Oh, I loved this website !!

Religiously heeding the advise that each job requires it's own customized resume I was working on tweaking mine to suit an opening for a highly regarded communication infrastructure vendor. Wanting to give it a personalized touch I decided to include some high profile customers of the particular vendor.

Obviously I turned to google and tried the search string " ?vendor name? GSM customers". After wading through some initial results I saw this obvious title "Wireless infrastructure customers of ?vendor name?" on page 2. Any self respecting google-ist knows that such pretty looking results are usually grossly low yield! Well, I was on a search mission and one of course cannot presume in such situations. So I clicked...

http://www.mobileisgood.com/

...and hit a veritable treasure trove of everything mobile!

The wise say a picture is worth a thousand words, and who was I to disprove it? The home page had a picture, no less a pie chart showing the Handset market share for 3rd quarter, 2008! A stickler for statistics and data I could hardly believe my eyes at stumbling upon this information available for free!

The left side provided links to "Infrastructure Vendors", "Service Providers", "Phones" and much more. 11 vendors, 1149 service providers and 104 phone manufacturers; they are all there from over the world.

Each vendor has a list of service providers using it's equipment. Each phone manufacturer has an alphabetic listing of all it's phones. The phones are also differentiated based on access technologies like GSM or CDMA or VoIP. Motorola and Nokia of course have the longest pull-down menus :) However one bit that I missed was the information to relate a service provider back to it's vendors.

I am always a fan of the mobile telephony industry. With mobileisgood.com mobile does indeed feel good :-)

Happy surfing!

Chandrayaan-1 : what happened on 14-Nov-2008?

So, the Chandrayaan-1 achieved it's lunar orbit on 12-Nov, the Moon Impact Probe (crash) landed on 14-Nov and during it's short lifespan of 25 minutes beamed back valuable information to the mother ship! (Trust Pallava Bagla to use the word mothership!! :-) But now, what next?

When I turned to my trusted RSS feeds there were several reports from all over the world about India's great success.

BBC's article reporting the landing of the MIP made it to the most popular stories from South Asia. The news included one of the early pictures of the lunar surface that the MIP during it's descent; in fact one of the two pictures that ISRO had published a day earlier. The New York Times covered it as major news under it's World briefing about Asia section.
Pakistan too was watching the progress of Chandrayaan-1, as is apparent from this artice in The News, a daily to which I have subscribed.

Doing a back search on google.com for 14-Nov-2008 to today, I noticed 2350 hits by google news for the MIP. America launched Endeavour on the same day; it received 4273 hits. These may seem just bits of statistics but when appended with the information that several results for the MIP were in languages other than English, it shows how widespread the interest in the Chandrayaan-1 is.

This blog on Discover Magazine caught my eye with it's post about the two spacecrafts that were in the news that day Chandrayaan-1 and the Shuttle. As did this article in The Telegraph with it's quaint headline Breakneck suicide dive gifts India a ‘beautiful’ moon :-)

The next exciting event to look forward to will be the first 3-D picture of the Moon’s terrain, taken by the TMC on board Chandrayaan. They are expected to be processed on 17-Nov-2008. Happy viewing!

Chndrayaan-1 .. 14-Nov-2008 - MIP lands!!

10:35 AM EST: There it is !! The news I was anxiously waiting to read is finally out.

IBN live has reported that the 35-kilo MIP crash-landed on the lunar surface at around 8:30pm IST and has already started sending signals to the satellite.
India Today too has posted a quick update mentioning India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 on Friday successfully landed its Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on the moon's surface.

Nothing else yet. ISRO hasn't yet updated it's PR website.

Here is something to read about the MIP

11:50 AM EST - More news pouring out now; all of them announcing India's touchdown on the moon. Still no ISRO press release on the WWW! PTI news has a succinct piece, no fanfare only the neat precise news. Times of India has reported the event here. Of course, both have snatched the fact that today, 14-Nov, is also the birthday of India's first Prime Minister.

