I built an interactive quiz featuring 30 classic 1980s Tamil songs by Ilayaraja. Challenge yourself to guess the movie titles from audio clips. I wrote a custom mapTamil function and used SHA1 hashing to secure the answers.

More songs by Ilayaraja, composed in the 1980s. Can you guess which movie they are from? (Films are NOT repeated) Don't worry about the spelling. Just spell it like it sounds, and the box will turn green. Comments arunvis 20 Jul 2006 4:51 pm: Most of these bits have the movie name in the file info when played in Windows Media player! S Anand 22 Jul 2006 9:23 am: You're right. I've fixed that now. capriciouslyme 26 Jul 2006 9:54 pm: awesome fun :) 1, 13 and 26 please? S Anand 27 Jul 2006 4:55 pm: 1 is a film starring Prabhu, 2: Kamal and 3: Suresh Anonymous 28 Jul 2006 12:34 pm: the clue u ve gvn s wrong.2nd s a movie starring karthik and 3rd s the one wth ramarajan S Anand 28 Jul 2006 8:34 pm: Sorry, I meant 1, 13 and 26 respectively. Sathya 31 Jul 2006 12:28 pm: thalaiva ... thats just great collection. BTW, if you have the BGMs alone, could you put them as well ? Sathish 1 Aug 2006 12:53 am: The Quiz was great..I saw ur site today..I have completed 28..if you could give another 5 more seconds of music for the songs 10 & 11, i would appreciate S Anand 1 Aug 2006 10:15 pm: Sathish, 10 and 11 are both Kamal movies. Does that help? Sathya 2 Aug 2006 10:52 am: Have you written the common.js yourself ? thats great. I would like to re-use/flick the "maptamil" function. You are quite wicked that you use one way SHA1 hash ... there is no way to hack the answer (is there a way ?). So pls do post the answers ;-( S Anand 2 Aug 2006 5:02 pm: Yeah, wrote mapTamil myself. Took me 2 weeks of testing on raaga.com -- feel free to reuse! S Anand 2 Aug 2006 5:05 pm: The reason I picked SHA1 instead of MD5 was that it's tougher to crack. It can be done, but in about 2 power 69 calculations Sathish 6 Aug 2006 11:39 pm: I figured out all the 30 movies..was a good quiz..Great work!! vijay 4 Dec 2006 11:49 pm: This is awesome work ... nice pics ...I got 20 ... @5 ...know the song ..dunno the movie ... Can't wait for your 90s and 2000 list ... when can we expect that .. I can give you a list of these kind of marquee songs that people are expected to find in Muthuraman 31 Dec 2006 7:19 am: great work. keep going. Archana 15 Jan 2007 1:23 pm: Anand, i want answers to this puzzle. Can you please help? sundar 1 Apr 2007 1:20 pm: good quiz can give some clues here and there too santhosh 9 Apr 2007 11:19 am: thakns Ramkumar 29 May 2007 1:38 pm: What's the film name for 26. I have listened to that BGM several 100 times... but couldnt find the name... :( Ramkumar 29 May 2007 1:40 pm: Sorry, I want the name for 18.. 26th is Kozhi Koovudhu vijayasarathy 20 Jul 2006 12:00 pm: I got it all 30 right man. it was interesting.great. thanks. N.Ragavendran 20 Jul 2006 12:00 pm: I identified only 18. but it is very interesting. Even they give 100 songs like above. its really time passing. shanthirou 20 Jul 2006 12:00 pm: Movie Name :kan simittum neram Song : unnai thotta thendral enru ennai thottu sonnathoru seidhi ullukulae aasai vaithu thalli thalli povathenna needhi.. please sent the song lyrics Sathya 20 Jul 2006 12:00 pm: Hey! good one... i could get all 30 right ...except for 26 which took some time to hit my mind...good work... thanks A. Saravanan 20 Jul 2006 12:00 pm: Hai Anand, hw r u? i like to down load the song 'anandaragam'-panneer pushpangal. But i could'nt. hw can i?. pls . Lavanya 20 Jul 2006 12:00 pm: Hi, I was able to find for 22 out of 30 could u please tell me what is the answer for 2, 4, 5, 10, 15, 16, 18, 21 chandramouli 20 Jul 2006 12:00 pm: iwant all illayaraja songs from A to Z.Rply me as soon as possible prana 20 Jul 2006 12:00 pm: 11 - Couldnt identify, can u let me know, which song is that one jai 14 Aug 2008 2:28 am: 30/30 good test for (g)old memroy... Prakash 22 Aug 2008 9:02 am: Hi,\ How your are managing your time for this?... songs in diff langueages, movie... and others.\ \ Its great stuff. I have gone thro your site/ diff experiences.\ \ Fantastic. All the best\ \ \ Prakash.K ganeshen sk 9 Sep 2008 10:46 pm: realy i am enjoy all song manikantan 24 Sep 2008 12:11 pm: I think i have found the maximum mathew 8 Oct 2008 9:22 am: Good selection. Especially 30th-Kaadhalin deepamondru.....\ Im going somewhere......... S Anand 8 Oct 2008 9:34 am: Thanks, Mathew. Glad you enjoyed it. purushothaman g 17 Oct 2008 9:01 am: Ilayaraja song list is very very funtastic SHANKAR 20 Nov 2008 10:57 am: Very Nice Bits from Raja........... mathu 4 Feb 2009 6:31 am: very nice songs KAAVALAN 11 Feb 2009 9:07 am: ILAYARAJA SONGS VERY FANTASTIC S.Nanthini 12 Feb 2009 8:14 am: Very nice song from illayraja sir specialy i like song Tendral vanthu thidhum podu(Avadaram) i like so much becoz some time i think the song special to me....thanks for u sir>>>>>> Kavitha 14 Feb 2009 11:30 am: Can we know what movies are 7,26 and 22.? srini 2 Mar 2009 4:47 am: Great work.. Found most of them. Can you tell me where the answers are so that I myself on the head for not getting that.. thanks Barath 3 Mar 2009 6:41 pm: Dude, I got 28 right. Song 26 song information clearly displayed in real player. Song 8 was a real challenge. Give me a clue. Regards, Barath S Anand 3 Mar 2009 6:59 pm: Yeah, my goof-up on Song 26. Will fix it soon. Song 8 is a Kamal song sung by Mano. Reena 26 Feb 2009 4:50 pm: !! BINGO !! Finished all 30 !!! :) First shot :) karthik 7 Mar 2009 3:34 pm: Great I Got 24 Of Them right..thanks for sharing balaji 22 Feb 2009 5:42 pm: hi friend fantastic work by u gr8 hits of ilayaraja still remains!!!!!! r u fan of ilayaraja reply regards balaji ashok 4 Mar 2009 3:25 pm: I got all thirty. GREAT quiz. keep going. why can't you try SPB's songs? You can pick up all rare gems out of his 36K + songs.Thanks for the initiative. suriya 11 Mar 2009 11:58 am: great work!!! lovely songs... found 23 . 