Apart from the bright sparkling Beijing sky this Olympics, 2008, there is a Silverlight to the Olympics thanks to Microsoft.

NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation) in collaboration with the Microsoft Silverlight technology has come up with the Olympics site - www.nbcolympics.com.

Silverlight technology is a cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. Also, Silverlight is competing with Adobe's Flash in providing an enhanced online experience for the viewers.

It is providing 3,000 hours of on-demand video and more than 2,200 hours of live coverage for the Olympics through the NBCOlympics.com site. The site is free to use with a custom NBC media player to watch multiple video streams at once, using picture-in-picture boxes. Silverlight works on both Apple Macs and Windows PCs and it uses an adaptive streaming technology.

Microsoft is adding its own Silverlining to the 2008 Beijing Olympics through NBC Olympics site.

Asterisk IPPBX Indian Forum

I was searching for Digium's open source PBX Asterisk in India and found the India forum - which contains blogs, Howto's, list of Asterisk consultants in India including Hyderabad. Also present are Tips, tricks for Asterisk, a place for ordering Asterisk hardware like FXO cards - FXS and ATA's seem to be not present yet on the site. Lots of information and useful tips for India deployment. Check out the site - http://asterisk.pbx.in/.

Click to dial application from Webpage

If you are looking for some cool scripts that you can use to dial a number using VOIP clients like Skype, you can use either AstJAX dialer script for Firefox or Dial Engine Pro application.

For AstJAX to work, you need to install greasemonkey (http://www.greasespot.net/) which is an extension to Firefox which allows you to customize the way web pages look and function. Make sure you are using the latest version of Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/). Follow the instructions from (http://www.yaptele.com/asterisk-firefox-click-to-dial-ajax-script) and you are all set to dial from your webpages.

Phone Dialer Pro site has a list of products (nine to be precise) which work well with dialing from webpages. They are TAPI compliant products and can be used with any PC modems. For more information, check http://www.phonedialerpro.com/index.html and http://www.phonedialerpro.com/apps.htm for instructions on usage and features set. The Phone Dialer applications are not free, you can get a trial version for testing out.

VOIPers - Go Green

Skyrocketting oil prices, unabating inflation, rising daily costs, etc, etc - I think its time to go green. Electric bikes are hitting the market like never before and there's no better time than to buy one - start, now!!!

There are a number of big players like Hero Motors, TVS Motors, Kinetic Motors who have introduced some e-scooters and are introducing more models in coming months.

Also, there are a number of small players like Yo Bikes (Yash E-bikes?), Vijaya Electrics, Atlas Cycles, Avon Cycles to name a few.

Some of the best information sites for E-bikes include EVFuture.com which includes a complete list of players in this niche space and also includes pictures of vehicles with prices for some of them(http://www.evfuture.com/products/electric_scooters).

Watch out for the following models:

Hero Ultra's VeloPlus (http://www.ultramotor.com/India/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?gProductId=73#)

Hero ultra's Marathon (http://www.ultramotor.com/India/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?gProductId=70)

Hero Ultra vehicles are available at your nearest "Digital Shoppy" dealers (http://www.digitalshoppy.com/).

Yo Smart (http://www.induselectrans.com/yo_smart.htm) and Yo Speed (http://www.induselectrans.com/yo_speed.htm)

Also, check out Vijaya Electric's Glide25 (http://www.vvelectricscooters.com/scooter.html)

Don't forget to check out (http://www.kabirdass.com/), Scooty Teenz Electric (http://www.scootygals.com/teenzelectric.aspx), Elektra 2.5 (from CAL-ON motors, info@cal-onmotors.in, calonmotorsltd@rediff.com, www.cal-onmotors.in), E-GO Electric bike and other vehicles at your nearest store.

The prices of these vehicles range anywhere from low 20,000's to 40,000's (rupees) depending on various technical specifications. Also available are e-bikes, electric mopeds or bicycles apart from electric cars.

If you are located outside India, don't forget to check out some sites like http://electricscootersworld.com/, http://www.egovehicles.com/, http://www.neoscooters.com/electric_scooters.asp, http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-bikes.