I'd rather say this is a wonderful gift to all Indian kids on Children's Day !! :-)

Chandrayaan-1 ...after the inital success

After the past few days filled with tensed expectations and crossed fingers when Chandrayaan-1 reached it's final orbit yesterday it left a sudden void in me on the earth. The practice of looking into my RSS feeds every morning before getting out of bed had started to become a pleasant habit. Today not expecting any deadline being met made the morning a tad dull.

Of course as the day is drawing to an end here on the eastern coast of USA the anticipation starts to build once again. Tomorrow is 14-Nov, possibly the day when the MIP could be launched.

The early editions are already abuzz with how the Tricolor has a date with the moon tonight. The pulse quickens at the mere thought! A wave of envy sweeps through me at the thought of all the engineers who worked this project relentlessly over the past several years. It's fitting that they all be recognized for this unreproducible feat.

The WWW has already started chattering about would-be Chandrayaan-II in 2012. Will it have the same coverage and bated breath as the first attempt did. Or will the natural human instinct bear contempt for the then more familiar phenomenon. As always, only time will tell.

Going back over the past few days there were quite some discussions about whether the costs incurred for Chandrayaan-1 are justified for India; a country where the obvious poverty is horrifying, the illiteracy is appalling and terrorism and corruption have crippled most of the remaining social fiber. What justifies that such glorified attempts be made to reach the moon?

This can easily be countered by asking what justifies that the present condition of the country be used an excuse to curb the quest for progress and knowledge? Shouldn't the very conditions that seem to appear as hurdles in fact be the catalysts for development? How otherwise shall India get the self-confidence to be sure of what she does. Not doing anything is the worst thing India can do. Taking care of its populace does not mean not attempting progress. I find it difficult to accept that there could be anyone among the poor of India who would deride this achievement as a wasteful attempt. As Indians, be what may, we do have that sense of patriotism to uphold the greatness of our motherland's achievements. While we all want and need the basic necessities of life we are not ones to cry foul when told that our country has attempted something that we couldn’t have imagined few generations ago.

This spirit of progress is what keeps up our hope and faith.

Here let me mention an article I found on IBN live few days ago. It discussed the apparent wastefulness of the Chandrayaan-1 mission.

In reading it though a new picture emerged of the entire idea of "wastefulness" :-) If we pause to consider that the entire mission cost only a mere fraction of what a single plane costs, can we dare imagine the implications it will have on the total economics of space study! I read here Chandrayaan-1 cost just a third of the Chinese Chang'e-1 and around a sixth of the Japanese Selene last year. Only three per cent of total budget of ISRO for three years has been used for this first successful attempt!

If ISRO can leverage on it's reduced cost methods even the sky would not hold any imit : -) ISRO (and India) has made a mark for itself in the commercial arena of space exploration. Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of Department of Space already has several commercial space services. As per this article ISRO earned more than $3 million last year selling its commercial services. If they play the turf well there is a market of almost $200 million waiting to be captured.
Of course, this also means the undivided support from the average Indian. After all the Rs.900 crore revenue Antrix earned is no mean feat!

To end, here is an editorial from The Hindu that makes for some fine introspective reading.

Job hunt blackholes

As part of my continuing job search several questions have haunted me. Uppermost being of resumes going down the black hole called careers@compay.com or hr@company.com or jobs@company.com. There is no guarantee that my toiled after resume will ever be seen by a human eye.

While I pondered the effect of this sci-fi phenomenon on my career well being I realized I wasn't the only one to be affected by it. At a career related Q&A series run by NYT I came across this question of black holes. Some also raised the relevance of MBAs.

Here are some questions I felt relevant to my present condition:

Q: It seems that when I send out résumés, I’m sending them into a black hole. Especially, since these days, there isn’t a human resources person to speak to. It’s all done over the Internet. My feeling is that one’s résumé doesn’t get out of the slush pile unless someone calls on your behalf. Am I wasting my time sending out résumés if I don’t know anyone to call for me at a particular company?


Q: I am in my late 20s and was just laid off from my job. I have a pretty solid résumé with Big Four management consulting experience that usually lands me a “first” interview. I would like to think I’m a good interviewer, but I’ve found that over the past few months I am not getting any offers. I tend to get interviews that require more experience than I actually have and also require an M.B.A., even though I don’t have one. Then, once I get into the interview, I think people see me as young and inexperienced and from a state school in Ohio. How can I differentiate to land a second interview? Also, is an M.B.A. absolutely necessary in today’s marketplace? It seems to be trending this way.