4,5,9,10,16,20,25.... any clues 4 tat? chandru 11 Mar 2009 7:23 pm: Hey, amazing work dude,, keep it up :) but couldnt get 3 songs,, no 1 and no 10 & 26 , though 10 sounds very familiar and known,, pls do let know,, thankin you in advance azhar 14 Mar 2009 8:57 am: hey, i have found all songs. its very easy. if u need any help tell me sambasivam 15 Mar 2009 5:43 am: Excellent quiz Mr.Anand. Expecting more of that soon. got 23 out of 30 suriya 16 Mar 2009 3:03 am: help me with 4,5,9,10,16,20,25 plz Usha 22 Mar 2009 12:58 am: Good one need to jog the memory sriraghavan 5 Apr 2009 10:18 am: This is a good one... I accidentally came to this site while searching for something else. I was able to listen to such nice bits after a very long time. It brought back memories. I don't know how to get the results; but all answers were green. I am sure all of them are correct but I need to confirm. S Anand 5 Apr 2009 4:14 pm: Sriraghavan, if the boxes turned green, then the answers were correct! sathiyanarayanan 2 Apr 2009 7:09 am: good one i scored 21 good effort V. Srinath 10 Apr 2009 7:50 am: Hello All, I manage to score 27/30 - Box for song#18 never turned green despite the fact the answer is correct (I am 100% sure on the answer and my memory) V. Srinath 11 Apr 2009 5:31 am: Hi! I tried again and got a score of 28/30 - Song#18 and Song#26 are still eluding. Would you mind mailing me the answers to my email id? Could not resist the temptation of knowing the answers. SangeethaSaravanan 12 Apr 2009 10:03 am: good website.and a lovely collections of illayaraja. gayathri 12 Apr 2009 2:27 pm: hi, this is very interesting.i got 20 correct out of 30.and i want d answers for 4,5,9,11,16,18,21,26,27 Terrence 13 Apr 2009 10:14 am: I guessed everything right cause the musician and his music lives in me. naguleswaran 17 Apr 2009 4:38 pm: i guessed 25, i need 1, 10, 16, 23, 26. Pattabi Raman 25 Apr 2009 12:13 pm: Hi I have got all 30 right Pattabi Raman 25 Apr 2009 12:14 pm: 18 is idhyathai tirudathey 26 is kozhi kuvudhu prem 25 Apr 2009 7:51 pm: really very interesting Dr SIVARAMAKRISHNAN 10 May 2009 8:35 am: I am highly interested because I am a thick fan of RAJASIR.Iam now at kerala .He won the hearts of malayalees too.His latest BHAGYADEVATHA songs are big hit. Varunkumar 12 May 2009 7:28 am: Hi All I too got all 30 Right chandrakumar 29 May 2009 9:10 am: good collection, 29/30,one mistake is from song 23 .It is kathal oyivathillai .directed by bharathiraja .actors are kannan and radha .but it is not showing green signal Swaminathan 27 May 2009 5:15 am: i WANT TO know song # 10 and 22 pls...... Swaminathan 26 May 2009 12:16 pm: I got 28. i want to know #10 and 22 Natarajan.S 30 May 2009 9:54 am: It really brings out .... I cant express the feelings ...his work is such a heart touching that a piece is helping us to remeber the song ,I know all 30 but am not getting the spelling rite.... Saravana Prabhu G 2 Jun 2009 9:04 pm: Good Quiz Mr. Anand Hakeem Raja Mohamad 17 Jun 2009 11:29 am: I got only 18. mary 25 Jul 2009 6:08 pm: Very nice and interesting quiz for one to recollect songs. Excellent work N.Dhinakaran. 16 Jun 2009 8:16 am: sir i like this type of approach very much and i enjoyed the same. i feel very interesting and spent my deep reactions in your quiz. thanking you and once thanks a lot for you. Harish kumar 2 Jul 2009 6:37 pm: Brilliant Mr.Anand. The Most Wanted Site Leo 24 Jun 2009 1:16 am: It was an easyone. Good effort. mr public 21 Jul 2009 1:43 pm: nice work man.! i managed to get 28/30; missed 10 &26.! Sankaranarayanan.M (MSN) 26 Jun 2009 5:27 am: Good effort, i can only get 15 marks. Realy good effort... udaya 1 Jul 2009 1:07 pm: nice one anand... i got 27 though the other three i know the songs but not the films... good vikram 30 Jun 2009 7:01 pm: hi am a gr8 fan of raja sir.He is a Legend.So the titile mastero opt's to him. Muralidharan 28 Jun 2009 8:47 am: HI Anand I got 28/30.Need answer for 1 and 19 sundar 29 Jul 2009 5:52 am: would like to know the answers for 30,16, 13, 12 and 7. i think it was pacha mala poovu from kilakku vasal. jst let me know the answers but i enjoyed taking it S.Thangakani,Tuty 10 Aug 2009 1:46 pm: What a great quiz for ilayaraja fans.Keep it up Mr.Anand. I love ilayaraja songs from my childhood days.My best wishes to him. A.Ashok Kumar 10 Aug 2009 2:14 pm: This is a good quiz.I remembered Raja sir films and i scored 30 out of 30,Good effort . sagar 12 Aug 2009 2:29 pm: Hey it is realy superb nice music experience, good for music lovers RAJU 20 Aug 2009 2:49 pm: Few songs need a little longer to recall .Otherwise a nice attempt to relish Gnani's songs nhnsn 9 Sep 2009 12:52 pm: hey i got 27/30.it really very interesting. i liked it a lon and i am a great fan of the evergreen illayaraja. Fantastic quiz jayapriya 1 Nov 2009 3:59 pm: hai......good effort.i accidently entered this website.after that i know its like a quiz.........iam a great fane of ILAIYARAJAsir.i loved his songs............thanks for giving this website to us anand..........expecting more from u like this Sujatha 15 Sep 2009 8:39 am: Excellent Quiz for Raja's fan.Could have been more challenging.Do you have moe quizzes for the maestro's fans? Divi Bhaskaran 20 Sep 2009 12:40 pm: Excellent Mr. Anand. Great effort. Once I was just dreaming about such projects and now you have made it a reality. Fine. Thanks a lot. By the way I scored 28/30. I can't find the song No.1, but managed to idendify the song No.5 as "Puttham Pudhu Kaalai" but not sure about the "Film Name" Sitrodai 12 Oct 2009 3:39 am: Excellent...I got 24/30... Kumaradevan 27 Oct 2009 1:57 pm: Excellent Site. Great Content. Clean layout.. A Rare combination.. Keep it up...! Ramprabu 19 Oct 2009 1:31 pm: Mr. Anand, really it was nice. I got 27 out of 30. Pl. help me to find 16, 21 & 22. venkatraman.s 19 Oct 2009 1:22 pm: a good excercise to review rajas songs.28/30 correct. srilatha 28 Sep 2009 11:16 am: Mr. Anand wonderful collections and great attempt. Ram 7 Nov 2009 6:14 am: got only 17 right guessed many songs but don't know movie names :( Selvam S 7 Feb 2010 5:53 pm: Really Fantastic work Anand ! im a great fan of Raja sir... looking forward more and more from you.. i guessed 27/30.. can somebody help to find out 10,21 & 26. Awesome!! Veera 12 Jan 2010 10:21 pm: Excellent quiz.got 29 /30. Kadalora kavithaigal was wrong. Subbu 11 Mar 2010 12:08 pm: Hi Anand, really a good web site. I came to this site with a great hope. I am looking for a song which was sung by his highness isaignaani ilayraja himself - the song goes some thing like this "...unnadamale ponnagamaa marayidey..." may be the words which i wrote might