Before going to India, I had been asking Neeraj what I could get him from USA, and he said that if I could find the computer game, Age of Empires (AOE) the original version, then that would be great. So from a friend, I got it for him and gave it to him on his birthday.

Then that day or the next day I asked him, how was it and if he has been enjoying playing AOE. His remark was that the game is too good and very addicting. I didn’t have an idea what the game was about so I watched him play it one day. It seemed really interesting. You start off with three villagers and you have to do four main things: gather wood, gold, food, and stone. You play against another person (or if that is available then with the computer), and you start to build your civilzation as quick as possible so that you can attack your opponent (before he/she attacks you! ).

I was watching Neeraj as he was playing the hardest level and attacked his opponent in a half hour (which is amazing! ). He got me so interested in the game that when I came back to the USA, I had to install it in our new PC.

Now I am hooked on this game. My goodness. I am not as good as Neeraj (I don’t think I ever will be either! ) but the game is really interesting (only because I am horribly competitive ), and its a lot of fun. I have been playing it every day (just about) and even get tips from Neeraj on how to get better.

There you go. My confession is out, and everyone knows now what I do when I am bored.

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

This weekend is going to go by fast. This morning I woke up early to go get a video camera that my mother wants to take along to India to give to her family. Its a Panasonic with 700x Zoom but uses VHS-c tapes. I got it for < $150 so which is a pretty good deal (original price is $229). My friend Sunny was working at the store and he was saying how VHS tapes are going to be extinct soon. The only reason that my mother wanted this specific video camera was because she has tons of VHS-c tapes so we wouldn’t really need to go out and buy those.

Sunny was suggesting to get the Samsung that requires hi-8 tapes. Even though those are the same retail value as the VHS-c tapes, they must be the newer tapes in the market. He went to on say that its good to convert all of your VHS tapes to DVDs so it might be good to buy a dual VHS/DVD recorder.

But I am reluctant to buy a DVD recorder just because I have heard that DVDs are going to be extinct as well. Has anybody else heard that? I had read somewhere that Microsoft’s Bill Gates was saying that there is even a newer technology that will be coming out that will be replacing DVDs. So is there really a point to even keep them any longer?

If anybody has any insight on that, then do comment and let me know. Technology changes so fast, sometimes its hard to know what to buy and what not to buy. We are really living in the fast age.

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

Recently I have wanted to listen to Hindi music on the net while I work, but I didn’t want to choose the music and it must be non-stop. Then I was watching TV Asia on Dish Network and they were advertising about a New Jersey desi radio station. I noticed that they also had a website and guess what, I can listen to the station on the Internet! That’s great! So now I am hooked. Some of the younger DJs (they sound like ABCDs — listen from 2pm CST onwards) are really stupid, but otherwise the songs are good.

I would recommend it and here’s the link to the site.

It would have been great if I could listen to Radio Mirchi, the station that is popular in India, because it is my favorite hindi music radio station. But unfortunately, there is no place to listen to it on the Internet. Maybe they will soon come out with that too! I can only wish!

Haven’t voted yet but will head out soon. | Done as of 5.30 pm |

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

This link was irresistable. I got it from a colleague, and it was too funny. Check it out.

Its from the Conan O’Brien show and its about IT Support & India.

Watch the full clip, its about 8 mins. You can read my views below after you have seen the clip.

Big companies are moving their technical support department to India and now Americans are taking advantage of the service they are receiving. First, why they have done this? Because labor is cheap in India comparatively to USA (I know, I used to work as a 2nd level help-desk analyst during my internship days :wink:). Indians are smart as well and for American big businesses it works out great because of the time difference.

Did you look at lines and lines of cubicles in that Hyderabad office? Do you see how scrunched they are sitting? As you could believe, the turnover rate at these call centers are very high (they would be high anywhere but the conditions in the Indian offices are worse).

The quality of service they provide isn’t as good only for two reasons:

most of those working in tech support are not experienced but freshers out of college

the English isn’t as good so lack of communication between the average American vs. the Indian acting as if he/she is American.

I think that Conan was trying to make a point about seeing what’s it like to be on the other side of the tech support side, which was definitely cool, but if big businesses see this, they might want to restrategize on their tech support structure.

Key to Success from a former tech support analyst:

Just by calling yourself “Sharon” won’t fix your accent.

Big businesses need to provide benefits for these Indians in order for quality to go up. There should be more exposure to their offices and to make them feel as they are part of a corporation that cares for them. I don’t get that feeling, even within my own company who has tech support in India.

You have to understand the mentality of the average American who is calling, which I don’t seem to feel even when I call. Americans are in a hurry and they want their problem solved fast (bole toh abhi issi waqt). Americans will make chit-chat with you, but you have to be willing to do that. Most Indians that I have called have never made chit-chat with me (maybe its because they know I am Indian :roll:).

Make chit-chat with your Indian counterparts in the USA as well when they call (look @ point above :grin:). I used to be thrilled when I would get a call from an Indian when I used to be on the helpdesk.

Enjoy your job. You can’t convince the American that you enjoy it, until you show it.

Its just recently that the quality has gotten bad that people are now poking at India and its service (it started with the numerous complaints Dell got from customers due to bad service and communication of their Indian tech support group). So if Indians want to clear their bad name in tech support, they are going to need to shape up to move forward!

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

« Hide it

Current Tune: Time Kharaab Hai

Yesterday Sudhanshu (who works at my dad’s business) came to the mandir after being gone for about three months in India. Because he stays in Mumbai, he had said that he would stop over at my nani’s house and bring anything that they wanted to send. We knew that he would be coming sometime in July, so we had my didi in Mumbai get Mumma and my suits all tailored. My other didi, Pooja Didi, also got married in December, and I wanted to see their wedding video.

So my nani and mama sent the CDs and assured us that we can watch them in our DVD player or on our PC. So when today Mumma was showing me the CDs , and I tried to play them in either place but had no such luck. Then was talking to Raju Bhayia who told me that these are VCDs. Well what the heck?? What’s the freakin’ diff and why is there one?

I would think that they would play in my DVD player but it comes back with “Error”. Even the DVD player in my laptop is not reading it. Gadbad hai…