Sixth sense ! November 25, 2009

 

Amazing video about how technology will change our lives very soon

http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2009/11/ted_talks_livin.html

 

his home page is at http://www.pranavmistry.com/

technial lexicon July 23, 2009

Radio as a career July 7, 2009

Radio ga-ga

In india, FM channels want radio jockeys, who are funny, vibrant and have the ability to handle frivolous shows and fluffy interviews. Shows are generally limited to music, and offer little scope for those who want to be involved in more information-oriented areas. Moreover, working for All India Radio, with its strict standards of Hindi and news-based broadcasts, is not everyone’s cup of tea either. So, do radio aspirants have a third option?
Today, with Indian community radio stations mushrooming across the world, and international media companies introducing an increasing number of Asian broadcasts, Indian students looking to get into radio, can consider going global. The work involved is quite the same as Indian stations – reporting and presenting – but the content and subjects covered are much more diverse and exciting. In addition, it is an excellent passport to a career abroad, while offering a comfortable home-like atmosphere. For example, Deutsche Welle’s Hindi team comprises mostly Indians, who dress traditionally, and converse in their native tongues.
OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND
When working with Indian broadcasters abroad, you can opt to be an outdoor correspondent and report on events and exhibitions, and conduct on-spot interviews. Alternatively, you can also fill in as a presenter and work in the studio. “Unlike TV reporters, who carry a camera and a mike, radio reporters move around with a sound system and a mike; that’s all!” declares Vinit Mehta, who works as an outdoor correspondent for Lotus FM, based in Johannesburg.
It is also possible to start your own radio station after gaining sufficient experience in a country. For example, Kaloo Badshah was a radio presenter in Leeds, since the early 90s. After a few years, he decided to further his passion for music and his dedication to the community by establishing his own radio station called Radio Hum FM. Today, the station broadcasts Indian music of various genres, as well as interviews with popular Indian actors.
You can also choose whether you want to work with a non-profit community radio station like MastRadio, a bigger community radio station with sponsors and advertising like Radio Hum, or with an international broadcaster like BBC or Deutsche Welle.
Working in India itself is also an option if the radio station has
correspondents reporting from various locations. For example, Mehta works for a South African radio station from India. “The station is called Lotus FM, and it is based in Johannesburg. The station caters to Indians in South Africa. As a correspondent, I have to report the ongoing elections. I phone in my reports, and they record it in South Africa. They don’t have a branch as such here,” he explains. Discussing his job, he says, “The best part about working on the field is the amount of freedom, learning and newness that it involves. I would love to be an outdoor reporter with a station like the BBC.”
Most international broadcasters prefer to have correspondents at various locations. As Grahame Lucas, Head of South Asia Division at Deutsche Welle says, “The shows are produced entirely at our Broadcasting Centre and the headquarters of DW-Radio and DWOnline in Bonn, Germany’s former capital. Deutsche Welle’s Hindi Service can rely on a network of correspondents, not only in India, but all over the world, for the latest on-the-spot reporting of current affairs.”
With community radio stations that have relatively lower budgets, this is generally not an option. However with increasing globalisation, the cost of having a network the world over has decreased tremendously, so that even smaller stations are venturing into collaborations. “Our shows are primarily produced in New York, and we have recently started collaborating with Indian media services,” says Raj Yadav,
Programme Director of the US-based Mast Radio. “I would like to compare our programmes with those coming from India, and the result is that Indian programmes have failed,” avers Pritam Chaggar, Director of Asian Star Community Radio, Berkshire
WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
Sudha Ravishankar, who has been a freelancer for All India Radio in the past, and is a radio lecturer at K C College, Mumbai, enumerates the basic skills required, saying, “Excellent ad libbing, knowledge of current affairs, an easy conversation style, and a ear for music are absolute musts. In the globalised world, an understanding of the local language, and more importantly, being alive to culturally sensitive issues and the need to be culturally tolerant of the country, where you are based, are key issues to be addressed.” She also points out a very important aspect one needs to consider when going abroad to work. “A working knowledge of the media laws of that country will help the presenter ensure he does not make mistakes.” For example, certain terms are considered insulting in certain countries, while they may be commonplace in India.
Interns can start without any particular qualification. A passion for radio and a flair for talking and reporting is all that is needed. “There are no particular qualifications required. Lotus needed someone who was interested in the topic and good at talking. You need to have a loud and clear voice, and also have a good sense of time. For example, I have to say whatever I need to within 30 seconds. You cannot exceed that time,” says Mehta.
However, large broadcasters prefer to have candidates that are qualified in mass communication, preferably specialising in broadcast journalism. Knowledge of the local language, English and the Indian language that programmes are broadcast in are necessary. “The ideal candidate should have completed a university education, all the better if it is in mass communication. He or she should have some years experience in journalism, preferably in radio or internet journalism, ie, working for the leading Hindi papers or Hindi radio channels. Candidates must have very good command of Hindi. We also expect excellent knowledge of English as DW staff have to work in a very international environment. German skills are an advantage,” says Lucas.
A career in radio is extremely rewarding, as long as one is truly inspired to be in the field. “We constantly look out for new sounds, creative voice over artists, along with RJs, to promote the genre of music we cater to, mainly Hindi, Urdu, new age and world. In our basic requirements, passion for music is a must-have, along with creative thoughts and presentation skills,” says Yadav. Chaggar adds, “We train and re-train our presenters to suit the particular show and they must have good knowledge of at least one language, in addition to English, and must have good general knowledge. Of course, voice quality comes first.”
JOB JAMBOREE
If you want to land a job in the radio business, find a way of demonstrating the skills that radio channels look for, such as clarity in speech and a pleasing manner of talking, appropriate pace, crispness and ability to modulate. Mehta, who immediately caught the attention of Lois Moodley, Producer, Lotus FM, when she caught a live demonstration of his skills, relates, “I was engaged in my Free Hugs campaign last year, and Lotus FM had sent a crew to India. They wanted to conduct a live broadcast from India for their third anniversary. Lois saw me on NDTV and she wanted to meet me. However, I didn’t belong to any association so she couldn’t get through to me. Later, when I was on Marine Drive with a Free Hugs poster, I bumped into Lois and she took me to Hilton Towers, where we had a five-minute interview, after which she asked me to join.”
MONEY MATTERS
At radio stations owned by international media giants like BBC and Deutsche Welle, a job as a radio presenter or reporter can be extremely lucrative. As Lucas of DW Radio, discloses, “We offer a competitive package based on experience.”
“RJs can make around Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 per day, depending on their popularity and experience,” offers Mehta, adding, “I am not getting paid, but I don’t mind because its just five minutes of work everyday. Besides, I was sent to South Africa to report on the IPL, and Lotus bore all the expenses, which came to around Rs 60,000. So it’s an excellent opportunity.”
In the beginning, working at a smaller community station is a good idea for gaining experience, even if the remuneration is not very satisfactory. As Yadav says, “Our broadcast is primarily an experimental and non-profit entity thus far. Hence, we have passionate music lovers, who join us with the view to promote Hindustani music and enjoy the same.” With this experience in hand, one can then apply for jobs in bigger stations.
“There is however, one thing for sure: in the current economic situation, if you are a presenter in a community radio station, hold on to it! Do not bargain for a salary hike,” avers Ravishankar.
FUTURE PROSPECTS
A radio presenter or reporter can go on to become a producer of a show and eventually head several shows and become a department head. If you take up a job as an outdoor correspondent for a foreign station in India itself, it might become difficult to earn promotions. Working abroad, in the home ground of the radio station is the best and fastest method of moving ahead.
TRAINING TALK
It is possible for an aspirant to learn on the job training if the radio station is agreeable to such an arrangement. “We give everyone an opportunity to be part of the station, and also provide training in radio presenting, production and marketing,” says Badshah, Manager and owner of Radio Hum FM. However, international broadcasters generally look for more streamlined qualifications for advanced positions. INSTITUTE INDICATOR
Institutes offering one-year postgraduate degrees or diplomas in radio production, generally coupled with television: Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi International Institute of Mass Media, Delhi Centre for Research in Art of Film and Television, Delhi International Media Institute, Delhi R K C S Educational Society, Delhi Alternatively, one can opt to pursue a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism at: Hyderabad Central University Osmania University Syracuse University, New York National Broadcasting Academy, Delhi College of Media and Communication, Faridabad International School of Media and Entertainment Studies, Noida R K Films and Media Academy, Delhi Makhnalal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal
National Institute of Social Communication, Research and Training, Ghaziabad
University of Arts, London
The City University Of London
In addition, certain universities abroad like University of Huddersfield, University of Leeds, Nottingham Trent University and Thames Valley University in UK provide a graduation degree (BA) in radio or broadcast journalism.

