Introduction

The BbyB Beacon is an electronic publication to keep the members of Bit by Bit informed about the current affairs of the company. It contains announcements of important events like training programmes, Management Review Meetings, etc.

Contact Information
 Any contributions to the newsletter in the form of technical articles, or items of general interest, are welcome. Please send them to padmabaliga@bbyb.sdc.int or padmabaliga@bbyb.com

Editorial                                                                                                                    (top)

Have you thanked someone today?

Americans celebrated November 23rd as Thanksgiving Day. Traditionally, Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is an annual one-day holiday to give thanks to God at the close of the harvest season. In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Certain kinds of food, such as stuffed turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, Indian corn and pumpkin pie are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals, and families and friends usually gather for a large meal or dinner.
Thanksgiving Day is interpreted differently by many others. On that day, they send gifts and greetings, saying "thanks" to all those who are important to them; who have played an important role in their life; who have helped them to grow professionally; and, to those who have given a few moments of their precious time to them.
What a great custom this is! How rarely we take time off to thank people who are important to us! We tend to forget our parents who have sacrificed so much for us, our siblings who have seen us through tough times, our friends who share both our good and bad moods, and all the various people who have helped us in various little ways. Surely, all that we have achieved in our lives was not on our own and at different stages of our life, many people have played an important role.
Maybe it is time we thanked all of them. Excuse me while I am off doing just that!!

Until next time
Padma

From The Management                                                                                       (top)
Dear All,  

We have just come back from a great stress buster break to Ooty. I am sure you will be seeing some snaps from that trip in this newsletter. The Taj Savoy at Ooty is a really spectacular hotel and the buffets that they put up for the meals was amazing!

I would like to re-emphasize the point that I have made before on these newsletters – i.e. Given the stressful nature of our work we need to take these constant breaks, otherwise there is the fear of burning out too soon. Also I find that these trips are great for building up team spirit.

Though these trips are not compulsory, I request all Staff (especially new Staff) to try their utmost to come on them. I am aware that sometimes there are circumstances which make attendance impossible and I fully understand Staff opting out.

Regards,
Raghu

Projects News

StaffBank                                                                                                            (top)

There were some change controls and internal changes which kept the StaffBank team busy this month. StaffBank Version 2.08.00.y was released to Southport with payrules.
Chaitanya, Raghu and Sreedhar had been to UK early this month where all of them were busy working on StaffRoster development. There were some bug fixes in StaffBank web version which were done by Sreedhar.
Change controls such as Add/Edit new AfC assignment from Payscale/assignment screen, option to make a trust Afc at the time of creation, Actual Hour report by Directorate, Nursing Return Report, a few other bug fixes and internal changes were implemented in StaffBank Client Server version.

Poornima for StaffBank

MESaLS                                                                                                                  (top)


Last month was a joyful month for Mesals. Our Project Manager Mr. Shashi and Project Leader Mr. Naveen visited UK to attend the User Group held in Glasgow in first week of November. The response to Mesals V4 was encouraging. Based on the response of the users the Mesals team is working to strengthen the application. No enhancements or change controls will be implemented till the end of January '07. Mesals testing team is currently busy writing test cases. The development team is busy fixing issues reported by the testing team.

The entire BbyB family had a nice holiday in Ooty. Looking forward to a nice and pleasant month of December.

Rajendra for MESaLS

pFACT                                                                                                                   (top)

On behalf of the pFACT Team, I take immense pleasure in congratulating Manu on the occasion of his wedding.
The long awaited stressbuster finally materialised and everyone had a great time at Ooty.

Regarding the project, the entire team was working for the next patch release.
Manu was busy writing scripts for automation while Srikanth was busy with his testing and test cases.
Manu Gupta and Laxmanan were busy writing classes for pFACT.

Sepia                                                                                                                   (top)

November was again a busy month for the Sepian. We released a patch for Dorset and Dudley and are heading towards a release for ELCMHT with their enhancements.

Sanath, Sanuj and Sunita are getting busier learning more about Sepia. Sanath and Sanuj have already started working with minor issues related to Sepia. Sunita is all set with testing.

