Life of a software engineer

USAID Partners with Microsoft to Unleash Lanka’s ‘Unlimited Potential’ in IT

Colombo, 22 November, (Asiantribune.com): The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is partnering with Microsoft to introduce a new training curriculum developed with the assistance of the American information technology giant for four key sectors of the Sri Lankan economy.

USAID and Microsoft are co-financing the $236,000 project, which will be implemented by InfoShare, a nonprofit firm that develops IT solutions to nonprofit development organizations. Microsoft specially tailored the worldwide curriculum, known as Unlimited Potential, to boost Sri Lanka’s agricultural, apparel, tourism, and media/journalism sectors using IT.

“The forging of such public private partnerships is a cornerstone of USAID’s program here,” said USAID/Sri Lanka Mission Director Rebecca Cohn. “USAID’s goal of working toward a more prosperous and peaceful Sri Lanka cannot be achieved without the support and collaboration with partners dedicated to improving the skills and employability of youth.”USAID Mission Director Rebecca Cohn (left) and Microsoft’s Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne sign an agreement to finance a program that will boost IT skills in four key sectors of the Sri Lankan economy. (Photo: USAID/Zack Taylor)

The ambitious program will train at least 11,000 people, and provide scholarships to 2,000 needy students, many in the North-Central and Eastern provinces, Ms. Cohn said. In partnership with Microsoft, InfoShare has already begun to train about 110 instructors to teach the courses, which will be offered through various training organizations under the auspices of the Vocational Training Authority and private sector institutions.

“So much has happened in the area of information technology in the region with tremendously positive results,” said Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne of Microsoft. “We want to take on a bigger role in helping Sri Lanka access a bigger piece of this extremely beneficial pie.”

Ms. Cohn added that Unlimited Potential represents an important step to ensure Sri Lankan firms become and remain competitive in the international marketplace by ensuring that the workforce has the necessary skills in information technology.

“Modern information and communications technologies provide some enormously powerful tools for small and medium-sized businesses,” said Anuruddha Edirisinghe of InfoShare. “This IT curriculum, tailored to the needs of the four industries, will help them realize the full potential of their workforce and at the same time increase the employability of rural youth.”

The program targets some of its services to the East and North Central provinces, where there is a compelling need to retrain and reintegrate youth who have been previously involved in activities associated with the conflict.

The program is supported in part by the USAID Global Development Alliance (GDA), which supports private-public partnerships to serve as a catalyst to mobilize the ideas, efforts, and resources of the public sector, corporate America and non-governmental organizations in support of shared objectives. “USAID will continue to use the GDA model as an important part of its development strategy in Sri Lanka,” Ms. Cohn said.

IPTV- Sri Lanka

IPTV- Sri Lanka

Think of sitting in front of the TV and getting a more interactive session without just watching what's on but being able to watch the programmes you want, at the time you want, and getting a message on the screen alerting you of any phone call or SMS.

This may sound like something from the future, but this is coming to Sri Lanka and will be here next year come February.

Sri Lanka Telecom, the leading national telecom service provider is provide to giving the consumers with the latest in television technology with IPTV. The emerging technology that enables the delivery of broadcast quality TV and on-demand entertainment services over IP networks.



Broadcasting delivery will be carried out over an ADSL line by SLT that will be providing TV services becoming the clear competitor for the satellite TV networks already in Sri Lanka.

Services will include an over and above what the cable TV providers already have with the introduction of interactive services, Voice on Demand, time-shifted TV.

The main target will be residential market providing delivery on TV with interactive , SLT's ISP Services Head of Section Irshad Deen said.

He noted that the content will include broadcast TV with sports, entertainment and light, educational and serious niche segment as well.

"This will be a paradigm shift and a giant convergence step from telco to broadcasting communication," he said.

The biggest part is the when and how way in which the customer wants to watch the TV because of interactivity it helps to bring services to be more interactive-based.

"We are in the process of selecting the right platform with a set up Master Control Room to ensure right quality," Deen explained.

Security will also be protected heavily with water marking with AES algorithm which is able to protect the content over the network, he said.