Well, before you buy your next scooter, think about your carbon footprint, your responsibility to environment and the future. Like all VOIPers do, go green and buy that e-bike you have always dreamt of - Cheers!!!

TokBox - Video without Frills

TokBox is a new way for your Video calling (conferencing) needs. You dont have to download anything, you can do your video calls from within a browser and the best part is its absolutely free. Its a very good tool (Video over Http) for those who dont have the space, patience or the time to download video conferencing tools and the quality of service seems to be very good.

How it works - You sign up and they give you a link. When you want to talk to anyone, give them the link. They click on it and you can start chatting. You can put your TokBox on your webpage, blog or any other social networking site (http://www.tokbox.com/view/about).

There is a TokBox SDK which helps you integrate TokBox with your existing code base (http://www.tokbox.com/view/developer).

There is a forum where you can rush for help (http://forums.tokbox.com/) and also a blog (http://blog.tokbox.com/).

Overall, the tool is very good for Video over IP and should attract more number of users in the future.

Get your own TokBox at www.tokbox.com.

Vtorial.com - Free High Resolution Video Tutorials

Vtorial.com is a website for free high resolution video tutorials. This is the place where you would want to go to make your learning easier through videos and faster as you may not need to go through text tutorials for the most part. Well, as they say "a picture is worth a thousand words", this website is an effort in making the statement true and worthwhile (http://www.vtorial.com/).

The videos on the site range from tutorials for CAD/CAM, GIS, Graphics, Operating systems to entertainment and more. You can become a member of this site to get access to a lot of goodies. You can also get a Vtorial e-mail id created. There's also a Community section and a Blogs section where you can get your queries answered by experts and also look for latest technologies in this emerging field.

Also dont forget to check out the "Cool New People" section and "Top Rated Videos".

Wireless for FON and $$$$$

FON is the largest Wifi sharing community around the world. Their motto - you share a little wifi and you get a little wifi for free. Their community wifi router, La Fonera, allows everyone to share Wifi in a secure environment. You can connect to thousands of Wifi FON spots worldwide for free - whereever you are you can find a FON spot on their map (http://maps.fon.com/?lang=en). They have an international blog page (http://www.fon.com/en/external/blogs) and some more information at (http://labs.fon.com/).

The FON shop has Wifi routers, antennas and some toys and gadgets (https://shop.fon.com/FonShop/shop/US/ShopController).

The best part is apart from getting access to internet on wifi for free, you can also earn some money. For this you would have to join their community and become a "Bill".

Also, FON is secure, it segragates your personal usage with those of other FON users. For more information, see (http://www.fon.com/en/info/security).

I was browsing through the fon maps page and could find only a handful of Wifi hotspots in and around Hyderabad. So, if you would like to make a quick "Dinero", dont forget to become a "Fonero" - A very good community for road warriors.

Open Source VOIP Apps and Resources

A very good compilation of Open Source VOIP Apps and Resources by Anand Dayal:
http://ananddayal.blogspot.com/2007/04/open-source-voip-apps-resources.html

Interesting VOIP Blogs

Here are a list of some interesting VOIP blogs and other websites you might be interested in.

1. http://voipguides.blogspot.com/
2. http://woip.blogspot.com/
3. http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
4. http://voip-tech.blogspot.com/
5. http://andyabramson.blogs.com/
6. http://solokay.blogspot.com/
7. http://gtalk2voip.blogspot.com/
8. http://voipandenum.blogspot.com/
9. http://asteriskvoip.blogspot.com/
10. http://pulverblog.pulver.com/

Some more interesting sites
11. http://www.voip-news.com/
12. http://www.mbayair.org/
13. http://www.voip-news.co.uk/
14. http://www.asteriskvoipnews.com/
15. http://www.fiercevoip.com/
16. http://www.iptelephony.org/
17. http://www.tech-faq.com/blog
18. http://www.voipnow.org/
19. http://www.tmcnet.com/voip
20. http://www.voip-sol.com/

Networking For Social Causes

A recent article named "Tragedies and a public triumph" in a popular daily (The Hindu http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/05/11/stories/2008051150080400.htm) delved into the rare diseases (like Leukemia) affecting the multi-stratified South-Asian community (especially Indians). The article focussed on the struggles of the people of South Asian descent running helter-skelter for finding appropriate donors (for bone marrow) from the same diaspora.