not be correct but sounds some thing like that... pls help me... Jothibasu 3 Feb 2010 8:16 am: great ..I scored 27/30 boopalan.r 6 Feb 2010 8:24 am: I am not able to hear the full soing. Krishnavel 16 Nov 2009 1:36 pm: Nice quiz. Myself and my wife could manage to get 29/30. Many thanks. However, Song 1 took one full day. Kishore 23 Dec 2009 6:47 pm: Good One. But most of them very easy for Raaja fans. Some were tough. Can you post answers? rita 3 Mar 2010 10:02 am: Really i loved this quiz, i love raja sir music, so i was able to guess 26/30 Subbu 12 Mar 2010 11:00 am: hello again, Anybody can help me on that pls...:) yesgee 2 Jun 2010 9:09 am: I got 26 songs. It's a very good choice to hear these songs. shane 5 Sep 2010 12:21 pm: great feeling in answering the 30 wonders of the music world. i scored centum, and hope to score a real cent-um of isai kadavul's songs. good work , pls continue Vijay 10 Mar 2010 3:50 am: I scored 29/30. good work Anand. R.Srinivasan 27 Mar 2010 12:13 pm: Hi thank you. I got 26/30. Really interesting Subbu 26 Mar 2010 11:18 am: Hi and Hello, At last I have got the song which I was looking for - it is Thendral Vanthu Theendu bothu from Avadharam movie. :) Saaju 27 Mar 2010 6:06 am: Anand, If possible listen to the song " nana yaar eval" from the movie " Ninaya ninatha paathen. This is a movie which was not a hit, but this song i feel is awesome. Pls comment Saaju Sathish 5 May 2010 8:20 pm: Mine was 26/30.........could have been better :-( morees 13 Jun 2010 8:27 am: good collections..thx Krishnamoorthy 2 Jul 2010 7:13 am: Beatiful songs by isai gnani. Raja Rajathaan. K.Angayarkannan 5 Sep 2010 7:32 pm: hello,Ananad sir,I scored 29/30.26th song is your checkpoint.this song not hit song and song duration very low time.anyway Goodjob.all the best. Gowri 14 Sep 2010 10:29 am: I got 20/30...didnt hear others!!!bcoz i'm in office...Great guys!! shanthini 14 Sep 2010 1:14 pm: I entered 30 songs. DiLRuPhA 18 Sep 2010 12:38 pm: Wowwwww....wonderful website..... thanx 2 u Mr.Anand :) really entertain me.... n i juz got 15/30 :( Saku 7 Nov 2010 7:48 pm: Good one.. got everything except 26.. agree with angayarkannan, it isn't a popular one i think so.. appreciate if answers are made available.. lenin 11 Nov 2010 3:49 am: hi, anand,is a nice collections..... nothing impossible L.Dadhichi 14 Nov 2010 6:17 pm: Awesome quiz Rooban 7 Dec 2010 7:45 pm: excellent work Anand. hats off.. Eswar 10 Dec 2010 5:52 pm: Hi,i just want download maestro's famous melody cum rap song casted by silk smitha in a bar.which starts from 'la la la la la laa laa la la'pls i dont know the words.pls if somebody can help me it will be greatful.thanku MICHAEL JACKSON 27 Dec 2010 6:11 am: I scored just 12............ I would have scored 30 if i ve lived in 1980's... kumar 13 Jan 2011 12:51 pm: scored 30/30 thanigai 14 Dec 2010 8:40 am: hey... i got 30/30..... @ thanigai 14 Dec 2010 8:44 am: @ selvam: can somebody help to find out 10 : Film : Kadal meengal, Song: Thalatuthae vaanam.... 21 : Film : Agni Natchathiram, Song : Oru poonga vanam.... 26 : Film : Kozhi Koovuthu, Song : Annae Annae sippai Annae.... saravanan 21 Aug 2012 7:16 am: good try to brush up the ialayraja fans memories Sudhakar Dhanapal 19 Jan 2011 11:50 am: ohhh. just 26 DINESH 20 Jan 2011 8:11 am: Scored 21 out of 30. Except song No.1, I heard all the songs and the songs are very familiar. Even then I could not find out the film name. Thank you P.SASI KUMAR 16 Jul 2011 5:09 pm: Excellent Work .same this way as a illayaraja fans we like it Srini 2 Jul 2011 3:36 pm: got just 24/30; few songs really seem to be close .... sivasankaran 27 Apr 2012 6:03 am: i got 4 out of 30.. i enjoys this quiz.. memory is out of date.. ha ha.. but i can guess al the songs..mmm really isai sidther is great... KARTHIK 1 Aug 2011 3:16 pm: I scored 29/30, except song # 26. Devi Shaji 27 Jan 2012 10:53 am: Hai Anand congrajulations,and thanks a lot . Wish you all the best. God bless you. Ganapathi 12 Jan 2012 4:51 pm: Ilayara, alias music I can say the best musician in the world is none other than Mr.Ilayaraja. Thiyagarajan.B 10 Dec 2011 7:15 am: Mother is God Music is God Illayaraja kagithan 5 Jan 2011 6:53 pm: 2, 4, 8 & 22 help please RCSekar 18 Jun 2011 4:04 am: Fantastic Exercie for our memory. Good work done by Anand. Long live Anand and Ilayaraja. I scored 29/30. I could not guess the song related to no.1 Anybody to my help? RCSekar-Chennai mpganesh 11 Mar 2011 4:12 pm: i scored23/30;good job; i could not remeber some movies name;i am one of the fans of raja sir;thank u anand Nandhakumar 28 Aug 2011 7:32 pm: Amazing collection and wat a composing guys. I got 30/30. Beautiful songs to here in night times. I think every one here will accept this comment. Thanks a ton. gopi 2 Jan 2012 3:28 am: illyaraja songs was gold. whenever i get tensed that time i listned raja's songs all sads was gone. raja's is best. Muthu 7 Dec 2011 7:45 am: Hi Anand Thanks for posting like this and post more raja sir quiz, I'm one of his greatest fan I got 27/30 pls tell me the answer for 7, 15 and 22 D R RAJA 21 Jan 2012 2:27 pm: hai, it is really suberp. can i get the lyrics of illayarajas songs. Emmanuel 24 Oct 2011 11:50 am: eampa George appo MSV ya Eanna Solla pora?............... Nandakumar. P. B. 22 Apr 2012 12:42 pm: Maesto is great and cannot express about him in words. His music is a soothing effect / remedy for day to day life complexes. Not like to stop even after repeated listenings. Some addicting magic in his songs and not seen in other musicians. So we like his musics done in 70's, 80's & 90's etc. Thanks to God for getting chance to enjoy his musics. madurai mouli 7 Apr 2012 11:20 am: We, the Tamilians are gifted by having been born here., Sivaji ,Kamal., Ilayaraja.,Kannadasan-the supremoes in their art ,world class,,who could only be duplicated,not replaced. Anamika 12 Feb 2012 10:19 am: paaraamal pona pournami ellaam pariththu kodukkum oruvan kaelaamal pona paadalai ellaam thiratti kodukkum oruvan... vikram 21 May 2011 4:03 pm: i like these songs i always listen at night ......... Baskar 14 Apr 2011 1:03 pm: I got 30/30. Was not easy. Some songs gave a very tough time especially 1 and 26. Great work Mr.Anand. It was like getting transported to the past. natesan 9 Jun 2011 2:11 pm: got 23.. couldn