WikiLeaks:

WikiLeaks is an international new media non-profit organization that publishes submissions of otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous news sources and news leaks. Its website, launched in 2006, is run by The Sunshine Press. Within a year of its launch, the site claimed its database had grown to more than 1.2 million documents. The organization has described itself as having been founded by Chinese dissidents, as well as journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists from the United States, Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa.

WikiLeaks was originally launched as a user-editable wiki site, but has progressively moved towards a more traditional publication model, and no longer accepts either user comments or edits. The site is available on multiple servers and different domain names following a number of denial-of-service attacks and its severance from different Domain Name System (DNS) providers.

WikiLeaks has no official headquarters. The expenses per year are about €200,000, mainly for servers and bureaucracy, but would reach €600,000 if work currently done by volunteers were paid for. WikiLeaks does not pay for lawyers, as hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal support have been donated by media organizations such as the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Its only revenue stream is donations, but WikiLeaks is planning to add an auction model to sell early access to documents.

Interesting facts:

1. On eBay, there is an average of $680 worth of transactions each second.
2. "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
3. The world's first computer, called the Z1, was invented by Konrad Zuse in 1936. His next invention, the Z2 was finished in 1939 and was the first fully functioning electro-mechanical computer.
4. The first computer mouse was invented by Doug Engelbart in around 1964 and was made of wood.
5. Domain names are being registered at a rate of more than one million names every month.
6. There are approximately 1.06 billion instant messaging accounts worldwide.
7. The first banner advertising was used in 1994.
8. E-mail has been around longer than the World Wide Web.
9. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute, less than half the normal rate of 20.
10. One of every 8 married couples in the US last year met online.
11. The average 21 year old has spent 5,000 hours playing video games, has exchanged 250,000 e-mails, instant and text messages and has spent 10,000 hours on the mobile phone.
12. By the year 2012 there will be approximately 17 billion devices connected to the Internet.
13. MySpace reports over 110 million registered users. Were it a country, it would be the tenth largest, just behind Mexico.
14. While it took the radio 38 years, and the television a short 13 years, it took the World Wide Web only 4 years to reach 50 million users.
15. There are approximately 1,319,872,109 people on the Internet.
16. Bill Gates' house was designed using a Macintosh computer.
17. The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com.
18. Another name for a Microsoft Windows tutorial is 'Crash Course'!

Writing for Business:

The purpose of business writing is to convey information to someone else or to request information from them. To be effective writing for business, you must be complete, concise, and accurate. Your text should be written in such a way that the reader will be able to easily understand what you are telling or asking them.
A lot of writing for business is sloppy, poorly written, disorganized, littered with jargon, and incomplete. Often it is either too long or too short. All these attributes contribute to ineffective business writing.
Whether you are writing a sales proposal, an email to your department, or an instruction manual for a software package, there are certain steps you need to follow to create effective business writing. You need to:
1. organize your material
2. consider your audience
3. write
4. proofread
5. and edit your text.
The emphasis on each step may vary, depending on what you are writing, but the steps will be the same.

MDM:

Master data management (MDM) is a comprehensive method of enabling an enterprise to link all of its critical data to one file, called a master file, that provides a common point of reference. For MDM to function at its best, all personnel and departments must be taught how data is to be formatted, stored and accessed.
In computing, master data management (MDM) comprises a set of processes and tools that consistently defines and manages the non-transactional data entities of an organization (which may include reference data). MDM has the objective of providing processes for collecting, aggregating, matching, consolidating, quality-assuring, persisting and distributing such data throughout an organization to ensure consistency and control in the ongoing maintenance and application use of this information.