The miniscule percentage (1.4 %) of registered donors from South-Asian community is one part of the problem. A more important point was that when the hour to do the needful arrived, most of them backed off leaving the hapless patients (and their families) in the lurch. This may be because of our background and the society that most of us were brought up in where "I dont care until the meteor hits me" attitude prevails. Proactive volunteers may be very less also due to lack of proper understanding (although tons of information exists) regarding the donations (organ and other) and the quality of life thereafter.

It was very satisfying to know that some of the technologies where people like me worked were and are being used for networking for social causes. Especially Streamlined videos, podcasts, public service announcements, chain e-mails, blogging, Facebook, YouTube, etc are being used by the volunteers (Team Vinay and Team Sameer).

(Complete article - http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/05/11/stories/2008051150080400.htm).

The Abilities Mela

The Abilities Mela starts today at Institute of Engineers, Khairatabad in Hyderabad. This mela is a story about the grit and determination of specially abled people and their fight to move on and become independent. It includes exhibition and sale of products made by specially abled people, seminars, workshops, career guidance and cultural programs. The event is being organized from April 25th, 2008 to April 27th, 2008 (10.00 am - 6.00 pm).

This mela is just a starting point for those looking for inspiration and one can go a long way if they believe in themselves and their abilities. People like Stephen Hawking (http://www.hawking.org.uk/) are icons for the differently abled and they need to look up to them to see what can be achieved.

Increasingly, people are becoming aware of how they can tap the potential of differently abled persons and are employing them. There are a number of BPOs and KPOs that are employing such persons and providing them with learning and earning opportunities.

It is an observed fact that such people are a good bet for your organization due to low/zero attrition rate and higher productivity. The initial costs of training these people may be a bit on the higher side but the long term benefits are there to be seen when talking business.

When you make your next purchase, spare a thought for those under privileged and buy things made by them or from brands that contribute to their cause.

Hello Hyderabad Says Reliance Digital

Reliance digital opened its store at Road No.12, Banjara Hills boasting of widest assortment in Electronics, Appliances, Gaming, Telecom & IT. Spread over 25,000 sq. ft with best products from across the world offering over 3500 products, it is sure to catch the eye of the tech savvy customers of Hyderabad.

Some of the key features include: friendly, experienced tech-savvy counsellers, home installation by resQ engineers, easy and quick finance options from Reliance finance, free home delivery, etc.

There are a number of offers including prices below MRP and freebies with some goods.

The store is open 7 days a week from 11.00 am to 10.00 pm and you can get more information by mailing them at reliancedigital at ril dot com. Happy shopping!

Yellow Pages - Information service - Just Dial

The yellow pages service that was being offered by our good old Telecom service providers in bulky pages is becoming passe now. Nowadays, people dont have the patience to look through the pages or just cannot find what they want in them. Also, if you are moving and want to know about a particular business in some locality, the good old bulky yellow pages book cannot be carried everywhere.

So, talking yellow pages is the new mantra for the youth and those on the move in particular. Just like the 411 service in US and other numbers in other countries, Hyderabad has got its own directory and information services offerings like Just-Dial Services: (Yellow Pages) +91-040-24444444 and 197 service.

Just dial service is a big hit for those constantly on the net and is widely being used already. Check out the article
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/05/30/stories/2002053000780300.htm

On March 31, 2008, Google has launched its own information service on a toll free number in Hyderabad. The facility is avialable from 8 a.m. to midnight 24x7 according to reports. The toll free number is 1800-41-999-999 (1800-GOOG-411 offering in US).

There have been initial hiccups already as experienced by users testing this service as quoted in this article http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/06/stories/2008040657390100.htm.

Now, only time will tell how efficient the Google service will be and how the service will fare against an established player like JustDial.com.

Goldstone offers IPTV technology for NRIs

Goldstone technologies with two branches in Hyderabad has started offering IPTV services in association with SPL Innotech of Singapore. Now, most of our NRI friends can tune in to local Indian channels like ETV, Gemini TV and a host of other channels using IPTV services with the help of a set-top box and IP connectivity. The service is slated to be offered in 11 countries and several south Indian languages including Telugu and others.