content courtesy : education times , times of india – july 6th,2009

US Student Visa May 11, 2009

Application Procedures <!– –>

US Student Visa <!–     Comments(4) –> Getting a visa to study in the USA is actually very easy says Shekhar Niyogi. Unbelievable? Check it out Let us explode a few myths here. Getting a visa to study in the USA is actually very easy. Unbelievable ? Focus on what we say and think about it rationally. What you need to do is to be meticulous in your documentation, understand what the Visa officer desires to see and hear from you. And Bingo. You got it. Shake off apprehensions There exists, in the minds of many people, an irrational fear psychosis about the US visa. Most fears are completely unfounded. Many misconceptions pertaining to the student visa, needs to be removed. For instance, that after 9/11 the US Immigration has cracked down on the number of student visas so it is better to apply to other countries. Nonsense. Prior to 9/11 the annual growth of Indian students going to USA was about 8 – 9 per cent and in the 12 months immediately following 9/11 the growth of Indian students was 21.9 per cent! To top it all, this was the first time that Indian students outnumbered Chinese students in the US, although their population is 1.4 times that of ours ! Secondly, you need to show an enormous bank balance in order to have your visa approved. Wrong again. Most of these negative rumours circulate among the student fraternity because there are so few authentic sources of information available to them. There has been a 38 per cent growth in Indian students studying in America in 2007-2008. How did they get there ? Without visas ? Certainly not. The process When your admission offer and I-20 arrives get ready with your documents for your F-1 visa application and interview. Pay your SEVIS fee of US$ 200 on www.fmjfee.com and print out the receipt. Pay your visa fee US$ 131 (Rs. 6550/- at the current rate)  and VFS fee of Rs. 381/- at HDFC Bank and get a pink and a blue receipt with barcode stickers. Submit a copy of your passport while making this payment. Log on to www.vfs-usa.co.in to book an interview date. Choose the F-1 visa option for study and choose the state that you reside in India. The nearest location of American consulate will be allocated for your visa interview appointment. You can take the visa interview appointment upto 120 days prior to the starting date of your program in the U.S university. This date will be mentioned in your I-20 as the date by which you must arrive on campus. Fill the DS 156, DS 157 and DS 158 visa application forms. Use block letters to fill up the forms. Write NA where there is no applicable data. Do not write abbreviations. If space does not permit, leave that field blank and fill up in block letters with a black pen after you have printed out the forms. Example, names of colleges that are really long. For contact person and address in U.S.A put the name of the university official who has signed your I-20 and the college address and phone number. Remember to sign all the forms. Use the mm-dd-yyyy format for dates, wherever applicable. A photograph on white background of size 50 mm x 50 mm should be pasted in the assigned space on the DS 156 form. In DS 157 all educational institutions should be listed with the most recent one first. Make a printout of your visa appointment summary after you finish the application process online. You will need this on the day of your visa interview. The interview Arrive at the American Consulate at least 30 minutes before your scheduled time. Do not carry any metallic objects like mobile phones, keys, coins etc. You will need to submit these documents at the counter inside. a. Original passport with validity of at least one year b. Visa appointment summary letter c. HDFC Bank visa fee receipt d. SEVIS fee receipt e. DS 156, 157 and 158 forms, filled in and signed f. Original I-20, signed by you g. Original university acceptance and scholarship letter h. SAT or GRE or GMAT and TOEFL iBT original score sheet i. Latest degree certificate and final mark sheet – original j. Copy of relevant pages of the passport Other original documents that you must carry with you to substantiate your need for a student visa are; your family’s or sponsor’s income tax documents, bank statements and passbooks showing transactions of at least six months and a balance in excess of your nett fund requirement in the first year of your study, PF, PPF, GPF, UTI, Postal MIS, Mutual funds, NSC, KVP, IVP, original ownership documents of land, building, property held by your immediate family in India with property tax receipts, if available. A valuation certificate denoting current market value of property may be beneficial. Ownership of fixed and liquid assets may be endorsed by a Chartered Accountant in the form of a Statement of Assets. If your sponsor resides in the U.S.A then carry the I-134 form duly endorsed by Public Notary in the U.S that has been sent to the university earlier. I-20s and admission offers from other universities that you may have received. Carry any other documents that you feel may augment your application and substantiate the purpose of your visit. Before your interview begins, you may have to wait a while and then be called to one of the many interview counters whereupon you will be digitally fingerprinted for the biometric visa. Understand how and why The visa officer’s concern needs to be understood. They are highly trained, well-informed professionals representing their country in a sensitive job description. They are fair in their appraisal, so learn to communicate well before you go for the interview. Answer precisely and without hesitation. Use positive body language, maintain eye contact and speak politely. Confidence speaks volumes. They need to know that your intentions are honest and that at the time of the visa application you wish to go to America to study. And only study. If your ulterior motives are apparent, then you don’t get a visa. Simple. You applied for a student visa but your documentation and your interview reveals that studying is just an excuse to somehow get to the U.S. That is not an honest applicant. Millions do not need to be shown in your bank accounts. Most Indian students are unable to do so. However, you have to clearly demonstrate your ability to bear the expenses of tuition and living costs for the first year of study. The visa officer will accept scholarships, assistantships, grants and funds of the family in bank accounts and fixed deposits as legitimate sources of your academic funding. If you have land, house, property owned by anyone in your family – show it. It gives the visa officer credible reason to believe that you have something to come back to after completion of your degree in the U.S. A clearly defined career plan will add credibility to your persona. Do not conceal facts, do not lie. Honesty rocks ! Tips Greet the visa officer. A Good Morning ! does not hurt. Dress well; no, not in a suit and a tie. Normally. Not in tattered denims either. Get to the point in your answers. No circumnavigating. No procrastination. Be forthright with your replies. They do not have the time to beat around the bush. Maintain eye contact. Smile when you can. Be truthful and direct. Be prepared to answer why you are going to study the program that you have chosen, why the university that you have decided on, and what your career goals are when you finish. India has a world of professional opportunities that you can enumerate. Do not treat the visa process as a demon that needs to be exorcised or a cakewalk. It is neither. It is a logical, methodical process that has its foundation in reason and rationale. This is your final hurdle. Practice the jump. Prepare for it in advance. You do not want to be taken by surprise. Prepare well. If you are ready, the visa is yours. No worries. (The writer is Education & Career Consultant) Content Courtesyhttp://educationtimes.com/educationTimes/getArticleDetail.do?parent=103&sectionid=44&articleid=2009020620090206173716279b816af2d&parentname=Study%20in%20US&sectionname=+Application+Procedures&type=null&key=null

Top ten online MBA programs

1) IE Business School

Location: Madrid, Spain

Programmeme: Global MBA

Rankings: #4 by Forbes, #8 by Financial Times, #9 by The Economist (#2 for Distance Learning).