Paper Battery:

A paper battery is a battery engineered to use a spacer formed largely of cellulose (the major constituent of paper).
This technology can also be used in supercapacitors. It incorporates nanoscale structures to act as high surface-area electrodes to improve the conduction of electricity.
Development
The creation of this unique nanocomposite paper drew from a diverse pool of disciplines, requiring expertise in materials science, energy storage, and chemistry. In August 2007, a research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (led by Drs. Robert Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer; Pulickel M. Ajayan, professor of materials science and engineering; and Omkaram Nalamasu, professor of chemistry with a joint appointment in materials science and engineering) developed the paper battery. Senior research specialist Victor Pushparaj, along with postdoctoral research associates Shaijumon M. Manikoth, Ashavani Kumar, and Saravanababu Murugesan, were co-authors and lead researchers of the project. Other co-authors include research associate Lijie Ci and Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center Laboratory Manager Robert Vajtai.
This cellulose based spacer is compatible with many possible electrolytes. Researchers used ionic liquid, essentially a liquid salt, as the battery’s electrolyte, as well as naturally occurring electrolytes such as human sweat, blood, and urine.
Ionic liquid, which contains no water, would mean that there’s nothing in the batteries to freeze or evaporate, potentially allowing operation in extreme temperatures.
Naturally occurring electrolytes might allow more biocompatible batteries. According to Pushparaj “It’s a way to power a small device such as a pacemaker without introducing any harsh chemicals – such as the kind that are typically found in batteries — into the body.”
Durability
The spacer is an integrated combination of spacer, and electrodes. “It’s essentially a regular piece of paper, but it’s made in a very intelligent way,” said Linhardt, “We’re not putting pieces together — it’s a single, integrated device,” he said. “The components are molecularly attached to each other: the carbon nanotube print is embedded in the paper, and the electrolyte is soaked into the paper. The end result is a device that looks, feels, and weighs the same as paper.”
Uses
The paper-like quality of the battery combined with the structure of the nanotubes embedded within gives them their light weight and low cost, making them attractive for portable electronics, aircraft, automobiles, and toys (such as model aircraft), while their ability to use electrolytes in blood make them potentially useful for medical devices such as pacemakers. The medical uses are particularly attractive because they do not contain any toxic materials and can be biodegradable; a major drawback of chemical cells. However, Professor Sperling cautions that commercial applications may be a long way away, because nanotubes are still relatively expensive to fabricate. Currently they are making devices a few inches in size. In order to be commercially viable, they would like to be able to make them newspaper size; a size which, taken all together, would be powerful enough to power a car.

Window 7 Shortcuts:

Taskbar Modifiers
Shift+ClickOpen a new instance of the program
Ctrl+ClickCycle between windows in a group
Middle ClickOpen a new instance of the program
Ctrl+Shift+ClickOpen a new instance of the program as Administrator
Shift+Right-ClickShow window menu
Managing Windows
Alt+F4Close the active window
Alt+TabSwitch to previous active window
Alt+EscCycle through all open windows
Win+TabFlip 3D [more info]
Ctrl+Win+TabPersistent Flip 3D
Win+TCycle through applications on taskbar (showing its live preview)
Win+MMinimize all open windows
Win+Shift+MUndo all window minimization
Win+DToggle showing the desktop
Win+↑Maximize the current window
Win+↓If the current window is maximized, restore it; if the current window is restored, minimize it
Win+←Dock the current window to the left half of the screen
*If it is already docked left, it is moved to the right half of the screen
*If it is already docked right, it is restored to its original size
Win+→Dock the current window to the right half of the screen
*If it is already docked right, it is moved to the left half of the screen
*If it is already docked left, it is restored to its original size
Win+Shift+←Move current window to the left monitor (with dual monitors)
Win+Shift+→Move current window to the right monitor (with dual monitors)
Win+HomeMinimize all but the current window
Win+SpacePeek at the desktop
Win+[Plus sign]Zoom in
Win+[Minus sign]Zoom out
Starting Programs
Win+1Open the first program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+2Open the second program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+nOpen the nth program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+UOpen the ease of access center
Win+FOpen the search window
Win+XOpen the Mobility Center
Win+EOpen Explorer
Win+ROpen the Run window [more info]
Win+BMove focus to notification tray (the right-most portion of the taskbar)
Win+POpen the projection menu (generally used for laptops connected to projectors)
Win+PauseOpen the System Properties portion from the Control Panel
Ctrl+Shift+EscOpen Windows Task Manager
Logging In And Out
While the below shortcuts seem unwieldy because of their length, they're quite easy to remember once you try them out a few times.
Win, →, EnterShutdown
Win, →, →, RRestart
Win, →, →, SSleep
Win, →, →, WSwitch Users
Win+LLocks computer
Viewing Folders With Explorer
Alt+←Go back
Alt+→Go forward
Alt+↑Go up a directory
Alt+DMove focus to address bar
Alt+D, TabMove focus to search bar
Alt+EnterOpen the Properties window of the current selection
Ctrl+MousewheelChange the view type (extra large, small, list view, detail, etc.)
Alt+PShow/hide the preview pane