Devaki for Sepia

Other News                                                                                                        (top)

Manu gets married!!
Manu’s marriage was solemnized in Channapatna on November 16 and 17. BbyBers turned up in large numbers for the occasion after a thrilling ride on the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor road that stretches from a point near Bannerghatta Road all the way to Mysore Road. The bride and the groom looked radiant and happy.

It’s a Boy!!
Arun and Vidya have been blessed with a baby boy born shortly before sunrise on November 28th. Arun is thrilled and happy that both mother and child are doing fine. Another welcome addition to the BbyB family!!

Anniversary Party
The long awaited Anniversary Party is just around the corner and the evening of December 9 will see us chilling around a moonlit pool with a brilliant starlit night sky above. The BbyB family has always excelled at making merry and here’s one more celebration to look forward to. We are also looking forward to meeting up with our old colleagues and friends.

Stressbuster
This year’s stress buster was spent in the lap of luxury, with long soaks in hot baths and wood fires to warm chilled hands and feet. The journey was long and tedious, but Taj Savoy was most luxurious and hospitable. Around the bonfire on Saturday evening, the newcomers to BbyB got a taste of the famous BbyB sandwich. The couples in our group sang marvellous duets by popular demand. All in all, a most relaxing stress buster in splendid environs. Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge the pictures.

Holidays                                                                                                                 (top)

We round up the holiday season with the last holiday for the year. December 25 will be a holiday and we wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and peace and joy on earth.

Training and Education                                                                                        (top)

Our second batch of trainees commenced their training on November 2nd. After the first day’s induction, Jayaraj and Shashi have been training them in SQL Server and VB.


News from Abroad                                                                                                             (top)
       
Naveen and I had travelled to UK to attend the MESaLS user group meeting held in Glasgow on 2nd and 3rd of November. A few days prior to that we had a meeting with Chris Reed, and a site visit to Huddersfield near Leeds.

When we met up with CBR (and raised some of our enhancement points) it was decided that we will not take a unilateral decision on providing them. Instead we will have users themselves decide on a "Best Practice" in their way of functioning and then mould the application to suit that. This would then decide the agenda on User Group and future course of the development.

We always have been tweaking the system to suit individual site's need and this has resulted in releasing of 22 versions in the last 15 months (with about 18 sites on V4). With this on our mind we went to User group. There, one of the main grouses of the users was that there have been 22 versions in 15 months!!!. We pointed out that this is because we are always in mode of development for virtually every site that has gone live. We also pointed out that there is no "Best Practice" which is common for all the users and every site has slightly different ways of doing the same thing. To our pleasant surprise, the users unanimously said that they will adapt to the way we develop the system instead of having it tuned to their individual needs. They also pointed out that we have been too accommodating to user requests and that we should know when to say "No" (which CBR admitted has been the practice of BHP since days of SAPPS, "Please the users"). This pleasing attitude has resulted in some of the bugs escaping the tests both here and at BHP. All that users want is a relatively bug free system and they are happy to have only 2 releases in a year.

Users had already heard about the slowness of the system in Huddersfield and were raising some concerns about it. Luckily, we had spent the previous 2 days testing the connection speed in Huddersfield store which was very poor indeed. Two users from Huddersfield, but using a different network were very very happy with system as far as the speed was concerned (in fact it was better than from BHP to hosted server). We were able to bring this point across to users as well (which helped potential new users like Milton Keynes).

The current users are happy with the system as it stands now. The future plan of action is totally under our control now. What CBR and we have agreed is:

1. To do a complete and thorough test and have the system ready for release by late Jan 07. For this we have started the work here with Sai and team. At BHP, Ant and Roger also have started preparing their testing document. We will coordinate with them and ensure that the testing is thorough. This release will not have any enhancements, only bug fixes (Version 4.01). Currently we do not have a big bug list (12-14 external). This exercise is just a solid testing for our own satisfaction.

2. We will be releasing another version by end of April tentatively; it could be earlier depending on the agreed features. Hopefully this will be the last of odd version release (Ver 4.02).

3. We are migrating MESaLS to .NET technology and plan a first release on .NET platform in Nov 2007 (Ver 4.03). For this we plan to start the groundwork as soon as possible.

4. CBR is scheduled to visit us in Jan 07 as a pre-cursor for the Jan 07 release.

Well, that sums it up. Other than this, we were able to go to a wild life park and have a day out in Cardiff, walking around Caerphilly Castle.