find 4,11,15-17,20 & 23 kagithan 8 Jan 2011 5:00 pm: help me for 8 and 22 kagithan 8 Jan 2011 5:19 pm: one more to go shortly i'll reach 30. thank you anand. sathish 25 Feb 2011 5:31 pm: I have scored 29/30. Thanks Anand for wonderul work u have made. g.s.rajan 29 Apr 2011 9:26 am: It is excellent.I have scored30/30 Vikram 7 May 2011 8:34 pm: I Scored 20/30 beulah 26 May 2011 6:48 am: i scored 29/30 :) Dhiwakar 8 Aug 2011 11:20 pm: Please tell me the film of below song: Kaalangaathalae oru velai illame siru kallori pen pinnal sutrum kadal mamavane gayathiri 26 Aug 2011 3:56 pm: im great fan of raja sir.........legend of music..................i got 29/30..............i dnt knw 2 find song 18...............great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hariram 17 Aug 2011 11:33 am: Raja rajathi rajan intha ilayaraja George 11 Sep 2011 4:02 pm: Isaignani is a god of music Sophia 14 Oct 2011 8:14 am: Loved the quiz! got a complete score.. and ur collection of maestroz music is cool too. arun 15 Dec 2011 5:55 am: very good Kannan 24 Oct 2011 10:36 am: Excellen collections. Got full score... Actually this is kids play for hardcore IR fan like me. Thanks. Rajesh 3 Mar 2011 10:28 am: Hi I'm looking for an 1980's ilayaraja song which goes like this "Kabiniyae, kabiniyae....unnnadum...vandaen." Can you please help me get the right song /film details, so I can track it or download from somewhere? p.niroshi 14 Jun 2012 3:26 pm: i wish to hear again the ilayaraja songs i knew all the songs but i typed the name it could not accept although i don't bother about it because i love the all songs. Vijay 16 Jan 2012 3:33 am: Feel gifted to exist and share the world with a genius like Ilayaraja. suren 17 May 2012 1:44 pm: Good Collection reghuram 23 Mar 2012 4:59 am: Raja sir is Nature's grand living sound instrument. The sequence of notes that hit one's heart comes so effortlessly to this maestro that one remains possessed for the entire time listenng to his music. I am particularly awe-struck at all the intro bgms of Raja sir. They have a unique pattern which no other can imitate nor fathom. to cite an example just listen to the intro of the Nalinakanthi piece "enthan nenjil nee thane". Raja sir has that uncanny knack of picking up the key notes of a raga which will not be revealed until the actual pallavi is heard. In fact his into bgms are itself a great rpertoire for research on chors and carnatic music. R. Vidhya from Thanjavur 6 Mar 2012 1:47 pm: Ilayaraja Sir is like a guru to me. With his songs only I get interested into music. I am thankful to God to hear his music especially rerecoding and orchaestration. Thanks to share with everyone. Jeyaprakash 5 May 2012 2:05 pm: Got 30 out of 30, I really enjoyed it s.karthik 16 Feb 2012 6:44 pm: ILAYARAJA IS GENIUS AND HE IS BRAHMMA OF MUSIC venkatrajan 2 Mar 2012 6:14 pm: illayaraja the grammar of music.he is the heart pain reliever by his music Ganesh from N'Castle 29 Feb 2012 6:52 pm: 30/30, grown up with Illayaraja music. Part of life. For every song there has been special and unforgettable occasions and moments. Those days we our friends are very much eager to hear new songs, For us cassettes are expensive, In our town (Pudukkottai) one Tea shop who owned by Sathya ( He resembles Sathya Kamal having beard and styled like Kamal, so we call him Sathya) bought new releases we all our friends top up there hear music with 'Dhum' and Tea for more than an hour. 80 's are the years which never come back again with full of joy and carefree attitude... Nothing But Raja's Muzik... Bala 20 Jan 2012 2:23 am: Ilayaraja sir is a god to me. He is the best musician in the world mathi 16 Jan 2012 12:53 am: Ilayaraja is Gods Gift. Arun Kumar MK 25 Aug 2012 8:24 am: No. 23 - Naan oru ponnoviyum kanden - Is it the movie Kadhal oviyum or Kannil theriyum kadhaigal? Anand, as usual outstanding stuff. I grew listening to these songs a million times. It did not take me more than 2 or 3 seconds to catch a song thambidi 21 Jul 2012 9:21 pm: Dear anand ,Thanks a lot.30 /30 Expecting more quiz 1975 to 1990 Murali Deena 13 Jun 2011 3:25 pm: Listening to the songs (music) first few seconds also making me to enjoy it a lot... I could find all the songs first line.. But not the movie names.. Great collection. Thanks. Anuja Nair 10 Jul 2012 9:18 am: Chanceless, What a legend, he is.....God's gift to Indian music. Even a child will turn silent hearing his music. No words to describe...a heavenly feeling hearing his music. Should see him atleast once in my lifetime. sarankumar 12 Aug 2012 7:32 am: ilayaraja is music god Kaushalram 20 Aug 2012 11:22 pm: Thanks a Lot. Please can someone tell the answer for 1, 10 & 26. Theriyama mandey vedichirum.. a.m.basha 2 Aug 2012 9:28 am: i love heart raja guru 5 Oct 2012 4:58 am: illayarajr is a gift for entair music fans Malarvannan 8 Sep 2012 1:51 pm: Great Stuff... got 29/30, Whats 26? Chenbagaraman Natarajan 24 Oct 2012 8:54 pm: Song7 - Kilakku vasal, song8- Michael Madhan kamaraj, and Song26 - Kozhi Kuvuthu..does not give a green to me --Y? gopi 8 Jan 2013 5:12 pm: Thankyou for the Quiz. I got 30/30 Guitar chords 30 Nov 2012 8:50 am: I like all this songs and also the quiz.. Ravindran 30 Nov 2012 5:25 pm: Very Good Collection. Thanks for your Effort. Hemamalini 15 Jan 2013 7:34 am: Nice collections. What are the answers for Nos. 1, 11, 21, and 22? It was very nice answering the questions. venkatkrishnan 16 Jan 2013 8:33 am: song ,padiva thendrala .from move ,mudivala arampam. excellent guitar cords, and high frequienced drums ,i like this songs every time ,thank you Panimalar 17 Jan 2013 11:05 am: Gud collections. luking forward for more quizes like this. sasi kumar.P 21 Apr 2013 7:30 am: It is very good idea, i am interested very much, every one loves raja sir will get 30/30 Senthil 2 Apr 2015 4:15 pm: Wonderful collection from website...hats off admin. Valavan 15 Mar 2016 11:56 am: Hi! Eswar, I was also looking for the same song for years and finally go it. It is from the movie "Vazhkai". You can download video at You tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qveg840rPDY. The song starts with "mella mella ennai thottu" Prabhakar 8 Oct 2019 4:12 pm: @Eswar, 24-- I think the movie you are referring to is valzkai and the song is mella mella enai thotu