Ubiquitous Computing:

Also known as pervasive computing, it describes a new mode of interaction in which computers leave the confines of our desks and laps to become partly embedded in our surroundings, allowing people to interact with many types of computer-generated media without using a formal computer.
Nokia's Ubice is one such notion; another recent exponent of ubiquitous technology was Microsoft, with its LightSpace system. This turns surfaces in a meeting room or lecture hall into a display for projected documents, photos or video. Presenters can even "pick up" a virtual item from one display and move it to another.

What is a 3G service:

Definition of 3G:
3G is the third generation of wireless technologies. It comes with enhancements over previous wireless technologies, like high-speed transmission, advanced multimedia access and global roaming. 3G is mostly used with mobile phones and handsets as a means to connect the phone to the Internet or other IP networks in order to make voice and video calls, to download and upload data and to surf the net.
How is 3G Better?:
3G has the following enhancements over 2.5G and previous networks:
• Several times higher data speed;
• Enhanced audio and video streaming;
• Video-conferencing support;
• Web and WAP browsing at higher speeds;
• IPTV (TV through the Internet) support.
3G Technical Specifications:
The transfer rate for 3G networks is between 128 and 144 kbps (kilobits per second) for devices that are moving fast and 384 kbps for slow ones(like for pedestrians). For fixed wireless LANs, the speed goes beyond 2 Mbps.
3G is a set of technologies and standards that include W-CDMA, WLAN and cellular radio, among others.
3G follows a pattern of G's that started in the early 1990's by the ITU. The pattern is actually a wireless initiative called the IMT-2000 (International Mobile Communications 2000). 3G therefore comes just after 2G and 2.5G, the second generation technologies. 2G technologies include, among others, the Global System for Mobile (GSM) - the famous mobile phone technology we use today. 2.5G brings standards that are midway between 2G and 3G, including the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) etc.
What is Required for Using 3G?:
The first thing you require is a device (e.g. a mobile phone) that is 3G compatible. This is where the name 3G phone comes from - a phone that has 3G functionality; nothing to do with the number of cameras or the memory it has. An example is the iPhone 3G.
3G phones commonly have two cameras since the technology allows the user to have video calls, for which a user-facing camera is required for capturing him/her.
Unlike with Wi-Fi which you can get for free in hotspots, you need to be subscribed to a service provider to get 3G network connectivity. We often call this kind of service a data plan or network plan.
Your device is connected to the 3G network through its SIM card (in the case of a mobile phone) or its 3G data card (which can be of different types: USB, PCMCIA etc.), which are both generally provided/sold by the service provider. Through that, you get connected to the Internet whenever you are within a 3G network. Even if you are not in one, you can still use 2G or 2.5G services provided by the service provider.

3G and Voice:
Wireless technologies are a way for mobile users to make free or cheap calls worldwide and save a lot of money due to the latest telephony applications and services. 3G networks have the advantage of being available on the move, unlike Wi-Fi, which is limited to a few meters around the emitting router. So, a user with a 3G phone and a 3G data plan is well-equipped for making free mobile calls. She will only have to download one of the free applications and install on her mobile phone and start making calls.

Think about your carbon footprint:

Did you know that when you buy flights with certain airlines you have to pay a bit more to offset your carbon footprint? Or perhaps you've read about big pop groups who plant forests of trees every time they do a tour, again, to offset their carbon footprint? But what exactly is a carbon footprint, how is it measured and where did it come from?