Description: IE offers a 16-month Global MBA programme for English and Spanish speakers. The programme allows students to connect to the virtual classroom from anywhere in the world. In addition to virtual lectures and videoconferences, students are required to participate in two short residence sessions in Madrid. Each session lasts five days and take place during different years.

Networking opportunities: Students from 48 countries with background and expertise in a diverse variety of fields including financial markets, banking, marketing, and technology.

Gained skills: Strategy, Finance, Marketing, Operations, Information Systems, Intercultural Skills.

Tuition: € 36,100 (approx. $56,000 USD)

Website: http://www.gmba-eng.ie.edu/

2) Thunderbird School of Global Management

Location: Arizona, USA

Programmeme: Global MBA

Rankings: #1 in International Programmemes by U.S. News & World Report, # 1 in International Business by Financial Times, # 1 in International Business by The Wall Street Journal.

Description: Thunderbird offers a 19-month global MBA programme where students participate through virtual classrooms and on-site seminars in the USA, China and Switzerland.

Networking opportunities: Students have lived and worked in over 16 different countries with backgrounds in a wide variety of companies ranging from Coca Cola to Boeing to the US Department of Defense.

Gained skills: Cross-Cultural Communications, Global Political Economy, Global Finance, Global Operations, Global Marketing, Global Negotiations, Global Leadership, Global Strategy.

Tuition: $61,650 USD (includes on-site costs for international study trips except airfare)

Website: http://www.thunderbird.edu/prospective_students/working_
prof_degrees/gmbaod/index.htm

3) Manchester Business School

Location: Manchester, UK

Programme: Distance Learning MBA

Rankings: # 15 by MBA Career Guide Survey, #22 by Financial Times.

Description: This flexible two-year programme combines self-study with face-to-face workshops in one of six destinations worldwide – UK, Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Malaysia and Jamaica.

Networking opportunities: Students are located in over 90 countries worldwide and possess years of work experience in industries such as construction, engineering, and finance.

Gained skills: Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Managerial Economics, Quantitative Methods, Corporate Strategy.

Tuition: £19,200 (approximately $37,914 USD)

Website: http://www.mbs-worldwide.ac.uk/

4) Duke University

Location: North Carolina, USA

Programme: Cross-Continental MBA

Rankings: # 9 by BusinessWeek, #14 by U.S. News & World Report, # 28 by Financial Times.

Description: The programme lasts 20 months blending Internet-enabled distance learning with 9 one-week residential sessions that take place in North Carolina, Europe and Asia.

Networking opportunities: Students from 23 countries average three to nine years of experience and are currently employed full-time in a variety of industries.

Gained skills: Finance, Accounting, Decision Models, Cross-Cultural Communications, Marketing, Strategy, Global Financial Management, Global Economics.

Tuition: $101,900 USD

Website: http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/mba/executive/cc/

5) Warwick Business School

Location: Coventry, UK

Programme: Warwick MBA Distance Learning

Rankings: #3 (Distance Learning) by The Economist, #29 by Financial Times.

Description: The Warwick MBA consists of 3 parts that can be completed in 3 years (one part/year) or extended up to eight years. The programme uses a variety of delivery methods including print materials, online resources, virtual study groups and a compulsory September Seminar at Warwick each year.

Networking opportunities: Participants include students from more than 90 countries with an average of 10 years of experience. Many students are in middle-management and upper-management positions.

Gained skills: Strategic Advantage, Finance, Accounting, Modelling and Analysis, Economics, Market Analysis, Operations Management, Organizational Behavior.

Tuition: Approximately £15,500 for three years. (approximately $30,259 USD)

Website: http://www.wbs.ac.uk/students/mba/learn/dl.cfm

6) University of Florida

Location: Gainesville, Florida – USA

Programme: Internet MBA

Rankings: #1 (Distance Learning) by The Economist, #6 by The Wall Street Journal, #34 by U.S. News & World Report.

Description: The Internet MBA programme at the University of Florida provides students with two options: The Two-Year MBA and the One-Year MBA option. The Two-Year MBA programme starts in February, offers a 27-month curriculum and requires 8 weekend campus visits at the end of each term. The One-Year MBA option is provided for students with a business degree and two to seven years of work experience. It starts in January, offers a 16-month curriculum and requires 5 weekend campus visits at the end of each term.

Networking opportunities: Students in these programmemes average 6 years of work experience in a variety of industries such as telecommunications, banking, and international trade.

Gained skills: Personal Finance, Corporate Finance, Accounting, Marketing Management, Professional Writing, Operations Management, Entrepreneurship, E-Commerce, Brand Equity, Business Policy, Business Law.

Tuition: $36,000 USD for the One-Year MBA option; $41,000 USD for the two-year MBA option.

Website: http://www.floridamba.ufl.edu/FutureStudents/internet.asp

7) Indiana University

Location: Indianapolis, Indiana – USA

Programme: Master of Business Administration (Kelley Direct)

Rankings: #18 by BusinessWeek, #23 by U.S. News & World Report, #61 by Financial Times.

Description: This flexible programme can be completed in two to five years. It focuses on general administration, but can be tailored to meet the needs of individual students. The programme is offered almost exclusively over the Web with two in-residence clinics that last one week in Indiana.

Networking opportunities: Students in the programme come from almost every state in the USA as well as over 20 countries from around the world. Almost all students have several years of corporate or military experience.

Gained skills: Accounting, Finance, Economics, Quantitative Analysis, Project Management, Strategic Marketing, Human Resources, Global Business, Business Law, Strategic Capabilities.

Tuition: $48,195 USD

Website: http://kd.iu.edu/

8) Pennsylvania State University

Location: University Park, Pennsylvania – USA

Programme: Penn State’s Online MBA

Rankings: #40 by U.S. News & World Report, #58 by Financial Times, US Second Tier Programmemes by BusinessWeek.

Description: This 2-year programme combines online courses with 2 residency experiences – the first one at a US company (anywhere in the USA) and the second one at Penn State’s University Park campus.

Networking opportunities: Penn State iMBA students represent employers from 37 states and 5 countries.

Gained skills: Finance, Accounting, Organizational Behavior and Change, Data Analysis, Decision Making, Marketing, Corporate Strategies, Global Operations, Global Management.