Tamil songs by Ilayaraja in 1980s


I made an interactive quiz featuring background music from 1960s and 70s Tamil songs sung by P B Srinivas. Test your memory by guessing the movie names—if you spell it like it sounds, the box turns green.

Playback singers ruled the day in the 60s and 70s. At least, I remember songs more by the singers than the music directors. Here is the background music from some songs from the 1960s and 1970s, sung by P B Srinivas . Can you guess which movie they are from? Don't worry about the spelling. Just spell it like it sounds, and the box will turn green. Comments Kaps 16 May 2006 6:50 pm: Any clues for the 10th song? S Anand 16 May 2006 7:42 pm: 10: Gemini, Savithri (movie also has Sivaji) anbazhagandv@yahoo.com 17 May 2006 12:52 am: I love PBS voice. It is enchanting one. I could guess all the songs correctly inthe first instance itself. Thank u for the efforts taken. Good work. preethi 24 Feb 2007 10:20 am: got 10/10 but 5 was tough subadra 9 Mar 2007 2:49 pm: 10/10 again subadra 9 Mar 2007 4:12 pm: vijaya too got 10 K.R.RAVI 19 Mar 2007 12:43 am: I am in search of a song which i think was sung by PBS and someone else which i heard as a child The lyrics run something like CHITTU KURUVI PAADATHU.. can someone gve me the name of the film/It will be a dream come true. K.R.RAVI Hema 24 Mar 2007 11:38 am: This is for K R Ravi. The song is 'THENNANGKEETUR OONJALILE' in the movie Paadhai Theiryudhu Paar. It is there is Anand's song collection. Type the song and the movie and there you get to enjoy the song. This was the song I too was yearning to listen paadagark 14 May 2006 12:00 pm: hai hai i hope i found those 10 songs.if its ok??thanks u Jayashree 14 May 2006 12:00 pm: I am in search of this song"Illammai Kolluvirrukkum..Iyyarkkai Mannam irrukkum"...i dont know the name of the movie. Can somebody help?? Seelan 14 May 2006 12:00 pm: Jayashree\ The song that you are looking for is from the film "Hello Mr Jamintar". balasurendran 31 Aug 2008 3:12 am: Nice songs and very easy to predict.I would like to download songs of that type. jayaar 16 Feb 2009 10:01 am: Fantastic. P.b. srinivas is for melody. nice collection. great work. hats off to mr. anand. have you got it done for more of his songs. how nice it would be if we could download the songs at once from here!\ thank you! vijayakumar 29 Mar 2009 7:39 am: I am a fan of PBSreenivos.When he visited Singapore in 1984 i visited his his show.It was marvellous to hear live from a great and a legeng in meledious music. Thomas Prins 29 May 2009 2:27 pm: 10th song was sung by AL Ragavan with P Suseela. Not by PBS. Gemini Sridhar 10 Sep 2009 8:18 am: PBS all time great, md.rafi of south, a song in Prema Paasam, avan allal puvi mele and nenjam alai modave kangal kulamagave a song from mana maalai are two great songs he only can sing. yes my Master, i pray Almighty for his long live with good health. Devi sri devei thedi alagindren-puriyadu vazkaiyin ragasiyam puriyadu- oh what a lovely songs, Friends you might be knowing- all the stage singers and leading singers by singing Nilave ennidam nerungade song they shown their talent. yes it is true. eswar 12 Mar 2010 4:33 pm: got 10/10 really very interesting what melody M.KUMARI 2 Mar 2010 6:19 pm: I am not able to answer those. Hoping I would success in the next chance. J.Venkatesan 2 Oct 2010 6:13 pm: kanavo kalyana oorvalam B .VEERABADRAN 24 Oct 2011 4:10 pm: very very nice songs p b s I LIKE EVERY TIME thanking you Sureshwar 19 Aug 2011 9:10 am: Great PBS... Venkat 19 Jul 2011 9:41 am: Team, do any one of you know this old song from PBS ? Kodhai un meni oliyaam kulir neeril neendhum vizhiyaam; poovil amarndha vaani; aadal therindha raani; nee kalamangaiyo....... full hindhusthani music background ? Can anyone tell me, the lyrics, the music director, movie and the lyricist ? N C Phani sayee 8 May 2012 7:26 pm: As a Telugu, Iam proud of PBS ,being a Telugu but Mastered Tamil and Kannada film songs.We can find fault SPB's improper Singing in Tamil/Kannada,KJJ faulting the Tamil songs, but PBS can't be faulted for faulty spelling in singing in these languages. dr.ninan koothoor 13 Sep 2012 6:35 pm: Ilamae koluvirukkum song is in the film hello mr zeminthaar ( gemini genesan movie) v.s. prakasa rao 23 Apr 2013 3:02 pm: It's a great, pleasant feeling listening to PBS. Kalangalil aval vasantham, Ilamai koluvirukum, Manidan enbavan, Paadatha paattellaam padavandaal, Chinna Chinna roja, netruvarai nee yaro naan yaro, yaar yaar yaar aval yaaro, Nilave ennidam nerungade, Mayakkama(Tamil), Apara keerthi galisi etc(Kannada) and Andalu chindu mana prema, manasuloni korika, Andaalaseema manameludaama etc.(Telugu) are only some of my favourites. Thanks for this quiz which I tried only once. VSP Rao

Tamil Songs by P B Srinivas


I visited the Ritz for afternoon tea, overcoming my hesitation about the formal dress code to enjoy exceptional Earl Grey, scones, and sandwiches while observing the demographic mix of visitors in London.

Had tea at the Ritz today. Initially, after reading that "Gentlemen are politely requested to keep their jackets and ties on during tea", my reaction was rather like Calvin's. Calvin having tea But the tea (Earl Grey) was outstanding. So were the scones, sandwiches and desserts. Although most people were ladies above 60, the younger ones were among the most beautiful I've seen in London.

Tea at the Ritz


I highlight my favorite insights from Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk on education, focusing on how schools stifle creativity by prioritizing academic paths like university professorships and fail to prepare students for an unpredictable future.

Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk on education is brilliant and funny. Some quotes that struck me: If you think of it, children starting school this year will be retiring in 2065. Nobody has a clue, despite all the expertise that has been on parade the last four days, what the world will look like in five years' time. And yet we're meant to be educating them for it. So the unpredictability, I think, is extraordinary. If you were to visit education as an alien and say "What's it for?", I think you'd have to conclude, if you look at the output, that the whole purpose of public education throughout the world, is to produce university professors. Isn't it? They're the people who come out on top, and I used to be one. (So there!) And I like university professors, but you know, we shouldn't hold them up as the high watermark of all human achievement -- they're just a form of life.

TEDTalk by Sir Ken Robinson


I'm sharing a hilarious recording by Tom Mabe, who pranks an unsuspecting telemarketer by pretending to be a police officer investigating a murder at the victim’s home. It’s a creative, if extreme, way to handle unwanted sales calls.