Originally a footprint was exactly what you might imagine - the print made by a foot. In the sixties, space travel transformed the word, using it to mean the landing area for a spacecraft and it has continued to be common in technical circles, with people talking about the footprint of computers (that's the space they take up on a desk), printers and many other such gadgets. Small footprints are considered to be a positive thing, large ones are generally bad.

Everybody has a carbon footprint - it's the amount of carbon dioxide we produce with any action or activity. As carbon dioxide contributes to 'greenhouse gases', our carbon footprints have a direct impact on the environment. You can estimate your carbon footprint on any number of popular websites: if it's small, then you're probably leading a relatively green lifestyle. But what happens if it's big?

Well, the answer is that you can 'offset' it. This modern answer to the problem is for people to contribute to balancing the negative effects of their actions by using green fuels, recycling, reforestation and a number of other activities which are said to contribute to a lowering of the carbon dioxide.

So, before you print out the project plan or transcript of this entry, think about your carbon footprint. Do you really need to use that paper, the ink, the electricity...?
Below is the snapshot of www.carbonfootprint.com
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.

The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tones (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.
A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint.
1. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.
2. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf.
To calculate your carbon footprint - click here
For tips to reduce your footprint - click here

Indianisms: The way we use English:

Let us look into some of the Indianisms and see how to correct them.

The Use of ‘Only’
We are like this only
I am like your brother only
Pune is like this only

Correct Usage:
This is how we are
I am just like your brother
This is how Pune is
----------------------------------------------
The Use of ‘ing’
I am loving it
I am having a headache
I am not understanding this
I am having a BMW
Are you having a pen?

Correct Usage:
I love it
I have a headache
I don’t understand this
I have a BMW
Do you have a pen?
-------------------------------------------------
The Use of ‘too’ instead of ‘very’
The food is too good
The film was too interesting
Hritik Roshan’s dancing is too good

Correct Usage:
The food is very good
The film was very interesting
Hritik Roshan’s dancing is very good
-------------------------------------------------

The Use of redundant word ‘up’
Let’s meet up
There is always so much to cope up with

Correct Usage:
Let’s meet
There is always so much to cope with
-------------------------------------------------

Use of ‘there’
Rani is there
Birayani is there
A meeting is there today

Correct usage:
Rani is here
There is Birayani
There is a meeting today
-------------------------------------------------

Repetition of words to indicate increase in intensity
The car was going fast fast
It is very very hot
Morning morning the phone started ringing

Correct usage:
The car was going very fast
It is extremely hot
The phone started ringing early in the morning
-------------------------------------------------

The use of ‘Just’, ‘actually’ and ‘basically’ as fillers
Actually, I am from Mumbai
Basically, I am an Engineer
Just, I am telling you

Correct usage:
Originally, I am from Mumbai
I am an Engineer
I am telling you
-------------------------------------------------

PC Lock (using mouse):

Generally we have problems in pressing Alt+Ctrl+Del or Windows+L to Lock our PCs, hence it would be better if we could do that by the click of a mouse. Here's how to do it:

1. Right click an empty spot on the desktop, point to New and click Shortcut.

2. In the Create Shortcut dialog box, copy the following into the 'Type the location' of the item text box:

"rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation" remove quotes while typing.

3. Click Next.

4. In "Type a name for this shortcut", type LOCK and Click Finish

5. Now just double click on the icon, your desktop will be locked.

mCommerce:

Mobile Commerce, also known as M-Commerce or mCommerce, is the ability to conduct commerce using a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, a Personal digital assistantPDA, a smartphone, or other emerging mobile equipment such as dashtop mobile devices. Mobile Commerce has been defined as follows:
"Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic device.”
Products and Services Available:
Mobile ticketing
Tickets can be sent to mobile phones using a variety of technologies. Users are then able to use their tickets immediately, by presenting their phones at the venue.
Tickets can be booked and cancelled on the mobile device with the help of simple application downloads, or by accessing the WAP portals of various travel agents or direct service providers.
Mobile vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards
Mobile ticketing technology can also be used for the distribution of vouchers, coupons, and loyalty cards. These items are represented by a virtual token that is sent to the mobile phone. A customer presenting a mobile phone with one of these tokens at the point of sale receives the same benefits as if they had the traditional token. Stores may send coupons to customers using location based services to determine when the customer is nearby.
Content purchase and delivery
Currently, mobile content purchase and delivery mainly consists of the sale of ring-tones, wallpapers, and games for mobile phones. The convergence of mobile phones, portable audio players, and video players into a single device is increasing the purchase and delivery of full-length music tracks and video. The download speeds available with 4G networks make it possible to buy a movie on a mobile device in a couple of seconds.
Location-based services
The location of the mobile phone user is an important piece of information used during mobile commerce transactions. Knowing the location of the user allows for location based services such
• Local discount offers
• Local weather
• Tracking and monitoring of people
Information services
A wide variety of information services can be delivered to mobile phone users in much the same way as it is delivered to PCs. These services include:
• News
• Stock quotes
• Sports scores
• Financial records
• Traffic reporting
Customized traffic information, based on a user's actual travel patterns, can be sent to a mobile device. This customized data is more useful than a generic traffic-report broadcast, but was impractical before the invention of modern mobile devices due to the bandwidth requirements.
Mobile banking
Banks and other financial institutions use mobile commerce to allow their customers to access account information and make transactions, such as purchasing stocks, remitting money. This service is often referred to as Mobile Banking, or M-Banking.
Mobile brokerage
Stock market services offered via mobile devices have also become more popular and are known as Mobile Brokerage. They allow the subscriber to react to market developments in a timely fashion and irrespective of their physical location.
Auctions
Over the past three years mobile reverse auction solutions have grown in popularity. Unlike traditional auctions, the reverse auction (or low-bid auction) bills the consumer's phone each time they place a bid. Many mobile SMS commerce solutions rely on a one-time purchase or one-time subscription; however, reverse auctions offer a high return for the mobile vendor as they require the consumer to make multiple transactions over a long period of time.
Mobile Browsing
Using a mobile browser—a World Wide Web browser on a mobile device—customers can shop online without having to be at their personal computer.
Mobile Purchase
Catalog merchants can accept orders from customers electronically, via the customer's mobile device. In some cases, the merchant may even deliver the catalog electronically, rather than mailing a paper catalog to the customer. Some merchants provide mobile websites that are customized for the smaller screen and limited user interface of a mobile device.
Mobile marketing and advertising
In the context of mobile commerce, mobile marketing refers to marketing sent to mobile devices. Companies have reported that they see better response from mobile marketing campaigns than from traditional campaigns

Human Resource Management:

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. In simple words, HRM means employing people, developing their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement.
Human resources management involves several processes. Together they are supposed to achieve the above mentioned goal. These processes can be performed in an HR department, but some tasks can also be outsourced or performed by line-managers or other departments. When effectively integrated they provide significant economic benefit to the company.
• Workforce planning
• Recruitment (sometimes separated into attraction and selection)
• Induction, Orientation and Onboarding
• Skills management
• Training and development
• Personnel administration
• Compensation in wage or salary
• Time management
• Travel management (sometimes assigned to accounting rather than HRM)
• Payroll (sometimes assigned to accounting rather than HRM)
• Employee benefits administration
• Personnel cost planning
• Performance appraisal
• Labor relations

Think Win! – Win! Act Win! – Win!:

There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain. He was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the economy. His reputation had spread as far as Taxila in the North and Kanchi in the South. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable - gold or silver?" "Gold," said the son. "That is correct. Why is it then that the village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of gold or silver? He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the village headman carried this impression. "Every day on my way to school, the village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He laughs, the elders cheer, and everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school. This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold or silver."

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked the silver coin. "Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked. In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the mathematician’s son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

The bottom line is...
Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it. That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means allowing others to win in one arena of the game, while we win in the other arena of the game. We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not.