Tuition: $49,000 USD

Website: http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/iMBA_Home.shtml

9) Babson College

Location: Boston, Massachusetts – USA

Programme: Fast Track MBA

Rankings: #1 in Entrepreneurship by U.S. News & World Report, # 1 in Entrepreneurship by Financial Times, #48 Overall MBA by U.S. News & World Report, # 84 Overall MBA by Financial Times.

Description: This 24-month programme combines face-to-face learning, web-based learning, and field-based projects. Face-to-face instruction is based on two-day sessions that are held at Babson or in Portland, Oregon approximately every six weeks – all day on Fridays and Saturdays.

Networking opportunities: Students in this programme average 10 years of work experience and come from almost every state in the US and approximately 10 countries.

Gained skills: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Creativity, Human Behavior, Marketing, Accounting, Finance, Ethics and Law.

Tuition: $50,766 USD

Website: http://cmweb.babson.edu/mba/

10) University of Massachusetts – Amherst

Location: Amherst, Massachusetts – USA

Programme: Online MBA

Rankings: #2 Best Overall Academic Experience by Princeton Review, #4 Best Professors.

Description: The entire 37-credit degree programme can be completed online. No campus residencies are required. The programme can be completed in 2 years.

Networking opportunities: Students in the programme are from the 50 US States and 15 countries and have experience in a variety of industries.

Gained skills: Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Organizational Behavior, Business Data Analysis, Independent Research.

Tuition: $24,790 USD.

Website: http://www.isenberg.umass.edu/MBA/PartTime_MBA/Online/

Content courtesy: MacQuil.com

156 run commands March 13, 2009

156 Useful Run Commands……….great one for IT guys

To Access….

Run Command
Accessibility Controls access.cpl
Accessibility Wizard accwiz
Add Hardware Wizard hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools control admintools
Adobe Acrobat (if installed) acrobat
Adobe Designer (if installed) acrodist
Adobe Distiller (if installed) acrodist
Adobe ImageReady (if installed) imageready
Adobe Photoshop (if installed) photoshop
Automatic Updates wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard fsquirt
Calculator calc
Certificate Manager certmgr.msc
Character Map charmap
Check Disk Utility chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer clipbrd
Command Prompt cmd
Component Services dcomcnfg
Computer Management compmgmt.msc
Control Panel control
Date and Time Properties timedate.cpl
DDE Shares ddeshare
Device Manager devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility cleanmgr
Disk Defragment dfrg.msc
Disk Management diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager diskpart
Display Properties control desktop
Display Properties desk.cpl
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) control color
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility drwtsn32
Driver Verifier Utility verifier
Event Viewer eventvwr.msc
Files and Settings Transfer Tool migwiz
File Signature Verification Tool sigverif
Findfast findfast.cpl
Firefox (if installed) firefox
Folders Properties control folders
Fonts control fonts
Fonts Folder fonts
Free Cell Card Game freecell
Game Controllers joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) gpedit.msc
Hearts Card Game mshearts
Help and Support helpctr
HyperTerminal hypertrm
Iexpress Wizard iexpress
Indexing Service ciadv.msc
Internet Connection Wizard icwconn1
Internet Explorer iexplore
Internet Properties inetcpl.cpl
Internet Setup Wizard inetwiz
IP Configuration(Display Connection Configuration) ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration(Delete DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration(Release All Connections) ipconfig /release
IP Configuration(Renew All Connections) ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) ipconfig /registerdns
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /setclassid
Java Control Panel (If Installed) jpicpl32.cpl
Java Control Panel (If Installed) javaws
Keyboard Properties control keyboard
Local Security Settings secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups lusrmgr.msc
Logs You Out Of Windows logoff
Malicious Software Removal Tool mrt
Microsoft Access (if installed) access.cpl
Microsoft Chat winchat
Microsoft Excel (if installed) excel
Microsoft Frontpage (if installed) frontpg
Microsoft Movie Maker moviemk
Microsoft Paint mspaint
Microsoft Powerpoint (if installed) powerpnt
Microsoft Word (if installed) winword
Microsoft Syncronization Tool mobsync
Minesweeper Game winmine
Mouse Properties control mouse
Mouse Properties main.cpl
Nero (if installed) nero
Netmeeting conf
Network Connections control netconnections
Network Connections ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard netsetup.cpl
Notepad notepad
Nview Desktop Manager(If Installed) nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard osk
Opens AC3 Filter(If Installed) ac3filter.cpl
Outlook Express msimn
Paint pbrush
Password Properties password.cpl
Performance Monitor perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor perfmon
Phone and Modem Options telephon.cpl
Phone Dialer dialer
Pinball Game pinball
Power Configuration powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes control printers
Printers Folder printers
Private Character Editor eudcedit
Quicktime (If Installed) QuickTime.cpl
Quicktime Player (if installed) quicktimeplayer
Real Player (if installed) realplay
Regional Settings intl.cpl
Registry Editor regedit
Registry Editor regedit32
Remote Access Phonebook rasphone
Remote Desktop mstsc
Removable Storage ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests ntmsoprq.msc
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) rsop.msc
Scanners and Cameras sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks control schedtasks
SecurityCenter wscui.cpl
Services services.msc
Shared Folders fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows shutdown
Sounds and Audio mmsys.cpl
Spider Solitare Card Game spider
SQL Client Configuration cliconfg
System Configuration Editor sysedit
System Configuration Utility msconfig
System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) sfc /cachesize=x
System Information msinfo32
System Properties sysdm.cpl
Task Manager taskmgr
TCP Tester tcptest
Telnet Client telnet
Tweak UI (if installed) tweakui
User Account Management nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager utilman
Windows Address Book wab
Windows Address Book Import Utility wabmig
Windows Backup Utility (if installed) ntbackup
Windows Explorer explorer
Windows Firewall firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure wmimgmt.msc
Windows Media Player wmplayer
Windows Messenger msmsgs
Windows Picture Import Wizard (need camera connected) wiaacmgr
Windows System Security Tool syskey
Windows Update Launches wupdmgr
Windows Version (to show which version of windows) winver
Windows XP Tour Wizard tourstart
Wordpad write

Crack the SP Jain Aptitude Test February 22, 2009

I had taken this SP Jain Aptitude Test recently in the second week of Feb..Thought I ll share my experience with the forum. The question paper had around 5 sections I remember. The First section was about logical reasoning .This section had all the weird figures I could ever imagine. It was something like a
Asking  for  the next one in the sequence. And another question had figures of a bat, hat, ball and asked for predicting the correct sequence
The second section was about IQ . This also had a few weird figures, a few puzzles of the Sudoku type. Basically, it had figures where we could make some calculations such as adding the numbers or subtracting them and come to a logical conclusion. I remember it also had a bar graph and 2 DI questions
The third section was Verbal. It had an antonym, around 4 sentence correction questions and a Reading Comprehension. English was neither too easy nor  too tough
The fourth section was Quantitative .This was by far the most easiest section in the paper. It had all direct questions on time and distance, equations etc. Compared to CAT it was very very easy
The fifth section was on General Knowledge. I am really poor at GK and I could hardly answer any except for the number of Oscar nominations for slumdog. This section had questions on politics, sports, constitution, international affairs etc.
Hope it helps anyone whose trying to aim for the SP Aptitude test