Tom Mabe likes playing pranks on telemarketers while recording the call. This is a recording of a hilarious telemarketing call. Tom: Hello?\ Mike: Yes, can I speak with Tom Mabe?\ Tom: Who's calling?\ Mike: This is Mike (beep). You've been selected to receive a complete digital satellite system for free. With this, you're going to...\ Tom: Um, let me ask you something. Did you know Tom Mabe? Are you a friend of his?\ Mike: No, I'm not. I'm just calling to...\ Tom: Hold that thought... hold on one second, alright? (off phone) Hey guys, get really good pictures of the body. Yeah, dust everything down for prints. (on phone) Are you there?\ Mike: Yeah.\ Tom: Let me bring you up to speed. You have actually called a murder scene and Mr Mabe is no longer with us. I'm Officer Clarke. I'm conducting a homicide investigation. I want to ask you a series of questions. Firstly, what was the nature of business you had with Tom Mabe?\ Mike: I, uh, had no business with him. I'm... I'm sorry to have bothered you...\ Tom: No, no, no hey hold on look, I want to ask you to stay on the phone. This call has already been traced and we may need to you to come here for further questioning. This ...\ Mike: You see, you don't understand. I'm just calling ...\ Tom: No, no, look, you don't understand. Unless you want to be charged with obstruction of justice it's imperative to keep your ass on the phone, Mike.\ Mike: Or, how about you just talk to my supervisor then?\ Tom: No no no no we'll get to your supervisor in a second. Now, give me your whereabouts.\ Mike: I'm at work.\ Tom: You're at work?\ Mike: Yes.\ Tom: You being a smartass?\ Mike: No, sir.\ Tom: Let me put it to you this way, Mike. Say I want to mail your ass a letter. What would I have to write on the outside of that envelope to ensure that the mailman will deliver it right to your ass? Geographically speaking, Mike, where is work?\ Mike: 40 West (beep), Middleton, Colorado.\ Tom: Hold on, that's 40 ...\ Mike: Yes sir.\ Tom: Michael, hold on one sec, alright?\ Mike: Yes sir.\ Tom: (off phone) Get the Middleton homicide department on the phone. Yeah, give them this information. Tell them there been a talk in connection with a fatal shooting and aggravated robbery. (on phone) Mike, how did you know Mr. Mabe again?\ Mike: Wait, you're calling the Middleton police department? I'm hundreds of miles away! I don't even know the guy... I'm in Colorado!\ Tom: No, no, it's not that scary... that's just a formality. Tell me, have you been to any place other than work, then?\ Mike: No!\ Tom: OK, and tell me again what, where were you last night for twenty hours after eight and ten?\ Mike: I'm not feeling really comfortable with any of this.\ Tom: Have you even ever spoken to Mr. Mabe, Mike?\ Mike: No I haven't. I don't even know the guy. That's what I've been trying to tell you!\ Tom: OK, very good, calm down, calm down, look, I've got one more question for you, Mike. As you well know, I'm sure, Mr. Mabe was a flaming homosexual. There's no easy way of asking this, I don't want to embarrass you or nothin', but, were you his gay lover?\ Mike: What!? No... what kind of a question is that?\ Tom: (you just have to hear what he says!) Comments Bob Zuley 21 Dec 2006 10:21 pm: What exactly is the ending reference to homosexuality supposed to mean? Is it an insult, or a joke? S Anand 21 Dec 2006 11:37 pm: Oh, the whole thing is a joke by Tom Mabe anyway. Guess he just wanted to see how far he could go in pulling this telemarketer's leg. Dhar 23 Dec 2006 7:37 am: Well, I think I will try and pull something similar the next time I receive of those infinite calls for free credit cards / free holidays... :))\ \ Totally enjoyable reading!! D. Ric 19 Jan 2009 6:13 am: I dont care what anyone says that is funny zwtk : how do you deal with telemarketers? - Perth Street Bikes 19 May 2009 3:59 am (pingback): [...] calls most evenings. I think this is the best way to deal with the ones that do get through: Telemarketer in a murder investigation | s-anand.net \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Adventure before [...] Janet 14 Jun 2012 10:39 pm: Lol very funny, end if the day he will probably get a call from someone at some point, and know how the public feel about it. Great prank! Harry Scrotter 26 Aug 2011 2:07 pm: Bullying, and psychological harassment of some poor fellow just trying to make a living by working for a telemarketing company. Probably on minimum wage and just trying to provide for his family. Throw in a little homophobia for good measure and watch the dweeby frat boy scum bust a zit laughing. Why not throw in a little racism for good measure hey: draw in a load more douchbag wallies for your inane, tedious and puerile waste of pixels. Rick 18 Jan 2017 8:44 pm: I have made me a script to read from when a spammer calls me that is very similar to this post and dam its funny hearing their reactions to my questions. I look forward to getting spammers calls so I can have a little fun with them, It always is the highlight of my day

Telemarketer in a murder investigation


Find the optimal schedule for purchasing big-ticket items like airfare and electronics. This guide highlights specific calendar windows and retail cycles to help you secure the lowest prices across various consumer categories.

The best time to buy everything: when to buy air tickets, get great deals on electronics, and so on.

The best time to buy everything


This article explains how Google leverages the 'float' by holding AdSense payments until they reach $100, effectively earning interest on millions of dollars in withheld revenue from small publishers.

The Great Google Float. Interesting article on how Google makes money by holding Adsense payments until it hits $100.

The Great Google Float


Review John Maeda's ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity. These principles focus on reducing clutter, organizing features, and saving time to create more intuitive designs and meaningful user experiences across technology and business.

The 10 Laws of Simplicity.

The laws of simplicity


I explore the Long Tail of information sharing, noting that a tiny fraction of users drive most Wikipedia content. I originally doubted organizational wikis could reach critical mass, but later found examples where scale made them work.

The Long Tail of information sharing. Even on Wikipedia, fewer than 2% have contributed over 100 articles. Over 85% have contributed fewer than 5 articles. A Wiki inside an organisation is unlikely to reach critical mass, left to itself. Comments Arun 28 Apr 2006 6:10 am: But I imagine, many in the 85% probably contributed stuff that the prolific guys never thought of. For instance, I know one guy who put up something on Ananth Pai (Tinkle, Amar Chitra Katha), and i doubt he probably ever added anything else. But you are right about wiki in an organization. Do you know an organization where a wiki has been used effectively? S Anand 28 Apr 2006 10:22 pm: No, not offhand. We were planning to recommend it at one of our clients', but I'm not going to do that any more. sathish 30 Apr 2006 2:39 am: if the organization strength is large - runs into many thousands or lakhs - I think the required critical mass might be acheived.. for smaller companies and small teams too, it might make sense - since, every one is liable to participate - especially product documentation - it would be easier make/correct and change. Arun 30 Apr 2006 6:02 am: Ah, ok. S Anand 30 Apr 2006 8:45 am: A colleague just reported that his current client is successfully using a Wiki. So may it's not impossible after all... Madhu 2 May 2006 12:24 pm: wiki is all about scale i think. The sergery brin special lecture at UCB is a case in point. You can access this at google videos

The Long Tail of information sharing


I found this classic Best of Craigslist story where a man outwits his mugger and turns the tables. It is a humorous and ironic account of street justice involving a very confused thief.

The man who robbed a robber.

The man who robbed a robber


Researchers found that the frequency distribution of terrorist attacks and group sizes follows the same mathematical pattern across various global conflicts, suggesting a universal structure to insurgent activity regardless of geography or ideology.

The Mathematical Structure of Terrorism. The frequency distribution of terrorist attacks -- be it in Iraq, Columbia, Afghanistan or anywhere in the world -- is the same. The frequency distribution of the size of terrorist groups is the same as well.

The Mathematical Structure of Terrorism


Childhood precociousness rarely predicts adult success. This article explores how most child prodigies fail to become creative geniuses, as adult mastery requires original thinking and grit rather than just early imitation of existing rules.

The myth of prodigy. Precociousness as a child is no indicator of future success.

The myth of prodigy


I found the O'Reilly Code Quiz, an addictive tool that presents code snippets and asks you to match them to their source books. It's a fun way to test your technical breadth and pattern recognition across programming languages.

The O'Reilly Code Quiz shows a snippet of code and asks you to guess which book it could be from (given a choice of 4). It's addictive.

The OReilly Code Quiz


I've shared Josh Kaufman's list of 42 essential books that comprise a "Personal MBA." Covering strategy, finance, and management, these readings offer a practical, low-cost alternative to formal business school through self-directed study and practice.