Initially SLT will be providing voice via telephone or mobile, data on broadband internet access and video through television allowing the customer to have the full use of triple play. But quadruple play which will involve all of these services along with wireless service provisions will allow customers sometime later be able to access these services while on the move.

From senior citizens to the hip youth and kids, services will be made available with Cartoon TV, video games, handset games, music download, ring tone downloads, mobile video games, news, music and radio, TV and movies, sports news will involve the focus services.

A convergence of services via one network will be the best deal that will be up on offer through this new technological advancement that will hit Colombo initially and later go to the regions next year.

This service will prove to be a win-win solution for all with an estimated US$25 billion CAPEX for IPTV related infrastructure and content by 2010 which aptly applies for vendors of this service.

Broadcasters will be able to deal with professional telco organizations, have accountability of viewer-ship, ability to offer enhanced services and increase revenue; while operators will be able to access new revenue streams, reduced churn and obtain higher valuation for wire line.

Customers will have a wider choice of reliable and accountable service providers, digital quality programming and flexibility of subscription packages in addition to new services such as interactivity, gaming, video call and VoD.

IPTV- Sri Lanka

IPTV- Sri Lanka

Think of sitting in front of the TV and getting a more interactive session without just watching what's on but being able to watch the programmes you want, at the time you want, and getting a message on the screen alerting you of any phone call or SMS.

This may sound like something from the future, but this is coming to Sri Lanka and will be here next year come February.

Sri Lanka Telecom, the leading national telecom service provider is provide to giving the consumers with the latest in television technology with IPTV. The emerging technology that enables the delivery of broadcast quality TV and on-demand entertainment services over IP networks.



Broadcasting delivery will be carried out over an ADSL line by SLT that will be providing TV services becoming the clear competitor for the satellite TV networks already in Sri Lanka.

Services will include an over and above what the cable TV providers already have with the introduction of interactive services, Voice on Demand, time-shifted TV.

The main target will be residential market providing delivery on TV with interactive , SLT's ISP Services Head of Section Irshad Deen said.

He noted that the content will include broadcast TV with sports, entertainment and light, educational and serious niche segment as well.

"This will be a paradigm shift and a giant convergence step from telco to broadcasting communication," he said.

The biggest part is the when and how way in which the customer wants to watch the TV because of interactivity it helps to bring services to be more interactive-based.

"We are in the process of selecting the right platform with a set up Master Control Room to ensure right quality," Deen explained.

Security will also be protected heavily with water marking with AES algorithm which is able to protect the content over the network, he said.

Initially SLT will be providing voice via telephone or mobile, data on broadband internet access and video through television allowing the customer to have the full use of triple play. But quadruple play which will involve all of these services along with wireless service provisions will allow customers sometime later be able to access these services while on the move.

From senior citizens to the hip youth and kids, services will be made available with Cartoon TV, video games, handset games, music download, ring tone downloads, mobile video games, news, music and radio, TV and movies, sports news will involve the focus services.

A convergence of services via one network will be the best deal that will be up on offer through this new technological advancement that will hit Colombo initially and later go to the regions next year.

This service will prove to be a win-win solution for all with an estimated US$25 billion CAPEX for IPTV related infrastructure and content by 2010 which aptly applies for vendors of this service.

Broadcasters will be able to deal with professional telco organizations, have accountability of viewer-ship, ability to offer enhanced services and increase revenue; while operators will be able to access new revenue streams, reduced churn and obtain higher valuation for wire line.

Customers will have a wider choice of reliable and accountable service providers, digital quality programming and flexibility of subscription packages in addition to new services such as interactivity, gaming, video call and VoD.

To all Sri Lankan on working late.