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/su08/elite-deresiewicz.html August 23, 2008

EXHORTATION The Disadvantages of an Elite Education Our best universities have forgotten that the reason they exist is to make minds, not careers By William Deresiewicz It didn’t dawn on me that there might be a few holes in my education until I was about 35. I’d just bought a house, the pipes needed fixing, and the plumber was standing in my kitchen. There he was, a short, beefy guy with a goatee and a Red Sox cap and a thick Boston accent, and I suddenly learned that I didn’t have the slightest idea what to say to someone like him. So alien was his experience to me, so unguessable his values, so mysterious his very language, that I couldn’t succeed in engaging him in a few minutes of small talk before he got down to work. Fourteen years of higher education and a handful of Ivy League degrees, and there I was, stiff and stupid, struck dumb by my own dumbness. “Ivy retardation,” a friend of mine calls this. I could carry on conversations with people from other countries, in other languages, but I couldn’t talk to the man who was standing in my own house. It’s not surprising that it took me so long to discover the extent of my miseducation, because the last thing an elite education will teach you is its own inadequacy. As two dozen years at Yale and Columbia have shown me, elite colleges relentlessly encourage their students to flatter themselves for being there, and for what being there can do for them. The advantages of an elite education are indeed undeniable. You learn to think, at least in certain ways, and you make the contacts needed to launch yourself into a life rich in all of society’s most cherished rewards. To consider that while some opportunities are being created, others are being cancelled and that while some abilities are being developed, others are being crippled is, within this context, not only outrageous, but inconceivable. I’m not talking about curricula or the culture wars, the closing or opening of the American mind, political correctness, canon formation, or what have you. I’m talking about the whole system in which these skirmishes play out. Not just the Ivy League and its peer institutions, but also the mechanisms that get you there in the first place: the private and affluent public “feeder” schools, the ever-growing parastructure of tutors and test-prep courses and enrichment programs, the whole admissions frenzy and everything that leads up to and away from it. The message, as always, is the medium. Before, after, and around the elite college classroom, a constellation of values is ceaselessly inculcated. As globalization sharpens economic insecurity, we are increasingly committing ourselves—as students, as parents, as a society—to a vast apparatus of educational advantage. With so many resources devoted to the business of elite academics and so many people scrambling for the limited space at the top of the ladder, it is worth asking what exactly it is you get in the end—what it is we all get, because the elite students of today, as their institutions never tire of reminding them, are the leaders of tomorrow. The first disadvantage of an elite education, as I learned in my kitchen that day, is that it makes you incapable of talking to people who aren’t like you. Elite schools pride themselves on their diversity, but that diversity is almost entirely a matter of ethnicity and race. With respect to class, these schools are largely—indeed increasingly—homogeneous. Visit any elite campus in our great nation and you can thrill to the heartwarming spectacle of the children of white businesspeople and professionals studying and playing alongside the children of black, Asian, and Latino businesspeople and professionals. At the same time, because these schools tend to cultivate liberal attitudes, they leave their students in the paradoxical position of wanting to advocate on behalf of the working class while being unable to hold a simple conversation with anyone in it. Witness the last two Democratic presidential nominees, Al Gore and John Kerry: one each from Harvard and Yale, both earnest, decent, intelligent men, both utterly incapable of communicating with the larger electorate. But it isn’t just a matter of class. My education taught me to believe that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League or equivalent school weren’t worth talking to, regardless of their class. I was given the unmistakable message that such people were beneath me. We were “the best and the brightest,” as these places love to say, and everyone else was, well, something else: less good, less bright. I learned to give that little nod of understanding, that slightly sympathetic “Oh,” when people told me they went to a less prestigious college. (If I’d gone to Harvard, I would have learned to say “in Boston” when I was asked where I went to school—the Cambridge version of noblesse oblige.) I never learned that there are smart people who don’t go to elite colleges, often precisely for reasons of class. I never learned that there are smart people who don’t go to college at all. I also never learned that there are smart people who aren’t “smart.” The existence of multiple forms of intelligence has become a commonplace, but however much elite universities like to sprinkle their incoming classes with a few actors or violinists, they select for and develop one form of intelligence: the analytic. While this is broadly true of all universities, elite schools, precisely because their students (and faculty, and administrators) possess this one form of intelligence to such a high degree, are more apt to ignore the value of others. One naturally prizes what one most possesses and what most makes for one’s advantages. But social intelligence and emotional intelligence and creative ability, to name just three other forms, are not distributed preferentially among the educational elite. The “best” are the brightest only in one narrow sense. One needs to wander away from the educational elite to begin to discover this. What about people who aren’t bright in any sense? I have a friend who went to an Ivy League college after graduating from a typically mediocre public high school. One of the values of going to such a school, she once said, is that it teaches you to relate to stupid people. Some people are smart in the elite-college way, some are smart in other ways, and some aren’t smart at all. It should be embarrassing not to know how to talk to any of them, if only because talking to people is the only real way of knowing them. Elite institutions are supposed to provide a humanistic education, but the first principle of humanism is Terence’s: “nothing human is alien to me.” The first disadvantage of an elite education is how very much of the human it alienates you from. The second disadvantage, implicit in what I’ve been saying, is that an elite education inculcates a false sense of self-worth. Getting to an elite college, being at an elite college, and going on from an elite college—all involve numerical rankings: SAT, GPA, GRE. You learn to think of yourself in terms of those numbers. They come to signify not only your fate, but your identity; not only your identity, but your value. It’s been said that what those tests really measure is your ability to take tests, but even if they measure something real, it is only a small slice of the real. The problem begins when students are encouraged to forget this truth, when academic excellence becomes excellence in some absolute sense, when “better at X” becomes simply “better.” There is nothing wrong with taking pride in one’s intellect or knowledge. There is something wrong with the smugness and self-congratulation that elite schools connive at from the moment the fat envelopes come in the mail. From orientation to graduation, the message is implicit in every tone of voice and tilt of the head, every old-school tradition, every article in the student paper, every speech from the dean. The message is: You have arrived. Welcome to the club. And the corollary is equally clear: You deserve everything your presence here is going to enable you to get. When people say that students at elite schools have a strong sense of entitlement, they mean that those students think they deserve more than other people because their sat scores are higher. At Yale, and no doubt at other places, the message is reinforced in embarrassingly literal terms. The physical form of the university—its quads and residential colleges, with their Gothic stone façades and wrought-iron portals—is constituted by the locked gate set into the encircling wall. Everyone carries around an ID card that determines which gates they can enter. The gate, in other words, is a kind of governing metaphor—because the social form of the university, as is true of every elite school, is constituted the same way. Elite colleges are walled domains guarded by locked gates, with admission granted only to the elect. The aptitude with which students absorb this lesson is demonstrated by the avidity with which they erect still more gates within those gates, special realms of ever-greater exclusivity—at Yale, the famous secret societies, or as they should probably be called, the open-secret societies, since true secrecy would defeat their purpose. There’s no point in excluding people unless they know they’ve been excluded. One of the great errors of an elite education, then, is that it teaches you to think that measures of intelligence and academic achievement are measures of value in some moral or metaphysical sense. But they’re not. Graduates of elite schools are not more valuable than stupid people, or talentless people, or even lazy people. Their pain does not hurt more. Their souls do not weigh more. If I were religious, I would say, God does not love them more. The political implications should be clear. As John Ruskin told an older elite, grabbing what you can get isn’t any less wicked when you grab it with the power of your brains than with the power of your fists. “Work must always be,” Ruskin says, “and captains of work must always be….