Shashidhar




New Recruits                                                                                                       (top)

This time, we have eight trainee programmers who joined us on November 2nd.

Dilna Antony Dilna Antony completed her MCA from Anna University, Tamil Nadu, in 2006. Her interests include reading and listening to music.

Jomon Thomas Jomon Thomas completed his MCA in 2002 from C.E.D.T.I Calicut. After having worked in Calicut for some time, he decided to move to Bangalore. Jomon is a great sportsman and plays football, cricket and badminton.

M Phani Prakash M Phani Prakash completed his MCA in 2004 from DLR PG College, Andhra University. Phani chills out with the two all-time favourite M’s – movies and music.

Preetha Das Preetha Das completed her MCA in 2004 from KSR College of Arts and Science, Erode, Tamil Nadu. Preetha says she enjoys unwinding with a good book and music in the background.

Raghavendra N. Raghavendra N. is a B.E in Information Science from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum and passed out in 2006. His sister, Poornima, is a part of our Testing team. His hobbies include reading and listening to music.

K.R. Ramasamy K.R. Ramasamy did his M.Sc (Software Systems) from Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and passed out in 2006. Ram’s twin brother, Lakshman joined us a few months ago. His interests include playing cricket and browsing the net.

Sabin V Jacob Sabin V Jacob is an MCA from T John College Bangalore and passed out in 2006. Sabin enjoys swimming and a game of football and also loves to read.

Sephali Suchismitha Sahoo Sephali Suchismitha Sahoo is a B.E. in Information Technology from Utkal University, Orissa. She passed out in 2005. Sephali loves to relax with a good movie, or alternately, music.

Colleagues Cognizant                                                                                         (top)

This month, in the limelight, we have Nisha Purushothaman and Rajkumar Bheigajit Singh. Rakumar who is from Manipur, has made us more aware of the beauty of North Eastern India and Nisha, who is from Kerala, is always only too happy to wax eloquent about her beautiful state.

Rajkumar joined BbyB on 6th June, 2005 and has worked with both the MESaLS and pFACT projects. Very polite by nature, he loves to claim royal descent with a straight face and a twinkle in his eyes.

Tell us about your work.
Exciting, challenging and interesting

If you hadn't become a programmer, what would you have been?
I would have become a teacher.

How different is Bangalore from your hometown?
Bangalore goes with the modern world (it’s a hi-tech place) and my hometown with natural beauty.

Tell us about your most memorable experience in Bangalore.
It was the day when I went to LalBagh for the first time. I had heard about this place but I never thought that such a place could be found in Bangalore. That day I stayed there the whole day just looking at all the beauty of LalBagh.

How has been your experience of working on two different projects?
Changing one’s project is just like taking birth in a new home with a new father where we have to start everything from scratch. It was difficult but when you have someone like Jayaraj and Naveen, then everything becomes easy. Indeed I can say that I am very lucky to have met both in my work because they will explain to you until you say, “I Understand”. And, moreover, both the families (projects) have a lot of nice people.

How do you manage to communicate with Kannadigas in Bangalore?
Kannadigas know English and Hindi very well. So it is not very difficult to communicate.

If we were to plan a trip to Manipur, which places would you recommend that we see?
I would recommend that you go to Sendra (a tourist spot) where you can have a view of the Loktak Lake, the largest fresh water lake in North-east, and Keibul Lamjao (the floating garden in this lake). In this floating garden you will find lots of beautiful flowers and an enchanting species of a deer called Sangai which is found only here and nowhere else in the whole world. The sight of all this will make anyone speechless.

Finally, name the woman you admire the most and tell us why.
My mother - whoever I am or whatever I am today, it is all due to her. Her endless love, her way of teaching about life have made me the man I am now. Indeed, even if I give her the whole world I will still be indebted to her. She is my second God.

Nisha joined BbyB on March 1st, 2004. Her work as a graphic designer requires her to interact with all the projects. With her ready smile and helpful nature, she is a popular figure everywhere.

Tell us about your work.
Designing graphics for all the projects, web site designing and maintenance, and photography.

If you hadn’t become a graphic designer, what would you have been?
A full time photographer but I am sure I would have been doing some sort of designing - may be jewellery or fashion.