PLEASE READ & THINK.......
views on staying late in the office

Dear All,

It's half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on...
PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing...
and who's at work? Most of them??? Take a closer look...
All or most specimens are ??-something male species of the human
race...
Look closer... again all or most of them are bachelors...
and why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!!
Any guesses???
Let's ask one of them...
Here's what he says... "What's there 2 do after going home... here we
get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee.. that is why I am working late...
importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the scene in most research centers and software companies , and
other off-shore offices.
Bachelors "time-passing" during late hours in the office just bcoz they
say they've nothing else to do...
Now what r the consequences... read on...
"Working"(for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the
institute or company culture.
With bosses more than eager to provide support to those "working" late
in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good
feedback,(oh, he's a hard worker... goes home only to change..!!).They aren't helping things too... To hell with bosses who don't understand the difference between "sitting" late and "working" late!!!
Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra
working hours.
So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married
and start having a family... office is no longer a priority, family is...
and that's when the problem starts... becoz u start having commitments at
home too.
For your boss, the earlier "hardworking" guy suddenly seems to become a
"early leaver" even if u leave an hour after regulartime... after doing
the same amount of work.
People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labeled
as work-shirkers...
Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays... though) leave on
time are labeled as "not up to it". All the while, the bachelors pat their
own backs and carry on "working" not realizing that they r spoiling the
work culture at their own place and never realize that they wuld have to
regret at one point of time.

* So what's the moral of the story?? *
* Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME !!!
* Never put in extra time " *unless really needed *"
* Don't stay back un-necessarily and spoil your company work culture
which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.
There are hundred other things to do in the evening..
Learn music...
Learn a foreign language...
try a sport... TT, cricket.........
importantly Get a girl friend or gal friend, take him/her around
town...

* And for heaven's sake net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low
(plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.

Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *"Life's calling, where are you??"*
Please pass on this message to all those colleagues And please do it
before leaving time, don't stay back till midnight to forward this!!!


ITS A TYPICAL SRILANKAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.
PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON'T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME.

SIMPLE !!!

LTTE a trend setter in cyber terrorism

Colombo, 29 October, (Asiantribune.com): This month marks 20 years since the Indian Peace Keeping Force launched 'Operation Pawan' against the Tigers in response to their mortar and machine gun attacks on IPKF patrols. The only photo-journalist present in the combat zone at the height of the battle for Jaffna was India Today'sShyam Tekwani. Having been taken to Jaffna , by the LTTE, he was witness to actual battle scenes and obtained a unique insight to Tiger tactics, their weapons, morale and mentality. His cover story appeared in the India Today of November 15, 1987 under the title, ' Sri Lanka: A Bloodied Accord' with a picture of an Indian soldier killed by the LTTE in Kokuvil.

Now, two decades later with a wealth of experience with the Tigers behind him he draws attention to lessons that all governments fighting the terrorist menace had better learn if they are to effectively meet the challenge.

Presently Assistant Professor, School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Tekwani's exclusive reportage of the conflict has been published internationally.

Addressing the recently concluded International Conference on Countering Terrorism in Colombo, he said:

"To understand the significance of the regional security threat posed by the LTTE it is necessary first to examine the relationship between terrorism and new media technologies. The information revolution in Asia offers terrorist groups the same benefits and advantages that it extends to business enterprises in the region.

Increased globalization and rapid absorption of new media technologies into business practices has enabled the ongoing dynamic economic environment in many Asian nations. Just as business corporations in Asia are adapting their tactical and operational strategies to make the best use of new technology and the emerging global economy, extremist groups are doing the same." Tekwani was speaking on 'The LTTE's online network and its implications for Regional Security.'

Tekwani recalled that the IPKF lost the media war against the Tigers having failed to win the confidence of journalists. It clearly proved the theory that terrorists understand the value of the media far better than governments.

He recalled that once when he returned from the battle zone after seven weeks he was amazed to read in the Indian press reports that were almost a total distortion of the real situation. He did not require much intelligence to realize that the LTTE had fed these newspapers with virtually fabricated stories.

"The LTTE branded the IPKF the 'Indian People Killing Force' and – sometimes – the 'Italian-Parsi Killing Force.' The latter was meant to personally ridicule Sonia (Italian) and Rajiv Gandhi (Parsi)."

Tekwani said that the Western media too had eagerly lapped up everything that the Tigers offered to them, since the former always loves any group that projects itself as the underdog, although the today the world is beginning to see the LTTE as an integral part of the international terrorist network.

"The Tigers are so clever in deceiving the young that when I show my students Tiger websites meant for different audiences the students are impressed and almost express support for the LTTE cause. But afterwards when I explain to them the organization's background and who the Tigers really are they begin to think differently."