Again, the wiki page for IPTV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPTV gives an excellent overview of the technology itself and related history, etc.

You could browse through http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/04/11/stories/2006041101590400.htm,
http://www.iptv-watch.co.uk/12032008-goldstone-technologies-plans-new-iptv-services.html and other articles which provide more information.

Dhruva - Supercomputing in Hyderabad

Supercomputer Dhruva was unveiled in the city in March, 2008 to help in defence research and perform functions faster than the existing computers in the country. The computer is 20 times faster than the Param series and will be able to perform the most complicated functions, including guiding aircraft.

The computer, which is the product of research by Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (ANURAG) was placed at the Centre for High Performance Computing and Research (CHITRA) at DRDO, Hyderabad.

(http://insidehpc.com/2008/03/31/new-indian-supercomputer/)

According to Wikipedia definition, a supercomputer is a computer that is considered, or was considered at the time of its introduction, to be at the frontline in terms of processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. The term "Super Computing" was first used by New York World newspaper in 1929 to refer to large custom-built tabulators IBM made for Columbia University.

The Wiki page for Supercomputer is a good source of information on what a supercomputer is and history of supercomputing in brief http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercomputer

The top 500 list of supercomputers can be found at http://www.top500.org/

http://www.supercomputingonline.com/ - This site boasts as the homepage for the world's high-performance supercomputing, networking and storage.

These sites contain good amount of information for whoever wants to know/work on supercomputing.

I was fortunate to work at a place they had housed a Beowolf super cluster (http://www.beowulf.org/) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (http://www.hpc.unm.edu/ - formerly AHPCC).

The supercomputing clusters are normally made up of dual-core linux/unix running PCs stacked together to share processing capacity and resources. The speeds can be very high going up to teraFLOPS (one trillion or 1×1012 FLOPS) where FLOP is a Floating Point Operations per Second. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLOPS).

Kids and young adults interested in working on supercomputing could visit http://www.drdo.org/ if visits are organized by their respective schools (with permission from the concerned authorities?).

If you cannot do so, you can aspire to work on supercomputers at any of the number of universities in USA by applying to the appropriate department. (At UNM - http://www.unm.edu/, supercomputing is used in Molecular Biology department, Computer Science department, EECE and others). You could search for the appropriate department and course on the net and apply accordingly to either undergrad or graduate courses.

Traffic - Telecommute - Hyderabad

Are you stuck in traffic again? Dont know where to hide or where to run. Well, welcome to Hyderabad. Traffic is a night-mare here as it is in some of the bigger cities across the world. Increase in traffic is being attributed to inflow of population thanks to the booming industries in and around Hyderabad, increase in purchasing capacity of the consumers or should we be saying prosumers - who buy that new brand of car or bike the first day its unveiled. There are several other factors like poor town planning (Chandigarh is supposed to be the most well planned city in India - thanks to an architect named Le Corbusier), foolish traffic rules (one-way rules) and others. We cannot ever imagine a shoulder (or emergency lane) on the highways or on the umpteem number of flyovers coming up. In some cases, the main thorough fares are as big as the emergency lanes in other countries. All these point to a booming economy and the FM (our beloved Finance Minister) would be very happy with the "pace" at which things are happening.

But this definitely is an alarming trend leading to a number of health problems including lifestyle diseases, stress, road rage and accidents to note a few. This trend should be cut down by the corporates by taking a few good initiatives.

One thing I noticed was the "Free the Left Lane" campaign being carried out by one of the major corporates near the Hi-tech city. Also, there were these bunch of volunteers from a corporate offering flowers to traffic offenders which is a very heart-warming way of telling people to get their act right. All big deeds start small and the identification of the problem by the corporates and MNCs itself is an encouraging sign. Although a lot needs to be done and many more hands need to come together.