Content-Recognition:

You're in line for a movie when a great song plays over the sound system. Although you like the song, you have no idea what it's called or who sings it. You pull out your cell phone, dial a number and hold the phone toward the speakers. In a few seconds, you receive a text message with the name of the song, the artist's name and even a link you can follow to buy a copy.
The service you called uses content-recognition software to identify the song. These programs are helpful if you want to learn about a song playing nearby. They can also help to curb copyright infringement, which is a huge issue for independent artists and corporations alike.
In order to ensure that content-recognition software identifies songs no matter what format they're in, programmers concentrate on only analyzing sounds that are within the human range of hearing, just like MP3 files. One of the reasons MP3 files are relatively small is that only the sounds within human hearing are encoded -- everything else is ignored. Content-recognition software doesn't rely on the full range of sounds that might be present in the original recording because it might then overlook MP3 versions of the audio track.

Peer-to-peer networks, file-sharing services and heavy hitters like YouTube provide people with lots of opportunity to access content without paying for it. Until recently, companies had to rely on a human being to detect copyright violations and then take action. Sites like YouTube normally count on users to report inappropriate material, but some don't consider clips that violate copyright law to be inappropriate. At the moment, most companies have to rely on employees to uncover proprietary video footage and log a report. It's a tedious, inefficient process that may soon become unnecessary thanks to content-recognition software.

Human Capital Management:

In recent years there has been a dramatic shift in the way labor is pooled across the globe. The influences of technology and growth have effectively caused industry leaders to have to change their focus from the brute force of labor to the actual quality of the workers available throughout the world. This has produced a shift in tactics for those who manage Human Resources. Instead of gathering up workers in a huge net and sending them off to the fields and the factories, it is now necessary to nurture the working population by educating them and developing their technological skills so that they will be able to contribute to the needs of the enterprises they work for.
It is important today that companies understand the value of increasing a laborer’s output capability by investing in, and adding worth to, his or her abilities, rather than finding a mass of laborers who are willing to work yet who are unqualified to excel in today’s highly technological business environment. Simply put, the idea is that, contrary to the old HR theory that emphasized people as the most fundamental asset to a company, Human Capital Management, or HCM is focused on the right kind of people to get the job done.
Indeed, the theory behind Human Capital Management is first and foremost the transformation of a worker into a resource that is competitive.

Useful expression for Emails:

Note: Styles which have been mentioned as ‘Semi-formal’ and ‘Business friendly’ are preferred in interaction with customers.

Function Style and Use
Address
Dear James Used with Semi-formal relationships and contexts; can we used with someone you haven’t met
Dear Mr. Mason Formal relationship and contexts; Often with people you haven’t met
Dear Mr. James Mason Very formal relationship and contexts; Used in legal notifications and letters
Dear Ms. Melissa Formal
Dear Associates Formal with Business Partners
Hi Melissa Semi-formal and Business friendly
Hi James Semi-formal and Business friendly
Hello James Semi-formal and Business friendly
Melissa For conversational threads, frequent interactions, and within teams
Mel Very familiar and casual, only with people you are very familiar with and in informal context
Jim Very familiar and casual, only with people you are very familiar with and in informal context
Hi Semi-formal but impersonal and matter-of-fact; use with more than 3 addressees
Hi Everyone/Everybody/All Semi-formal; with groups
Hi guys and gals! Very casual; only with close friends and for personal messages
Hi Ladies! Only for casual messages and between women preferably!
Signoff
Speak to you soon Informal
Looking forward to hearing from you Informal and Personal
I look forward to hear from you Informal and Personal
Kind Regards/Best Regards/Warm Regards/Wishes Semi-formal
All the best Informal
Sincerely Yours Very formal and old-fashioned (Don’t use)
Thanks Informal
Regards Semi-formal
Thanks and Regards Semi-formal
Cheers With British Colleagues and Clients
Have a nice day/Wonderful weekend Informal

Low Tire Pressure Warning:

Do you recognize the symbol here? It lights up in your instrument panel and looks like a U-shaped pictograph with treads and an exclamation point in the middle.
Do you understand what it means now?
If you guessed a low tire-pressure warning, you are right. If you didn’t recognize the symbol, that’s also understandable because one out of three drivers do not, according to Schrader, a company that makes tire pressure monitoring systems.
The warning for the TPMS lights up when one or more of your vehicle’s tires is 25% below the manufacturer’s recommended pressure. The system is now required on all vehicles starting with the 2008 model year.
The issue here seems to be that the public hasn’t been properly educated on the warning symbol, which is supposed to be “idiot proof” and understandable across a wide variety of cultures and languages. Yet 46% of drivers couldn’t figure out that the icon represents a tire and 14% thought the symbol represented another problem with the vehicle entirely, according to Schrader.
Properly inflated tires are vitally important to your safety. Low pressure will affect your braking, acceleration, stability, cornering and fuel economy. The government instituted the TPMS mandate after the Bridgestone/Firestone tire failures on the Ford Explorer in 2000, a controversy that was partly attributed to inadequately inflated tires.