He observed that one of the main factors affecting the Sri Lankan military's handling of the LTTE has been dwindling morale, whittled away by the support the LTTE had garnered in its early years from the international community. This was in large part due to its international propaganda campaign, which capitalized on its status as a marginalized minority and used the propaganda to focus on the sufferings of the Tamils rather than the violence of its own actions.

"The LTTE continues to do so with considerable success on the Internet."

In addition, Tekwani says, the LTTE has also ventured into cyber crime on occasion. He recalled that the Tigers had used the Internet to hack into Sri Lankan Government networks in 1997 - the first recorded use of Internet in the world by any conventional terrorist group. The Tigers are also reported to have used the Internet for criminal profit, as evidenced by the University of Sheffield case, which exposes the more serious issue of the Internet identity theft by terrorists.

According to him, the Tigers were also able to hack into the Sheffield University in England in 1997, and use the university computer system to send their propaganda and to engage in fund raising. And they did it in a covert manner. Having captured legitimate user IDs and passwords of well-respected university academics to disseminate e-mail communications around the world, they used those legitimate e-mail accounts and asked people to send money to a charity in Sri Lanka! While such instances are not yet the norm, they are undeniably the trend of the future. And the LTTE is nothing if not a trend setter in such tactics.

Tekwani regretted that the Sri Lankan Government - which many perceive as having lost the propaganda war with the LTTE even more thoroughly than it has the war on the ground – has no infrastructure legal or technical, to block access to LTTE and pro-LTTE sites within Sri Lanka even though the State has its own press, radio and television.

"This is a loop hole the LTTE has used well. In a related matter the creator of the 'I Love You' virus in the Philippines escaped punishment because the government there had no laws in place to prosecute cyber crimes. The situation is depressingly similar across Asia with the exception of perhaps Singapore. Asian nations are getting on to the information highway without any traffic laws in place…"

Tekwani noted that the LTTE was one of the first groups to use the Internet in its campaigns. The LTTE's use of the Internet and other new media and communication technologies as an integral part of its campaign represents an emerging security issue in the region, according to him.

Sri Lanka ranks no.2 of the software piracy in Asia

Colombo, 24 October, (Asiantribune.com): The software piracy rate of Sri Lanka is the second to Bangladesh which ranks 92% .At present Sri Lanka ranks 90 % , according to a recent Global software Piracy Report conducted by the IDC- a global research and forecasting firm , said Roland Chan , Director of the Business Software Alliance of Singapore [BSA].

Speaking at a press briefing held in this morning in Colombo he said due to the software piracy the software industry losses over 86 million US$ per annum.

Replying questions of the reporters, he said this means that nine out of ten software installed personal computers in 2006 in Sri Lanka was unlicensed or obtained illegally through software theft.

The findings of the study have highlighted the need for action against software piracy in Sri Lanka, where it has taken a heavy toll on personal and business users as well as overall economy. The broader economic impact of software piracy is significantly greater than the retail value of pirated software, he said.

Among the many negative consequences of software piracy is the crippling of local software industries because of competition with pirated software, lost tax revenues and jobs from the lack of a legitimate market and decreased business productivity from using unsupported and unwarranted software.

Stemming the tide of piracy in Sri Lanka can only be achieved through industry education and awareness and proactive government led enforcement efforts . Software piracy is tantamount to software theft and therefore forbidden by the law of Sri Lanka . He commended local law imposing agencies and said Sri Lanka has already passed a number of bills to end computer crime and protect Intellectual Property Rights of the entrepreneurs.

Replying queries made by the media, the BSA Director explained the risks of using pirated software are vast-there is no warranty or support and users may even run the risk of fraud and identity theft.

He said the BSA which was formed in 1988 is making a concerted effort through software asset management to raise awareness about software piracy.

BPO in the A’pura backwoods

OnTime operators

MAHAVILACHCHIYA, Anuradhapura - Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) is a growing business globally which Sri Lanka has now cottoned onto quite capably.

Dozens of BPO’s are springing up here as global companies look for cost effective ways of handling their back-office operations in countries where labour and communications are cheaper than the west.