Using colloborative technologies like VOIP, videoconferencing, Skype, Google chat, etc to get the work done is a novel way thanks to the numerous technology innovations coming out. Corporates and MNCs should encourage "work from home" or "telecommuting" for their employees atleast a few days in a month. This will help in increasing the productivity of the employees and also work positively on their psyche. Also, the employees should feel accountable and hence pave the way for more measures being taken up from the hierarchical higher ups.

There are a number of web sites for telecommuting jobs including http://www.tjobs.com/, http://www.telecommute-jobs.com/, etc. If you want to find telecommute jobs in India, you could go to http://www.bharathcontractjobs.com/ or other similar websites.

If you want to know more about traffic in Hyderabad, you can lookup the blog http://trafficinhyderabad.blogspot.com/. Also http://www.htis.in/live.htm for live traffic conditions.

A number of FM radio stations who are cashing in on the use of the idle traffic stuck listeners are also helping the poor ones stuck in traffic by providing updates on conditions, diversions introduced and also alternate routes to take. This a good social initiative by these stations and is commendable.

Car pooling, good rapid transport systems (MMTS?) and a good spread of population is essential. There are very few owned cars on the roads in Singapore (according to a friend) as the Government there taxes heavily those opting for personal transportation in lieu of excellent transportation facilities provided by the system.

We could also take a cue from Malaysian town Putrajaya where most of the Government offices have shifted base due to overcrowding and congestion in its main capital - Kuala Lumpur. Instead of shifting base overnight (like the airport shifted from Begumpet to Shamshabad http://www.hyderabad.aero/), the change should be phased and should not cause more incovenience to the people. What I mean here is shifting offices is fine but the common man should not be affected in the sense that he should not run from one city to another just to submit a small application form. After all, most Hyderabadis are still hapless and poor as compared to their privileged counterparts.

First Birthday Tips

We celebrated our son's first birthday quietly.

He was all dressed up in his corporate attire (with tie and coat) clicking away on his little laptop.

He was going through a range of emotions like surprise, irritation, weariness and was trying to gain attention of his mom. He was also crying a bit with a number of new faces suddenly hovering around him. He was besotted with gifts sent to him from all over.
He was glued to his cell phone and looking to talk to someone. May be he wants to get ahead in the corporate world already. Kids nowadays are getting smarter. If you give them a toy cell phone with all the fancy ringtones included, they wouldnt be satisfied with that alone. They want to grab the real ones. This may be harmful for them as their organs are in a development stage and might affect adversely.

We should try and avoid putting too much plastic near by them as well. Avoid decking them up in heavy jewellery, even if you have to, just put them on until the mandatory photo session. Balloons should be kept away from the tiny tots as they might get choked trying to blow them (too hard). Try to feed them with light food before you start the festivities and arrange the party at a convenient time. A good time would be to call children and friends after his/her nap time which will leave them fresh and energetic. Try not to put noisy bloopers and bursting crackers will only frighten the little ones. Avoid the foam and other colourful paper dust as this may not be suitable for a kid's first birthday party. Keep the little kids away from the fizzy drinks even as they crave to drink whatever the elder ones are gulping up, their curiousity can wait for now. Putting carpets/mats on the floor will help the kids move and crawl around comfortably. If the space in your apartment/house is limited, this will help accomodate more people as well. Throw open all the doors and windows to let the fresh air in which will keep the kids active. Also, add more ligthing if possible to make it a bright and cheerful occasion.


Slip the kids into some loose cotton clothing ones the cake cutting and photo sessions are done, as all the remnants of the food might spoil their clothes and their mood. Make sure there are no sharp objects in the vicinities accessible to all the kids coming in. Also, it would be nice if you can find a plastic knife for your tot to cut the cake with. This would be comfortable and not so dangerous. Make sure some space (at least one room) is left for your kid's feeding and changing nappies which may look odd in front of everyone. Make sure you clean up all the plastic plates, spoons, plastic glasses and other cutlery after every one leaves. It would be nice to give him a bath after the party (if he feels fine).
Ahh!!! Now, its time for him to slip into mama's arms finally and sleep!!! Happy Birthday to you, dear son!!!

VOIP and GOD

It is the God's divine grace that keeps the believers moving forward and making this world a better place. Most people would like to make a pilgrimage to their favourite God's abode every now and then to reinforce their beliefs and rejuvenate themselves in His Divine "Presence".