The Personal MBA. John Kaufman says reading (and practicing) these 42 books should be as good as any MBA (and that an MBA is, perhaps excessively, expensive). Some of these books are worth a read in any case. Master Yourself Mastery by George Leonard Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton Manage Your Life and Work Getting Things Done by David Allen The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey Learn the Fundamentals What the CEO Wants You to Know by Ram Charan Profitable Growth Is Everyone's Business by Ram Charan Strategic Thinking On Competition by Michael Porter Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne The Only Thing Constant is Change Seeing What's Next by Clayton M. Christensen, Erik A. Roth, Scott D. Anthony Re-imagine by Tom Peters Masters of Management The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman The Finest Minds in Business The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett & Lawrence Cunningham Poor Charlie's Almanack by Charlie Munger & Peter Kaufman Dollars on the Books The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Finance for Nonfinancial Managers by Robert A. Cooke Essentials of Accounting, 8th edition by Robert Anthony, Leslie Pearlman Numbers and Negotiations How to Read a Financial Report by John A. Tracy Getting To Yes by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton Operational Effectiveness The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt & Jeff Cox Lean Thinking by James Womack & Daniel Jones Form and Function The Substance of Style by Virginia Postrel The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman Project Management and Marketing The Art of Project Management by Scott Berkun The Marketing Playbook by John Zagula & Richard Tong Do Your Own Thing The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki The Bootstrapper's Bible by Seth Godin Speak Your Mind On Writing Well by William Zinsser Flawless Consulting by Peter Block The Delicate Art of Human Relations How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler Sell, Sell, Sell! The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini Economics and Worldviews Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt The Economist Businesses, Past and Present American Business, 1920-2000 by Thomas McCraw, John Franklin, A. S. Eisenstadt Brand New by Nancy F. Koehn Rules and Morals Law 101 by Jay M. Feinman A Primer on Business Ethics by Tibor Machan & James Chesher Analyze This The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch Principles of Statistics by M.G. Bulmer Voices of Experience The Little Book of Business Wisdom by Peter Krass (Editor) Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management by Bill Swanson

The Personal MBA


I manage project requests by offering a 'qualified yes,' where I commit to specific hours or sessions rather than open-ended tasks. This helps set clear boundaries, values my time, and avoids the burden of unintentional long-term management.

The qualified Yes. Somewhere between saying "no" to a new project or taking on something in an open-ended type of way, be clear from the start on what you can commit in concrete terms. So, what used to be "Sure, I'll do your web site" is now more often "Sure, I'll give you 10 hours and 3 calls over the next month to use however you want." If nothing else, it helps everyone understand that time is a precious commodity, but it also gets me out of being the de facto manager for every aspect of a project I touch.

The qualified Yes


I realized after reading John Battelle’s book that users don't search just to search; they want to get something done. This makes every search a commercial opportunity, requiring websites to focus entirely on facilitating user intent.

I was reading John Battelle's The Search , and realised: We don't sit down on the computer and say, "Let's do a search". True. We want to get something done. We know it's out there somewhere. We search. So every search on a search engine is a commercial opportunity. Contrawise, every site must let people to do what they want to do on the site. Think... What do people want to do when they're on YOUR site?

The Search


I explore John Taylor Gatto’s scathing critique of compulsory schooling, which argues that classrooms primarily teach obedience, surveillance, and dependency. These six "lessons" suggest that modern education functions more like a twelve-year jail sentence than a place for learning.

The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher, by John Taylor Gatto, New York State Teacher of the Year, 1991. (The first part of it is sarcastic. This man is speaking passionately of things he despises in the education system.) The first lesson I teach is: "Stay in the class where you belong." I don't know who decides that my kids belong there but that's not my business. The second lesson I teach kids is to turn on and off like a light switch. I demand that they become totally involved in my lessons, jumping up and down in their seats with anticipation, competing vigorously with each other for my favor. The third lesson I teach you is to surrender your will to a predestined chain of command. Rights may be granted or withheld, by authority, without appeal. The fourth lesson I teach is that only I determine what curriculum you will study. (Rather, I enforce decisions transmitted by the people who pay me). In lesson five I teach that your self-respect should depend on an observer's measure of your worth. My kids are constantly evaluated and judged. In lesson six I teach children that they are being watched. I keep each student under constant surveillance and so do my colleagues. There are no private spaces for children; there is no private time. It is the great triumph of schooling that among even the best of my fellow teachers, and among even the best parents, there is only a small number who can imagine a different way to do things. He concludes: School is like starting life with a 12-year jail sentence in which bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know. Comments You are in prison | s-anand.net 21 May 2010 12:01 pm (pingback): [...] If you’re a well-paid professional in an India IT services firm, your freedom is limited.(This holds if you’re a student, too.) [...] Sai Suren Kumar 4 Sep 2012 5:25 am: Nice one sir... there is only a small number who can imagine a different way to do things.

The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher


I shared a photo of my view from the Infosys office and confirmed that our team has officially reached breakeven. It's a small snapshot of my workspace during a successful financial period for our division.

The view from my office is pretty good. The view from my office Comments Anonymous 30 Sep 2006 7:35 pm: Neat. Is it your office or your current client's office? Have you guys broken even? Or is it still lifeline from the parent? S Anand 30 Sep 2006 9:20 pm: Thanks! This is the Infosys office, not a client's. As for breakeven, yeah, we actually have!

The view from my office


I highlight the productivity benefits of dual-monitor setups, including side-by-side document comparison, viewing large spreadsheets, managing photo tool palettes on a secondary display, and keeping email visible while working on other tasks.

The virtues of a second screen. So now, while I am editing this article on my main screen, the screen beside it shows the outline or earlier draft I am working from -- and, sometimes, Web sites or other documents I keep referring to. When I edit photos, the second screen lets me compare the copy I am working on with the original, or shows tool palettes and thumbnails of other images, and I can blow up panoramic shots for closer viewing (though with a bar down the middle, like the central pillar of an old car's windshield). When I am shopping on the Web, my two screens let me compare products. When I work on tables or spreadsheets, I can see all the columns at once. When I expect important messages, I keep my e-mail program open on the side monitor while I work on something else. Comments Umasuthan 22 Apr 2006 5:44 pm: With so much dependency on IT in our day-to-day work, as the author points out even 2 screens wouldn't be sufficient. True. â€˜Ease of useâ€™ has become a major issue in IT systems. That reminds me. Did u check the 'Reveal' and 'Firefox Showcase' plug-ins for Firefox? Saurabh 22 Apr 2006 6:12 pm: Does anyone use Maxthon also? S Anand 23 Apr 2006 4:37 pm: First time I'd heard of it, actually. ravi 24 Apr 2006 2:00 am: anand the links ask for registration??!! S Anand 24 Apr 2006 6:46 am: Yeah, but it's a free registration. www.BugMeNot.com might be able to provide you with a username and password.

The virtues of a second screen


I examine the classic riddle regarding the three English words ending in '-gry.' Beyond 'angry' and 'hungry,' the puzzle often relies on clever phrasing or obsolete terms to trick those looking for a literal third word.

There are three English words ending in "-gry". Two are "angry" and "hungry". What is the third one? See the answer. Comments Dhar 29 Dec 2006 2:50 pm: I thought "augry" was a proper English word?? S Anand 29 Dec 2006 7:07 pm: Well, Google can't find augry. Cameron 1 Apr 2007 11:20 pm: it is person 27 Dec 2006 12:00 pm: None it's a riddle and you didn't phrase it right. But this is how it goes:\ \ There are three words in The English language that end in "gry". ONE is angry and the other is hungry. EveryONE knows what the third ONE means and what it stands for.. EveryONE uses them everyday, and if you listened very carefully, I've given you the third word.\ \ Look carefully at the first sentence and at the part 'The english Language' There are three words in that phrase, the english language the third is the word language.\ \ So language is your answer. The rest is a big trick to get you away from the obvious first sentence which holds the answer.

Three words that end in gry


I found a visualization mapping the acquisition histories of Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo. This timeline tracks their strategic purchases and competitive expansion, providing a clear overview of how these tech giants grew through mergers during the early 2000s.