Yet ever heard of a BPO company in a jungle setting, next to a wild life park and subject to the occasional threat by the LTTE? OnTime Pvt Ltd is part of rural Sri Lanka’s first IT village, Horizon Lanka in the backwoods of Mahavilachchiya (adjoining Wilpattu) off Anuradhapura, where a group of youth processes data for a fee.

There is nothing different in the BPO industry in processing information inside the office of the client or the service provider located elsewhere. For example, staff at Mahavilachchiya’s proud company, OnTime, processing marketing data for a John Keells Group subsidiary daily could – if we close the curtains in this nice office surrounded by shady trees and occasional bird calls – very well be inside a JKH office in Colombo. There’s nothing different.

OnTime operators log into a JKH SAP accounting system through a secured link and enter data like prices and quality of suppliers. Some 150 documents are handled by one operator per day. Dialog Telekom and Singer are expected to join OnTime as its next clients with negotiations going on with the two parties.

“The BPO entry came as we needed to create job opportunities for our youngsters to remain in the village after their initial learning in English and IT,” said Nandasiri Wanninayaka (better known as ‘Wanni”), the village boy-English teacher-turned village entrepreneur.

Horizon Lanka, Sri Lanka’s first IT village, is a revelation itself. Launched by Wanni, as a Mahavilachchiya school teacher, in 1998, the initiative began as an English teaching exercise for the children whose parents were mostly rice farmers. From there with one computer donated by the US embassy, impressed by an English journal that the students did, the village has progressed to a centre of IT learning where one in every eight families has a computer (a ratio of 100 computers for 800 families).

Unheard of before but in these backwoods poor farmers are reading online newspapers in the comfort of their makeshift homes with uptodate computers with the help – unbelievable again – of seven wifi zones under a new technology called MESH. Here a section of the village amidst paddy fields and streams has wireless Internet access at all times.

Wanni and his Horizon Lanka exploits are legendary and profiled in newspapers and TV stations across the world. The IT village’s biggest opportunity probably came when Wanni and his best students shared the stage with Intel Chairman Dr. Craig Barrett in December 2005, during the latter’s visit to Sri Lanka and presence at a major IT conference.

The idea of setting up a BPO emerged as Wanni pondered on the next level of development. “Having taught English and then IT, the next issue was where do they get jobs? How can we retain them in the village?” he asked.

Enter the Foundation for Advancing Rural Opportunities in Sri Lanka (FAROLanka) to help Horizon set up its BPO and find its first client. FARO’s help however comes with some conditions – Wanni’s support and guidance to help other villages to develop on similar lines which the latter and his team are more than willing to do.

Isuru Senevirathna is OnTime’s Operations Director. He has received BPO training – along with another OnTime employee – in Laos and India sponsored by John Keells.

The 20-year old youth like any other Mahavilachchiya youngster would have had to either join the armed forces (in the case of girls it’s garment factories) or remain in the village as a farmer, until Wanni and his vision came along. Now Isuru is the proud owner of a motor cycle, happy and contended.

OnTime CEO is Nirosh Manjula Ranathunga, a 30 year-old graduate from Kelaniya University who studied IT while doing his B.Com degree. Ranathunga, who lives in Anuradhapura and visits Horizon twice a week saying he can handle operations from his home town easily through email/Internet, is also interested in transferring his skills and learning to other villages. He has his own company, Real Business Solutions, and runs a formerly-owned Horizon Lanka cyber café in Anuradhapura.

“I joined Horizon Lanka two years ago as a project manager and I’am very happy with this BPO initiative,” he said. Some 50 youths are being trained to take up BPO jobs in Mahavilachchiya which has a modern computer lab with 512 KBPS Internet connection. The Horizon Lanka website is www.horizonlanka.org

Code Smart: Solution to classpath too long (aka input line too long) problem in Windows

If you use Java in Windows, you're bound to run into classpath too long problem when your classpath grows. Windows has a limit (1KB - 2KB) of characters you can have on one single command line. The infamous "Input line is too long" is very annoying. Here's a trick to get around it.