VOIP and related web technologies are doing their bit in helping those who cannot afford to take this pilgrimage for whatever reason. If you are in Hyderabad or any other part of the world and would like to go to visit Sai Baba's temple in Shirdi but are not able to do so, do not be worried for He is omnipresent and His presence is palpable on the web too. You can have live Darshan provided you have Windows Media Player 9 or higher and a 512kbps or a higher connection. The live web casting is provided by the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi and the timings are from 5 a.m. to 22.20 p.m. You can view the live feed at

http://www.shrisaibabasansthan.org/onlinedarshan/onlinedarshan1.htm

Please recommend more sites of your favourite God, Temple, etc in helping the decrepit and incapable ones satiate their thirst. May God Bless - the VOIP way.

Polycom Skype USB communicator

Polycom has introduced a range of USB communicator products like C100, C100S and CX100. These are slated to give you the ultimate high-fidelity hands-free experience from your PC, Skype or Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 respectively. The polycom communicator series has a great audio quality and the hands-free is good for even small conferences.

Skype is a free voip calling Instant Messenger client which can also be used to make calls to telephony users (for premium subscribers). As long as both the participants are on skype, its free. You have a global user directory, text chat, voice chat, video chat feature and you can have your own skype avataar (or upload your image onto skype). A little text bar against your avataar gives you a means to make a statement or add some cheeky, witty sentence to identify you among other users in a list. There is a history tab, flagged events list (like missed calls, etc) and a host of other features.

There a number of articles with reviews for both Polycom USB communicator

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/networking/0,1000000696,39279139,00.htm

http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/taxid;2136212878;pid;2009;pt;1

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=227 (this article is a review about the C100S which is the one used with Skype).

The price for the Polycom USB communicator is listed as Rs.7740 which sounds a bit high as quoted in this article.

http://www.tech2.com/india/reviews/pc-accessories/polycom-communicator-c100s/1290/0

What many people may not know is that some part of the work for the Polycom USB communicator was done right here in the Polycom India R&D center in Hyderabad. This is a matter of pride for those who are associated with its development for delivering a world-class product.

Using Skype has its own disadvantages. Apart from the host of wonderful features provided by skype, what it does is it uses the Skype client's PC as a Supernode to help users behind a NAT/Firewall. What this does is it uses up a lot of bandwidth which may be premium at times. There are a number of articles on how not to be supernode. Beginning with Skype 3.0, disabling of supernode functionality is provided as posted at the skype site.
www.skype.com/security/universities/
You can search for Skype and Supernode if you want to browse articles that provide more insights in the Google toolbar provided below on this site. Happy Skyping!!!

Memory Leaks - Quick Fix

Nobody likes leaks whether it is from your faucet or from your computer program. There are a number of tools available for finding leaks (for example, Rational's Purify and Quantify) . But they may not work essentially well in multi-processor based, multi-process based, multi-threaded environments which is often the case with VOIP and related systems. Here I list a simple program that re-defines malloc() and free() to track the dynamically allocated memory. There is no guarantee provided with this piece of code and please dont sue me - I am already broke :-)

/***************************************************
LEAK LIST EXAMPLE:
The program will store the file name and line numbers of all the

dynamically allocated pointers using new_malloc and new_free

and maintains the pointers in a linked list.

At the time of exit ofthe program, display_leak_list must be called to check if thereare any unreleased pointers.

The resultant list will display the unreleased pointers list, file name and the line number where this pointer was allocated.

DRAW BACKS: If free() is called on already released pointers, thebehaviour is undefined. Assert statements may be used (doesntwork) to take corrective action.
***************************************************************/
#include "stdio.h"

#include "stdlib.h"

#include <>

#include <>
struct leaklist{

int line_number;

char *file_name;

int* mem_ptr;

struct leaklist *next;