[But] there is a wide difference between being captains…of work, and taking the profits of it.” The political implications don’t stop there. An elite education not only ushers you into the upper classes; it trains you for the life you will lead once you get there. I didn’t understand this until I began comparing my experience, and even more, my students’ experience, with the experience of a friend of mine who went to Cleveland State. There are due dates and attendance requirements at places like Yale, but no one takes them very seriously. Extensions are available for the asking; threats to deduct credit for missed classes are rarely, if ever, carried out. In other words, students at places like Yale get an endless string of second chances. Not so at places like Cleveland State. My friend once got a D in a class in which she’d been running an A because she was coming off a waitressing shift and had to hand in her term paper an hour late. That may be an extreme example, but it is unthinkable at an elite school. Just as unthinkably, she had no one to appeal to. Students at places like Cleveland State, unlike those at places like Yale, don’t have a platoon of advisers and tutors and deans to write out excuses for late work, give them extra help when they need it, pick them up when they fall down. They get their education wholesale, from an indifferent bureaucracy; it’s not handed to them in individually wrapped packages by smiling clerks. There are few, if any, opportunities for the kind of contacts I saw my students get routinely—classes with visiting power brokers, dinners with foreign dignitaries. There are also few, if any, of the kind of special funds that, at places like Yale, are available in profusion: travel stipends, research fellowships, performance grants. Each year, my department at Yale awards dozens of cash prizes for everything from freshman essays to senior projects. This year, those awards came to more than $90,000—in just one department. Students at places like Cleveland State also don’t get A-’s just for doing the work. There’s been a lot of handwringing lately over grade inflation, and it is a scandal, but the most scandalous thing about it is how uneven it’s been. Forty years ago, the average GPA at both public and private universities was about 2.6, still close to the traditional B-/C+ curve. Since then, it’s gone up everywhere, but not by anything like the same amount. The average gpa at public universities is now about 3.0, a B; at private universities it’s about 3.3, just short of a B+. And at most Ivy League schools, it’s closer to 3.4. But there are always students who don’t do the work, or who are taking a class far outside their field (for fun or to fulfill a requirement), or who aren’t up to standard to begin with (athletes, legacies). At a school like Yale, students who come to class and work hard expect nothing less than an A-. And most of the time, they get it. In short, the way students are treated in college trains them for the social position they will occupy once they get out. At schools like Cleveland State, they’re being trained for positions somewhere in the middle of the class system, in the depths of one bureaucracy or another. They’re being conditioned for lives with few second chances, no extensions, little support, narrow opportunity—lives of subordination, supervision, and control, lives of deadlines, not guidelines. At places like Yale, of course, it’s the reverse. The elite like to think of themselves as belonging to a meritocracy, but that’s true only up to a point. Getting through the gate is very difficult, but once you’re in, there’s almost nothing you can do to get kicked out. Not the most abject academic failure, not the most heinous act of plagiarism, not even threatening a fellow student with bodily harm—I’ve heard of all three—will get you expelled. The feeling is that, by gosh, it just wouldn’t be fair—in other words, the self-protectiveness of the old-boy network, even if it now includes girls. Elite schools nurture excellence, but they also nurture what a former Yale graduate student I know calls “entitled mediocrity.” A is the mark of excellence; A- is the mark of entitled mediocrity. It’s another one of those metaphors, not so much a grade as a promise. It means, don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. You may not be all that good, but you’re good enough. Here, too, college reflects the way things work in the adult world (unless it’s the other way around). For the elite, there’s always another extension—a bailout, a pardon, a stint in rehab—always plenty of contacts and special stipends—the country club, the conference, the year-end bonus, the dividend. If Al Gore and John Kerry represent one of the characteristic products of an elite education, George W. Bush represents another. It’s no coincidence that our current president, the apotheosis of entitled mediocrity, went to Yale. Entitled mediocrity is indeed the operating principle of his administration, but as Enron and WorldCom and the other scandals of the dot-com meltdown demonstrated, it’s also the operating principle of corporate America. The fat salaries paid to underperforming CEOs are an adult version of the A-. Anyone who remembers the injured sanctimony with which Kenneth Lay greeted the notion that he should be held accountable for his actions will understand the mentality in question—the belief that once you’re in the club, you’ve got a God-given right to stay in the club. But you don’t need to remember Ken Lay, because the whole dynamic played out again last year in the case of Scooter Libby, another Yale man. If one of the disadvantages of an elite education is the temptation it offers to mediocrity, another is the temptation it offers to security. When parents explain why they work so hard to give their children the best possible education, they invariably say it is because of the opportunities it opens up. But what of the opportunities it shuts down? An elite education gives you the chance to be rich—which is, after all, what we’re talking about—but it takes away the chance not to be. Yet the opportunity not to be rich is one of the greatest opportunities with which young Americans have been blessed. We live in a society that is itself so wealthy that it can afford to provide a decent living to whole classes of people who in other countries exist (or in earlier times existed) on the brink of poverty or, at least, of indignity. You can live comfortably in the United States as a schoolteacher, or a community organizer, or a civil rights lawyer, or an artist—that is, by any reasonable definition of comfort. You have to live in an ordinary house instead of an apartment in Manhattan or a mansion in L.A.; you have to drive a Honda instead of a BMW or a Hummer; you have to vacation in Florida instead of Barbados or Paris, but what are such losses when set against the opportunity to do work you believe in, work you’re suited for, work you love, every day of your life? Yet it is precisely that opportunity that an elite education takes away. How can I be a schoolteacher—wouldn’t that be a waste of my expensive education? Wouldn’t I be squandering the opportunities my parents worked so hard to provide? What will my friends think? How will I face my classmates at our 20th reunion, when they’re all rich lawyers or important people in New York? And the question that lies behind all these: Isn’t it beneath me? So a whole universe of possibility closes, and you miss your true calling. This is not to say that students from elite colleges never pursue a riskier or less lucrative course after graduation, but even when they do, they tend to give up more quickly than others. (Let’s not even talk about the possibility of kids from privileged backgrounds not going to college at all, or delaying matriculation for several years, because however appropriate such choices might sometimes be, our rigid educational mentality places them outside the universe of possibility—the reason so many kids go sleepwalking off to college with no idea what they’re doing there.) This doesn’t seem to make sense, especially since students from elite schools tend to graduate with less debt and are more likely to be able to float by on family money for a while. I wasn’t aware of the phenomenon myself until I heard about it from a couple of graduate students in my department, one from Yale, one from Harvard. They were talking about trying to write poetry, how friends of theirs from college called it quits within a year or two while people they know from less prestigious schools are still at it. Why should this be? Because students from elite schools expect success, and expect it now. They have, by definition, never experienced anything else, and their sense of self has been built around their ability to succeed. The idea of not being successful terrifies them, disorients them, defeats them. They’ve been driven their whole lives by a fear of failure—often, in the first instance, by their parents’ fear of failure. The first time I blew a test, I walked out of the room feeling like I no longer knew who I was. The second time, it was easier; I had started to learn that failure isn’t the end of the world. But if you’re afraid to fail, you’re afraid to take risks, which begins to explain the final and most damning disadvantage of an elite education: that it is profoundly anti-intellectual. This will seem counterintuitive. Aren’t kids at elite schools the smartest ones around, at least in the narrow academic sense? Don’t they work harder than anyone else—indeed, harder than any previous generation? They are. They do. But being an intellectual is not the same as being smart. Being an intellectual means more than doing your homework. If so few kids come to college understanding this, it is no wonder. They are products of a system that rarely asked them to think about something bigger than the next assignment. The system forgot to teach them, along the way to the prestige admissions and the lucrative jobs, that the most important achievements can’t be measured by a letter or a number or a name. It forgot that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers. Being an intellectual means, first of all, being passionate about ideas—and not just for the duration of a semester, for the sake of pleasing the teacher, or for getting a good grade. A friend who teaches at the University of Connecticut once complained to me that his students don’t think for themselves. Well, I said, Yale students think for themselves, but only because they know we want them to. I’ve had many wonderful students at Yale and Columbia, bright, thoughtful, creative kids whom it’s been a pleasure to talk with and learn from. But most of them have seemed content to color within the lines that their education had marked out for them. Only a small minority have seen their education as part of a larger intellectual journey, have approached the work of the mind with a pilgrim soul. These few have tended to feel like freaks, not least because they get so little support from the university itself. Places like Yale, as one of them put it to me, are not conducive to searchers. Places like Yale are simply not set up to help students ask the big questions. I don’t think there ever was a