"java.exe" command also scan for classes from the environment variable "CLASSPATH". If you can break your classpath into separate folders and jars, you can concatenate them like this:

setlocal

set CLASSPATH=c:/my/first/jar/somejar.jar;%CLASSPATH%
set CLASSPATH=c:/my/second/jar/someotherjar.jar;%CLASSPATH%
set CLASSPATH=c:/path/to/a/folder;%CLASSPATH%
.......
.......

java com.mycompany.Main

endlocal

By using CLASSPATH env variable, you don't need to pass it in to "java" command. The setlocal/endlocal pair ensures the CLASSPATH is "local" to this process and won't pollute the systemwise value.

--------
Updated:

Travis has pointed out that there is a limit on environment variable in Windows. I found it limited to 8K. So this isn't an absolute solution but it should sustain you for awhile. As suggested by D, you could shorten the path by using virtual drive. Further more, JDK6 has supported wildcard (*) in classpath.

Virtual drive:
Say you have bunch of jars under c:/path/to/lib

subst z: c:/my/path/to/lib
set CLASSPATH=z:/jar1.jar:%CLASSPATH%

Or with JDK6:

set CLASSPATH=c:/path/to/lib/*:%CLASSPATH%

Success of Google - Running the business in Buddhist way

There is popular miss-conception in the society that the core values of Buddhism are hindrance to material success of individual or succeeding in business. The success of Google is a clear answer for this myth.

Google was not started by a businessman with mere profit in mind, but it began as a research project in January, 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D. students at Stanford University, California. They hypothesized that a search engine that analyzed the relationships between websites would produce better results than existing techniques. So they turn their idea into a business.

Democracy on the web works.
While other search engines like Yahoo was making money by both URL submit and search facility, Google never intended to make money from web site owners to get them undue preference in searching in return for their paying. Google identified that this will result in poor search experience for web search users. Google assesses the importance of every web page using a variety of techniques, including its patented PageRank™ algorithm which analyzes which sites have been "voted" the best sources of information by other pages across the web.

Simplicity is the power
The start starter/home page for the Google is one of the simplest web pages in the net. Ordinary people expect that when a company or person is growing, there need to be increase complexity. However, it's amazing that Google keeping its simplest form in google search and they have adapted the same approach in products like GMail, Google Talk, etc as well.

Google's services are run on several server farms, each consisting of thousands of low-cost commodity computers running stripped-down versions of Linux which is contrary to traditional tend of using big super processor mainframes. So success of google search is based on power of large number of small processors than having big super processor.

You can make money without doing evil
Google is a business. The revenue the company generates is derived from offering its search technology to companies and from the sale of advertising displayed on Google and on other sites across the web. However, you may have never seen an ad on Google. That's because Google does not allow ads to be displayed on their results pages unless they're relevant to the results page on which they're shown. So, only certain searches produce sponsored links above or to the right of the results. Google firmly believes that ads can provide useful information if, and only if, they are relevant to what you wish to find.

Not flashy and hindrance to the user
Google has also proven that advertising can be effective without being flashy. Google does not accept pop-up advertising, which interferes with your ability to see the content you've requested.

Trustworthy and reliable
Advertising on Google is always clearly identified as a "Sponsored Link." It is a core value for Google that there be no compromising of the integrity of our results. Google never manipulate rankings to put our partners higher in our search results. No one can buy better PageRank. Therefore users trust Google's objectivity and no short-term gain could ever justify breaching that trust.

Pleasant working experience
One of Googles key philosophy for employment is that "Work and play are not mutually exclusive".

Every Google engineer is encouraged to spend 20 percent (20%) of their work time on projects that interest them. Some of Google's newer services, such as Gmail, Google News and orkut, originated from these independent endeavors.

Promoting Open Source
Google has recently formed a partnership with Sun Microsystems to help share and distribute each other's technologies. As part of the partnership Google will hire employees to help the open source office program openoffice.org.

Google Code and Google Docs are two of the main project aiming toward free and open source culture.

If you're respectful by habit,
constantly honoring the worthy,
four things increase:
long life, beauty,
happiness, strength.
- The Buddha (Dammapada)

Ref:
http://www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html
http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html&about