};
struct leaklist *list_head;
//typedef struct __leaklist leaklist;
void add_to_leak_list(struct leaklist **list_head, void *ptr,
int buf_size, char *str, int line_no)
{
struct leaklist *new_ptr;
struct leaklist *temp_ptr;
temp_ptr = *list_head;
if(temp_ptr == NULL)
{
temp_ptr = (struct leaklist *)malloc(sizeof(struct leaklist));
temp_ptr->mem_ptr = ptr;
temp_ptr->file_name = (char *)malloc(strlen(str) + 1);
strcpy(temp_ptr->file_name,str);
//printf("File_name: %s\n",temp_ptr->file_name);
temp_ptr->line_number = line_no;
//printf("add_to_leak_list(): temp_ptr->line_number = %d \n",
//temp_ptr->line_number);
//memcpy(temp_ptr->mem_ptr,ptr,buf_size);
temp_ptr->next = NULL;
*list_head = temp_ptr;
//printf("add_to_leak_list(): first node %d\n",*list_head);
}
else
{
while(temp_ptr->next != NULL)
{
temp_ptr = temp_ptr->next;
}
new_ptr = (struct leaklist *)malloc(sizeof(struct leaklist));
if(new_ptr == NULL)
{
printf("\n malloc returned NULL : EXITING \n");
exit(0);
}
//printf("add_to_leak_list(): value of ptr = %d \n", new_ptr);
new_ptr->mem_ptr = ptr;
new_ptr->file_name = (char *)malloc(strlen(str) + 1);
strcpy(new_ptr->file_name,str);
new_ptr->line_number = line_no;
//printf("add_to_leak_list(): temp_ptr->line_number = %d \n",
//temp_ptr->line_number);
//memcpy(temp_ptr->mem_ptr,ptr,buf_size);
new_ptr->next = NULL;
temp_ptr->next = new_ptr;
}
}
void delete_from_leak_list(struct leaklist **list_head, void *ptr)
{
struct leaklist *old_ptr = NULL, *temp_ptr = NULL;
temp_ptr = *list_head;
if(NULL == ptr NULL == temp_ptr)
return;
while(temp_ptr->next != NULL)
{
if(temp_ptr->mem_ptr == ptr)
{
//if the node to be deleted is the head node
if(temp_ptr == *list_head)
{
*list_head = temp_ptr->next;
free(temp_ptr->file_name);
free(temp_ptr);
temp_ptr = NULL;
return;
}
else
{
//if the node to be deleted lies between start and
// end nodes
old_ptr->next = temp_ptr->next;
free(temp_ptr->file_name);
free(temp_ptr);
temp_ptr = NULL;
return;
}
}
else
{
old_ptr = temp_ptr;
temp_ptr = temp_ptr->next;
}
}
if(temp_ptr->next == NULL)
{
//check if the node is the last node in the list
if(temp_ptr->mem_ptr == ptr)
{
if(temp_ptr == *list_head)
*list_head = NULL;
else
old_ptr->next = NULL;
free(temp_ptr->file_name);
free(temp_ptr);
temp_ptr = NULL;
}
}
return;
}
void * my_malloc(unsigned int buf_size, char *str, int line_no)
{
void *ptr = NULL;
ptr = (void *)malloc(buf_size);
add_to_leak_list(&list_head,ptr,buf_size,str,line_no);
//printf("\n my_malloc(): __FILE__ %s \n",str);
//printf("my_malloc(): ptr=%u, buf_size=%d, line_no=%d \n",
//ptr, buf_size,line_no);
return ptr;
}
void my_free(void *buf_ptr)
{
//printf("my_free(): deleting from leak list buf_ptr = %u \n",buf_ptr);
//assert(buf_ptr != NULL);
delete_from_leak_list(&list_head,buf_ptr);
free(buf_ptr);
return;
}
void display_leak_list(struct leaklist **list_head)
{
int count = 0;
struct leaklist *temp_ptr;
temp_ptr = *list_head;
printf("\n");
if(temp_ptr == NULL)
{
printf("list is empty \n");
return;
}
while(temp_ptr != NULL)
{
printf("display_leak_list(): ");
printf("mem_ptr:%u, ",temp_ptr->mem_ptr);
printf("line_no:%d \n",temp_ptr->line_number);
printf("file_name:%s \n",temp_ptr->file_name);
temp_ptr = temp_ptr->next;
count++;
}
printf("Total Unreleased Pointers = %d,\n",count);
}
int main()
{
int a = 1, *ptr, *ptr1, *ptr2;
char name[] = "test1\n";
char *str1;
//ptr = (int *)malloc(sizeof(int));
ptr = (int *)my_malloc(sizeof(int),__FILE__,__LINE__);
*ptr = a;
printf("main(): value of ptr=%u, *ptr=%d\n",ptr,*ptr);
//str1 = (char*)malloc(sizeof(name));
str1 = (char *)my_malloc(sizeof(name), __FILE__,__LINE__);
strcpy(str1,name);
printf("main(): value of str1=%s \n",str1);
ptr1 = (int *)my_malloc(sizeof(int),__FILE__,__LINE__);
*ptr1 = 666;
printf("main(): value of ptr1=%u, *ptr1=%d\n",ptr1,*ptr1);
ptr2 = (int *)my_malloc(sizeof(int),__FILE__,__LINE__);
*ptr2 = 777;
printf("main(): value of ptr2=%u, *ptr2=%d\n",ptr2,*ptr2);
//free(ptr);
//free(str1);
//my_free(ptr);
my_free(ptr1);
my_free(str1);
//my_free(ptr1); //Releasing ptr1 2nd time does not work
//my_free(ptr2);
my_free(ptr); //Release pointers out of order
display_leak_list(&list_head);
return 0;
}