Q: I worked for 15 years in the IT industry, being the last 8 of those mostly in project management and presales. I was laid off, went back to school to get my M.B.A., and now nobody seems to be interested in my resume. I thought my M.B.A. would give me a broader view and would be able to switch careers or at least focus on those fields I am more attracted to. However, the more time I spend on the bench the harder it seems to be to get an interview.


These and many other questions have been answered by Bettina Seidman, an experienced career management coach and outplacement consultant. NY Times has run the Q&S as a 3-part series.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/answers-about-changing-careers-in-new-york/

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/answers-about-changing-careers-in-new-york-part-2/

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/answers-about-changing-careers-in-new-york-part-3/

Chandrayaan-1 : 12-Nov-2008, it's home!

ISRO finally beat everyone to the finish line! The final and most important news was out there on the ISRO press release before any news papers could claim it as _breaking news_.

Quoting from the ISRO PR note:

Today, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has successfully reached its intended operational orbit at a height of about 100 km from the lunar surface.

With this, the carefully planned complex sequence of operations to carry Chandrayaan-1 from its initial Earth orbit to its intended operational lunar orbit with the use of its liquid engine has been successfully completed.

It is intended to conduct chemical, mineralogical and photo geological mapping of the moon with Chandrayaan-1’s 11 scientific instruments (payloads). Two of those 11 payloads – Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) and Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) – have already been successfully switched ON. TMC has successfully taken the pictures of Earth and moon.

Now we await the launching of the MIP, sometime between 14 & 15 Nov.

Times of India mentioned this rather sordidly as "the final resting orbit", which ominously makes it sound like the end rather than the start to new adventures!

It's too surreal to believe; but better get used to this feeling quickly :-)


PS: The entire chronology is here at http://chandan.name/Chandrayaan-1.htm

Chandrayaan-1 : 11-Nov-2008

Now that the orbits have reduced drastically, so also has the revolution time. I presume this allows quicker changes to reduce the orbit further.

10:43 am EST 11-Nov-2008: Just now my RSS feeds threw up an update fromPTI news mentioning yet another orbit reduction manoeuvre at 18:30 IST for 31 seconds. Quoting from the article :

"The current orbit of Chandrayaan-1 is 255.3 km (the farthest distance from the moon) X 101.3 km (nearest distance to the moon). The orbital period is 2.09 hours", ISRO spokesperson S Satish told PTI.

This makes it the 3rd delta since 8-Nov when Chandrayaan-1 entered the Lunar Orbit. Quick traceback:

08-Nov: Orbital insertion - @ 16:51 - 504 x 7502 km - 11 hours to go round the moon once
09-Nov: 1st orbit reduction - @8:03pm - 200 x 7502 km - 10.30 hours to circle the moon once
10-Nov: 2nd orbit reduction - @9.58pm - 187 x 255 km - 2.16 to go round the Moon once
11-Nov: 3rd orbit reduction - @6:30pm - 101.3 x 255.3 km - orbital period is 2.09 hours

Will I have any finger nails remaining!

Chandrayaan-1 .. getting there inch by inch

There is a saying in Marathi that roughly translates to "drop by drop does the ocean grow". The Chandrayaan-1 it seems has started doing just that :-)

Today The Hindu reported that Chandrayaan-1 had been lowered yet more with the aposelene dropping from 7502 km to 255 km and periselene from 200 km to 187 km. This means the spacecraft has now closed in towards to moon from an orbit of 200 x 7502 km to 187 x 255 km!!

Will this be the last step to reaching the targetted 00 x 100 km? Lets wait and watch. Try as much I have not been able to get a schedule for all the maneuvers of Chandrayaan-1.

This article dated 11-Nov-2008 on The Hindu did mention two remaining stages until the desired lunar orbit is achieved. According to it today's move was supposed to attain a 200 x 200 km orbit. The third would have been the final orbit of 100 x 100 km. That does not seem the case now. However there is also mention of possible additional steps if/as needed. I'd guess the main idea being to perform the lowering in small steady precise steps.