golden age of intellectualism in the American university, but in the 19th century students might at least have had a chance to hear such questions raised in chapel or in the literary societies and debating clubs that flourished on campus. Throughout much of the 20th century, with the growth of the humanistic ideal in American colleges, students might have encountered the big questions in the classrooms of professors possessed of a strong sense of pedagogic mission. Teachers like that still exist in this country, but the increasingly dire exigencies of academic professionalization have made them all but extinct at elite universities. Professors at top research institutions are valued exclusively for the quality of their scholarly work; time spent on teaching is time lost. If students want a conversion experience, they’re better off at a liberal arts college. When elite universities boast that they teach their students how to think, they mean that they teach them the analytic and rhetorical skills necessary for success in law or medicine or science or business. But a humanistic education is supposed to mean something more than that, as universities still dimly feel. So when students get to college, they hear a couple of speeches telling them to ask the big questions, and when they graduate, they hear a couple more speeches telling them to ask the big questions. And in between, they spend four years taking courses that train them to ask the little questions—specialized courses, taught by specialized professors, aimed at specialized students. Although the notion of breadth is implicit in the very idea of a liberal arts education, the admissions process increasingly selects for kids who have already begun to think of themselves in specialized terms—the junior journalist, the budding astronomer, the language prodigy. We are slouching, even at elite schools, toward a glorified form of vocational training. Indeed, that seems to be exactly what those schools want. There’s a reason elite schools speak of training leaders, not thinkers—holders of power, not its critics. An independent mind is independent of all allegiances, and elite schools, which get a large percentage of their budget from alumni giving, are strongly invested in fostering institutional loyalty. As another friend, a third-generation Yalie, says, the purpose of Yale College is to manufacture Yale alumni. Of course, for the system to work, those alumni need money. At Yale, the long-term drift of students away from majors in the humanities and basic sciences toward more practical ones like computer science and economics has been abetted by administrative indifference. The college career office has little to say to students not interested in law, medicine, or business, and elite universities are not going to do anything to discourage the large percentage of their graduates who take their degrees to Wall Street. In fact, they’re showing them the way. The liberal arts university is becoming the corporate university, its center of gravity shifting to technical fields where scholarly expertise can be parlayed into lucrative business opportunities. It’s no wonder that the few students who are passionate about ideas find themselves feeling isolated and confused. I was talking with one of them last year about his interest in the German Romantic idea of bildung, the upbuilding of the soul. But, he said—he was a senior at the time—it’s hard to build your soul when everyone around you is trying to sell theirs. Yet there is a dimension of the intellectual life that lies above the passion for ideas, though so thoroughly has our culture been sanitized of it that it is hardly surprising if it was beyond the reach of even my most alert students. Since the idea of the intellectual emerged in the 18th century, it has had, at its core, a commitment to social transformation. Being an intellectual means thinking your way toward a vision of the good society and then trying to realize that vision by speaking truth to power. It means going into spiritual exile. It means foreswearing your allegiance, in lonely freedom, to God, to country, and to Yale. It takes more than just intellect; it takes imagination and courage. “I am not afraid to make a mistake,” Stephen Dedalus says, “even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake, and perhaps as long as eternity, too.” Being an intellectual begins with thinking your way outside of your assumptions and the system that enforces them. But students who get into elite schools are precisely the ones who have best learned to work within the system, so it’s almost impossible for them to see outside it, to see that it’s even there. Long before they got to college, they turned themselves into world-class hoop-jumpers and teacher-pleasers, getting A’s in every class no matter how boring they found the teacher or how pointless the subject, racking up eight or 10 extracurricular activities no matter what else they wanted to do with their time. Paradoxically, the situation may be better at second-tier schools and, in particular, again, at liberal arts colleges than at the most prestigious universities. Some students end up at second-tier schools because they’re exactly like students at Harvard or Yale, only less gifted or driven. But others end up there because they have a more independent spirit. They didn’t get straight A’s because they couldn’t be bothered to give everything in every class. They concentrated on the ones that meant the most to them or on a single strong extracurricular passion or on projects that had nothing to do with school or even with looking good on a college application. Maybe they just sat in their room, reading a lot and writing in their journal. These are the kinds of kids who are likely, once they get to college, to be more interested in the human spirit than in school spirit, and to think about leaving college bearing questions, not resumés. I’ve been struck, during my time at Yale, by how similar everyone looks. You hardly see any hippies or punks or art-school types, and at a college that was known in the ’80s as the Gay Ivy, few out lesbians and no gender queers. The geeks don’t look all that geeky; the fashionable kids go in for understated elegance. Thirty-two flavors, all of them vanilla. The most elite schools have become places of a narrow and suffocating normalcy. Everyone feels pressure to maintain the kind of appearance—and affect—that go with achievement. (Dress for success, medicate for success.) I know from long experience as an adviser that not every Yale student is appropriate and well-adjusted, which is exactly why it worries me that so many of them act that way. The tyranny of the normal must be very heavy in their lives. One consequence is that those who can’t get with the program (and they tend to be students from poorer backgrounds) often polarize in the opposite direction, flying off into extremes of disaffection and self-destruction. But another consequence has to do with the large majority who can get with the program. I taught a class several years ago on the literature of friendship. One day we were discussing Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves, which follows a group of friends from childhood to middle age. In high school, one of them falls in love with another boy. He thinks, “To whom can I expose the urgency of my own passion?…There is nobody—here among these grey arches, and moaning pigeons, and cheerful games and tradition and emulation, all so skilfully organised to prevent feeling alone.” A pretty good description of an elite college campus, including the part about never being allowed to feel alone. What did my students think of this, I wanted to know? What does it mean to go to school at a place where you’re never alone? Well, one of them said, I do feel uncomfortable sitting in my room by myself. Even when I have to write a paper, I do it at a friend’s. That same day, as it happened, another student gave a presentation on Emerson’s essay on friendship. Emerson says, he reported, that one of the purposes of friendship is to equip you for solitude. As I was asking my students what they thought that meant, one of them interrupted to say, wait a second, why do you need solitude in the first place? What can you do by yourself that you can’t do with a friend? So there they were: one young person who had lost the capacity for solitude and another who couldn’t see the point of it. There’s been much talk of late about the loss of privacy, but equally calamitous is its corollary, the loss of solitude. It used to be that you couldn’t always get together with your friends even when you wanted to. Now that students are in constant electronic contact, they never have trouble finding each other. But it’s not as if their compulsive sociability is enabling them to develop deep friendships. “To whom can I expose the urgency of my own passion?”: my student was in her friend’s room writing a paper, not having a heart-to-heart. She probably didn’t have the time; indeed, other students told me they found their peers too busy for intimacy. What happens when busyness and sociability leave no room for solitude? The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude. They took this in for a second, and then one of them said, with a dawning sense of self-awareness, “So are you saying that we’re all just, like, really excellent sheep?” Well, I don’t know. But I do know that the life of the mind is lived one mind at a time: one solitary, skeptical, resistant mind at a time. The best place to cultivate it is not within an educational system whose real purpose is to reproduce the class system. The world that produced John Kerry and George Bush is indeed giving us our next generation of leaders. The kid who’s loading up on AP courses junior year or editing three campus publications while double-majoring, the kid whom everyone wants at their college or law school but no one wants in their classroom, the kid who doesn’t have a minute to breathe, let alone think, will soon be running a corporation or an institution or a government. She will have many achievements but little experience, great success but no vision. The disadvantage of an elite education is that it’s given us the elite we have, and the elite we’re going to have. William Deresiewicz taught English at Yale University from 1998 to 2008. This article is copyrighted by the author. It may not be reproduced without permission of the publisher. For reproduction or distribution rights, please contact scholar@pbk.org. __________________________________________________________ Copyright © 2008 The American Scholar. All rights reserved. Home | Current Issue | Archives | Contact Us | Subscribe