You are also the unofficial photographer at BbyB. Which do you like better? And why?
I like doing both, I really can’t say which one I like better.

How different is Bangalore from your hometown?
Bangalore is much more developed than Kerala, with more opportunities, night life and a global culture.

What made you decide to migrate to Bangalore?
I moved primarily for my career. Then, of course, I have always liked to lead an independent life at least for a period of time.

Everybody admires your style of dressing. How about some tips on wardrobe selection?
Thanks for the compliment. Wear things with which you are comfortable, that’s what I do.

Kerala is known as God’s Own Country. Which are your favourite places in Kerala?
I like all the beaches, especially Kovalam Beach. The white sands and the blue water are the main attraction.

Name the man you admire the most and tell us why.
I can name many people whom I know of through books. But I think it’s better to talk about some one whom I know personally. I admire Raghu Shenoy for his will power and for what he has achieved. I admire him for having overcome all kinds of obstacles.

Finally, how do you like to spend your weekends?
I love to be with my near and dear ones, definitely not in front of the TV. A long evening walk, then a coffee in some Coffee Day outlet and dinner in some good restaurant (I hate COOKING).

Weekend Jaunts                                                                                                  (top)
   

A fascinating oasis in Kolar
(contributed by Prathibha, with help from Google)

Seeped in legends of the goddess Ganga and surrounded by a mesmerising thicket of eucalyptus trees, the fresh water spring at Antharagange beckons weekend travellers.

Despite its reputation for being a dry belt of rocky hills, Kolar district does have some interesting picnic spots and Antharagange is one of them. Located close to the town of Kolar, about four km from the highway, this spot can be reached if you take NH 4 towards Kolar and follow a narrow trail to the left before the bypass road.

As you park the vehicle and climb up the steps on the hillock winding your way through a grove of eucalyptus, you may forget that you are in Kolar district. The freshness of the air and the mesmerising greenery lead you
to the top of this densely wooded hillock to find a beautiful spring of fresh water. This is Antharagange.

Legend goes that sage Muchukunda undertook penance here. As he was too old to walk around, the goddess Ganga appeared as a spring to enable him to conduct the rituals. The hill has thus acquired the name of Muchukunda Giri. Water from the perennial spring gets collected in a tank and flows through a channel to wash the feet of an idol of Vishnu before springing out of the mouth of a small stone bull. The bull is covered by a small mantapa and there is a square tank below that contains a small shrine for Ganapathy surrounded by water.

Antharagange also has a deer park maintained by the forest department. A few sambars and spotted deer graze here. The wire fence around is no barrier for the hordes of monkeys loitering inside. It is best to watch out for them lest they grab a bag or packet, especially from children.

The place with a number of interesting boulders beckons rock climbers. There is a good opportunity for trekkers too. Climbing up about four km beyond the spring you reach the small village of Theruhalli. The temple of Gangadhareshwara here has an attractive doorway with fine figures etched on doors and panels. To the northern side of the temple is a cave called Pandavara Hajara and on a boulder stands a small mantapa with an image of Nandi.

A further trek of two km to the west takes you to another village called Paparajanahathi. The speciality here is a stone umbrella that has been carved out of a single stone in front of the Shiva temple. The village is also known for the Baba Hazrat Khaja Usman Shawali Dargah, visited by one and all. Those not interested in walking can reach these places by road. On the way back you can have a good view of the entire range of hills of Kolar better known as Shathashringa Parvatha with the highest point rising to 4026 feet. Though these are interesting spots, the upkeep and maintenance seems far from satisfactory. If only the concerned authorities take more interest to develop the place, Antharagange and its surroundings can become very popular tourists destinations.

TRAVEL TIPS

*Activity: Hill climbing; rapelling, camping; campfire; cave exploration
*Getting there: Drive on NH 4 towards Kolar and turn left near Bypass Road. Autorickshaws can be hired from Kolar if you travel by bus.
*Food and Water: Spring water at Antharagange is sweet and potable. Food has to be carried
*Accommodation: Basic hotels at Kolar.
*Suggestion: Though the place is not very clean, you can do your little bit by not littering.

Birthdays                                                                                                             (top)

Three of us will be celebrating a birthday this month and BbyB Beacon wishes them the very best and a wonderful year ahead.

Divya's Birthday Snaps

Raju's Birthday Snaps