Oh, ISRO has also released Chandrayaan-1's first picture of the moon!! Didn't I say the excitement was just beginning?!

And on a flip side trust the chaps at slashdot to always chip in with something hilarious :-)

Chandrayaan-1 : Getting nearer now

Lunar Orbit2 - 100 x 5000 km - Lunar Capture - Initial Orbit – 9-Nov-2008

- The first lunar orbit reduction was performed on 09-Nov-2008 at 8:03pm IST to lower Chandrayaan-1 closer to the surface of the moon. Now the orbit is an elliptical 200 x 7502 km around the moon.

- It seemed after the lunar orbit was achieved yesterday interest waned or the ISRO PR chaps were too busy. Only a few articles appeared on the WWW about the lowering; Sify had a detailed report (which was updated after ISRO send out its press release :-)

- The Hindu reported a day later on 10-Nov, the same day that ISRO had it's news out.

- Now I expect only one last step remains to put Chandrayaan-1 into the required orbit of 100 x 100 km. I look forward to further photos and operational data and ISRO analysis. Then begins some real excitement!

Chandrayaan-1 - 8-Nov-2008 5:15pm

At 6:45am EST my cell phone rang shrilly; it was my brother-in-law. By the time I rubbed the sleep from my eyes the phone ran once again; persistence meant this was something really important... I answered... and got he wonderful news!!

"Congratulations sweetheart!! The Chandrayaan-1 has entered the lunar orbit !! Now it's going round and round the moon!! Wake up !!"... it's very rare that he's been this excited :-)

I was jolted awake. Quickly the laptop was switched on to look for details. But none of the usual website had anything to report. My RSS feed for Chandrayaan was relatively historic news; from earlier in the day :) ISRO, PTI, TOI, Hindu, Khabrein.info.. none have anything to report.

7:14am EST : The WWW spews out the first piece of information on domain-b "Tense 30 minutes for Chandrayaan as it settles into lunar orbit" !! Times of India too has this "Chandrayaan enters tricky lunar orbit". (sic; they don't give new info; simple rehashes of older news)

7:25am EST: Finally NDTV has reported the lunar entry !! "Chandrayaan-1 successfully enters Moon orbit" - It's terse, nothing much, except the internet confirmation of the great event!

Saturday, November 08, 2008 5:25 PM (New Delhi)

India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 successfully entered moon orbit on Saturday.
With this development, India's moon mission has been declared successful.

Chandrayaan-1 successfully entered the lunar space on Tuesday after a fifth and final orbit raising manoeuvre.

It is now expected to orbit 7,500 km X 500 km elliptical around the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota on October 22.

7:32 am EST: ========== Finally the ISRO press release is out "Chandrayaan-1 Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit"

• This historic event occurred following the firing of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft’s liquid engine at 16:51 IST for a duration of 817 seconds. The highly complex ‘lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre’ was performed from Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft Control Centre of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Bangalore.

• The spacecraft is now orbiting the moon in an elliptical orbit that passes over the polar regions of the moon. The nearest point of this orbit (periselene) lies at a distance of about 504 km from the moon’s surface while the farthest point (aposelene) lies at about 7502 km. Chandrayaan-1 takes about 11 hours to go round the moon once in this orbit.

• With today’s successful manoeuvre, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to Moon. The other countries, which have sent spacecraft to Moon, are the United States, former Soviet Union, Japan and China. Besides, the European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 countries, has also sent a spacecraft to moon.

Yipppeee !!! Or like bro-in-law said "Hip Hip Hurray !!" India, I salute you !!

Chandrayaan-1 : Lunar Orbit

Quoting from the ISRO press release "The fifth and final orbit raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was successfully carried out today (November 4, 2008) morning at 04:56 am IST".

Earlier articles had mentioned 03-Nov as an important date, however no reason was given for why the date was changed by a day.

As per the article on ExpressIndia, Chandrayaan is expected to reach an apogee of 380,000 km on 08-Nov-2008 evening, when the lunar orbit insertion manoeuvres are also planned.