/*****************************************************/

Scoring at VoIP Interviews - II

Now, since you are getting your basics right, lets move a step further. What really is VoIP (Voice Over IP Protocol) about? Why you need to look at VoIP option when you have traditional telephony?

The main competing protocols are SIP, H.323, MGCP and others include MEGACO, H.248 and proprietary standards from industry leaders and implementors.

A good overview of the VOIP protocols could be found at http://www.protocols.com/pbook/VoIPFamily.htm

There are numerous sites that offer information on these protocols. Some of the important ones include http://www.packetizer.com , Henning Schulzrinne's site http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs , http://www.voip-info.org, http://www.voiponline.com, http://www.voip-jobs.com,

SIP specific sites (Base RFC 3261):
http://www.sipknowledge.com
http://www.sipcenter.com
http://www.tech-invite.com (A very good graphical representation of SIP call flows)
http://www.sipsak.org (SIP Swiss Army Knife -useful tool)
http://sipp.sourceforge.net (Open source test tool/traffic generator)

H.323 (It is a family of protocols which includes protocols like H.225, H.245, T.38, etc):
http://www.packetizer.com/ipmc/h323 (Excellent resource for all things H.323)
http://www.openh323.org/standards.html (Open H.323 is an open-source implementation of H.323 protocol suite and is used widely)

MGCP (Base RFCs - RFC 2705, RFC 3435):
http://www.packetizer.com/ipmc/mgcp

Scoring at VoIP Interviews - I

Now that you have a list of companies working in VoIP domain, the next step is how to score at one of these companies. To do good at interviews, you need to be good at programming languages like C, C++, data structures and algorithms, operating system concepts and database fundamentals in some instances. You may have to take written examinations in some cases as well.
I will list some websites here that I found very interesting over the last couple of years. Kindly keep adding more websites that would help in interviewing tips.

1. http://www.careercup.com/ (Gayle Laakman of Google)
2. http://www.devbistro.com/

There are host of other websites catering to the needs of interviewing folks but the above two stand out according to me.

VoIP Companies in Hyderabad

Here is a small attempt to compile a list of companies working in/on VoIP and related technologies.

1. www. azingo.com
2. www. avaya.com
3. www. broadcom.com
4. www. conexant.com
5. www. hellosoft.com
6. www. hcl.in
7. www. ibm.com
8. www. mars-india.com
9. www. motorola.com
10. www. oneconvergence.com
11. www. primesoft.com
12. www. polycom.com
13. www. qualcomm.com
14. www. sipera.com
15. www. tcs.com
16. www. tanlasolutions.com
17. www. verizon.com
18. www. wipro.com

If you want to know about the companies working on the latest technologies (mostly VOIP) around the world, don't forget to check out Jeff Pulver's "Pulver 100" at http://www.pulver.com/pulver100.