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chetan bhagat’s speech July 20, 2008

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates – there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.
Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.
I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?
Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing – to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.
To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure – a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.
Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.
Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born.. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.
I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.
There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.
You must have read some quotes – Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark – don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said – don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.
I’ve told you three things – reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.
Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember – if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.
Disappointment’s cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life – friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.
Unfairness – this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.
Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.
There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms – disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.
I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today.. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying – I come from the land of a billion sparks.
Thank You!

Advantages / Disadvantages of American Education June 28, 2008

This has been copied from another famous blog..I respect the author’s effort to write this original article.I have put this here solely for my personal use

ADVANTAGES

1) Quality of Education:

The colleges and universities in the United States, provide the best quality of education anywhere else in the world. Appropriate technologies are used to further enhance and support this quality standard. For this reason, an American degree is globally acclaimed and accepted. Investing in an American degree will open doors to a lot of opportunities around the world.

2) Great Career Opportunities:

No matter where you choose to work after the completion of your degree, either in the United States or outside, you will definitely make it into a high paying career. A degree from an American college or university is highly respected and accepted. Ultimately, you will create a strong career foundation and open doors to a great lifestyle.

3) Great Career Choices:

You can choose any career from a pool of hundreds of different programs and career options. Every college or university that offers international programs has international student advisers, who help you decide what career choices would be best for you. They spend enough time to understand and clarify any doubts that you might have. They help you direct your interests towards a particular career that might be best for you.

4) Flexibility:

Degree programs in the United States are very flexible for the student. A student can choose his own classes out of a pool of different subjects. One can work towards two separate degree programs at the same time. Student advisers help, guide, and support the students at every stage of their academic life in the United States.

5) Multi-Cultural Experience:

Unites States of America is a very diverse country. People from all over the world come here to live and study. Here you will meet scholars from across the globe and will learn about their cultures. Studying in the United States of America can be a very exciting experience along with being a great learning opportunity. Everyday you learn something new about your friends from different parts of the world.

6) Lifetime Contacts and Connections:

During your stay here in the United States, you will meet and make friends with people from around the world. Some of these will become your lifetime friends and connections. Strong connections around the globe will allow you to get to many more career opportunities in the world. Besides, if you like to travel, you can always stay with your friends or their families in their countries. They can show you around and also save you a lot of hotel money. 🙂

7) The taste of the good life:

The United States of America is a land of opportunities. For this reason, people here have been able to do better than most other developing countries in the world. While you study here, you will notice and learn many new and different ways of doing things that make this country a very comfortable and livable place. In short, you will enjoy the taste of a good life that you do not experience in a developing nation.

DISADVANTAGES

Warning: Even though, they might sound very discouraging, I think that it is very important for you to consider some disadvantages of an American education along with its advantages.

1) Cost of Education and living:

A good education in this country comes for a huge price. But, if you are considering to study in the USA, I’m going to assume that you or your family are very wealthy. If not, then you could take out an education loan from your home country, but it will take you several years to pay it back. In addition to tuition and fees, living in America is very expensive. Getting through the Dollar Shock can sometimes take a long time. In short, education in this country can be pricey. If you think you can afford it either with personal/family funds or by taking out a loan, then you can take it easy on this one.

2) No Scholarships or Grants:

Although there are a few scholarships that are available for international students (students with F-1 visa status) in four-year universities, most scholarships and grants are reserved for citizens and permanent residents in the United States only. 2-year community colleges in the United States have absolutely no scholarships available for international students whatsoever.

3) The Myth of On-Campus Jobs:

International Students (students on F-1 visa status) are authorized to work 20 hours a week as long as they work On-Campus. I call this a myth because most jobs on-campus are also reserved for students with financial aid. Financial aid is provided to citizens or permanent residents who can prove financial need in front of a state representative (in most cases a professor in the same college). The “left-over” jobs are so few, considering the number of international students who want to apply, that your chances of getting a job on-campus are reduced to unemployment. If you still manage to find a job on-campus, you can only save enough money to pay for food and clothing.

4) Homesickness :

Living thousands of miles away from home can be very challenging and stressful. America is a country of immigrants from all over the world. This is a country where people from all over the world live and try to pursue their dreams. Living among strangers with different cultural values can be very exhausting and stressful at times. You feel emotionally challenged and your mind goes numb. At these times you think whether all of this is worth it. You will be forced to rethink your decisions, but it will be too late. You will miss your family, friends, food, festivals, and other cultural aspects. It will hurt you to stay away from home every day. You will feel completely helpless, tired, and lonely. If you think you are too determined to think about your emotions, I suggest that you think again. When you are stressed and tired, it shows in your grades. You will not be able to impress anyone with bad grades. But if you think that you are strong enough that you can manage yourself well, you are good to go.

5) New Independence:

Being an Indian myself, I know exactly how difficult it is for us to get used to the new-independence. Back at home, we are helped with most of our chores, studies, and pretty much everything we do until we graduate and find work. As soon as you arrive in this country, you will go through a tremendous culture shock which will stress you, disappoint you, and sometimes frustrate you. You will have to do everything on your own. This might seem easy, but by first-hand experience I can say, that it really is not. It takes a lot of courage and determination to get used to this independence, and most importantly to remember being responsible all the time.