Apache Subversion:

In software development, Apache Subversion (formerly called Subversion, command name svn) is a revision control system founded and sponsored in 2000 by CollabNet Inc. Developers use Subversion to maintain current and historical versions of files such as source code, web pages, and documentation. Its goal is to be a mostly-compatible successor to the widely used Concurrent Versions System (CVS).
Features:
• Commits as true atomic operations (interrupted commit operations would otherwise cause repository inconsistency or corruption).
• Renamed/copied/moved/removed files retain full revision history.
• The system maintains versioning for directories, renames, and file metadata (but not for timestamps). Users can move and/or copy entire directory-trees very quickly, while retaining full revision history.
• Versioning of symbolic links.
• Native support for binary files, with space-efficient binary-diff storage.
• Apache HTTP Server as network server, WebDAV/Delta-V for protocol. There is also an independent server process called svnserve that uses a custom protocol over TCP/IP.
• Branching and tagging as cheap operations, independent of file size (though Subversion itself does not distinguish between a tag, a branch, and a directory)
• Natively client–server, layered library design.
• Client/server protocol sends diffs in both directions.
• Costs proportional to change size, not to data size.
• Parsable output, including XML log output.
• Open source licensed — Apache License in the projected 1.7 release; prior versions use a derivative of the Apache Software License, v1.1
• Internationalized program messages.
• File locking for unmergeable files ("reserved checkouts").
• Path-based authorization.
• Language bindings for C#, PHP, Python, Perl, and Java.
• Full MIME support - users can view or change the MIME type of each file, with the software knowing which MIME types can have their differences from previous versions shown.

Top 10 Qualities of a Perfect Programmer:

Every quality of a perfect programmer has a range depending on the specific problem and context. There is no absolutely perfect programmer for all the problems. And the perfect programmer for particular problem should have,
1. Intellect- can understand the problem, translate and express ideas in clear and readable code, has analytical and logical mind (range: building programs for narrow well defined requests to conquering freaking complex problems in elegant way)
2. Personality - has right mixture of personal traits (detail-oriented vs. creative, flexible vs. disciplined, sociable vs. independent)
3. Expertise - knowledge and experience for solving client’s problems in the specific context with chosen technologies (range: a specialist in one technology to a veteran programmer with broad experience in different domains and platforms)
4. Motivation - cares about work, shows enthusiasm, interest and love for programming (range: from working for money only to implementing interesting ideas in spare time without pay)
5. Maturity – knows and uses sound software development principles, practices and approaches as agile, design and architecture patterns, domain-driven design, unit testing, refactoring (range: from an enthusiastic amateur to a black belt guru, who can invent new approaches on the go)
6. Pragmatism - understands what is possible, loves simplicity and avoids over-engineering; understands business goals, keeps touch with reality and focus on what should be done (range: from a spontaneous artist to a self-driven pragmatic achiever)
7. Cooperation - listens, accepts that other people could have better ideas, supports team goals without hidden agenda, shares ideas and knowledge and coach others (range: from idea challenger to a team coach)
8. Communication - effectively communicates and exchanges ideas, supports knowledge and decisions about the system with clear explanations, justifications and answers (range: from a quiet introvert to a system evangelist)
9. Potential - has professional goals, good learning skills, curiosity, adaptability and performs constant self correction (range: from person who reached his limits to the future programming star)
10. Vision - sees the big picture, understands context, trends and people, aligns actions with team and company implicit goals, contributes into building shared vision for the software system (range: from interested in programming only to entrepreneurial visionary)