A timeline of Microsoft, Google and Yahoo acquisitions.

Timeline of Microsoft Google and Yahoo acquisitions


I found a comprehensive timeline from Futureswatch that tracks global trends and historical events from 1750 all the way to 2100. It is a fascinating look at our past and projected future developments across several centuries.

Timeline of trends and events from 1750 to 2100 (yes, that's next century).

Timeline of trends and events


I share a link to Robert Scoble’s thoughts on whether or not to start videoblogging. This early look at the format considers the trade-offs between video and text for content creators during the mid-2000s blog boom.

Scoble on To videoblog or not to videoblog.

To videoblog or not to videoblog


I shared a 2006 comparison of the top ten BitTorrent sites where BTJunkie was ranked first. However, personal testing and reader feedback led me to question the accuracy of the rankings compared to sites like TorrentSpy.

A comparison of the top 10 bittorrent sites. BTJunkie emerges the winner. Comments Dhar 27 Sep 2006 10:55 pm: Not convinced with the comparison. Looks like the chappie Renald is just using to blog to promote BTJunkie. Checked the features of BTJunkie, they are nowhere close to Torrentspy, yet it gets a rating of 9. No way anyone can confirm BTJunkies claims like Torrents Indexed, Torrents Added Daily etc. Neither does the author specify how he confirmed these points.\ \ "At first I thought BTJunkie's numbers must be fake, but I assure you it is real! I tested the number posted with the number in the actual directory for the day and they matched for a week straight!"\ \ Yeah, sure! S Anand 28 Sep 2006 6:47 am: Does sound like a plug, doesn't it? :-) I'm planning to do a test myself. Why don't you try one too? Sumit Dhar 8 Oct 2006 12:54 pm: http://torrentfreak.com/the-largest-bittorrent-search-engine-on-the-web/ S Anand 8 Oct 2006 2:50 pm: A solid rebuttal. I tried BTJunkie last week. Wasn't very impressed. And the few movies I couldn't find anywhere else, I couldn't find here either.

Top 10 bittorrent sites comparison


I found that Nikon dominates the top cameras on Flickr, specifically the D50 and D70 models. This snapshot of 2006 trends shows Canon following behind in the popular digital SLR rankings of the time.

Top 10 cameras on Flickr. Topping the list is Nikon (D50 and D70), followed by Canon.

Top 10 cameras on Flickr


I curated a list of the ten best Windows XP tips for improving system performance and workflow. These essential tweaks help users optimize their OS, manage files more efficiently, and master forgotten power-user shortcuts.

Top 10 Windows XP tips of all time. Comments Ashwin 3 Sep 2006 10:43 pm: hey....nice set of links u have here...btw...the xp link is down i think...and i'm gonna try the torrents thing... the calvin search is awesome except for the fact that u can't read the stip immediately....but its real good....thanks... S Anand 4 Sep 2006 6:59 am: Thanks, Ashwin! I've fixed the Windows XP tips link.

Top 10 Windows XP tips of all time


I heard a witty London Underground driver on the Jubilee line at Stratford sarcastically exclude the person who pulled the passenger alarm at Westminster from his well-wishes for a pleasant evening.

I was travelling on the Jubilee line, just pulling into Stratford (the last stop), when I heard this announcement. "The next station is Stratford, where this train terminates. Thank you for travelling on the Jubilee line, and I hope you have a very pleasant evening." (pause) "Unless, of course, you were the person who pulled the passenger alarm at Westminster, in which case I don't care what kind of an evening you have."

Tube announcements


Explore Ben Fry’s interactive US Zip Code map to visualize how postal codes are distributed across the country. You can type in specific digits to see real-time updates and geographic relationships between different regions.

US Zip Codes Map. Type in the ZIP code, and interactively see which areas it maps to.

US Zip Code map


I show you how to create custom Excel functions using VBA to simplify complex tasks. I use these to handle errors gracefully, extract formula strings, and access data like cell formatting that standard formulas can't reach.

Excel lets you create your own functions. If you wanted to create a function that returned the distance between two points (x1,y1) and (x2,y2), you can create a function DIST that takes these 4 parameters, and use it as shown below. Example of a user-defined function in Excel To create such a function, 1. press Alt-F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor 2. insert a new module (Alt-I-M) 3. type the following code: Visual Basic code for the DIST user-defined Excel function Anything you declare as a "Function" in Excel's Visual Basic automatically becomes visible in the Insert-Function dialog box under the category "User Defined" (see examples). The function is normally saved with the file. This is a good idea if you're going to distribute the file. You can also save your functions in your personal.xls file and load it on startup. There are 3 places where I suggest using UDFs. 1. You need to repeat a formula or use an additional cell to get the job done (e.g. replace Excel errors with empty strings) 2. You can't get the information from a formula (e.g. a cell's background colour) 3. It's very cumbersome to get the information using formulas (e.g. regular expressions) Let's take the first one: replace Excel errors with empty strings. Normally, you'd store the results in a cell (say A2), and have another cell with the formula =IF(ISERROR(A2),"",A2). Instead, create this function NOERROR: Function NOERROR in Excel Visual Basic Now you can enclose any Excel function inside a NOERROR() and it'll filter out the errors. How the NOERROR function is used Notice that cell E2 would've had a #N/A error if you'd just used the VLOOKUP. This function also filters out #REF, #DIV/0!, #NAME? and all other errors. BTW, you see column F displaying the formula in column E. I didn't type it out. That's another UDF. FormulaString function returns the formula of a cell I will talk about the other two places where you use UDFs tomorrow. Comments Greg 4 Apr 2007 3:15 pm: This is very helpful! I am having a problem however; I defined the functions in personal.xls (loaded upon startup) and they always work there, but they aren't available when working with a different file (I get the #NAME error). I also then created variants of them in the specific file, but although they worked, once I made some changes in the file (added a column), they no longer worked even though I re-did the reference properly. Any ideas?

User-defined functions in Excel


I show how to create Excel UDFs to detect cell background colors and bold formatting. By using Application.Volatile and array formulas, you can sum or filter data based on cell styles rather than just values.

Sometimes you want to check the colour of a cell, or whether a cell is bold. This can be easily done with user-defined functions (UDFs). (To create a UDF, press Alt-F11, Alt-I-M, and type the code below.) User defined functions to get the background colour and bold value of a cell You can use ISBOLD(cell) to check if a cell is bold, and BGCOLOR(cell) to get the background colour of the cell. This lets you selectively process bold or shaded cells. The two examples below show how you can add only the cells in bold, or only the shaded cells. Example to selectively add shaded cells Example to selectively add bold cells Rather than use an additional column for ISBOLD or BGCOLOR, you can use an array formula, like below. (Remember to press Ctrl-Shift-Enter instead of Enter after typing this formula) Example to selectively add bold cells using a single array formula But first, you need to change the UDF to return an array rather than a single value. So IsBold will have to be modified as shown. User defined function isBold modified to return an array User-defined functions that process arrays can be very powerful. It can bring the full power of functional programming into Excel. I'll describe some next week. PS: In case you're wondering, Application.Volatile tells Excel to recalculate the function every time the worksheet is recalculated. When a cell is made bold, or shaded, the value of the cell doesn't change. So Excel doesn't recalculate any formulas. You'll have to manually press F9 every time to recalculate these cells. And Application.Volatile ensures that when you press F9, these functions are recalculated. Comments Ramly 19 Mar 2007 3:07 pm: good... May i ask your help to give me a solution for my problem... I always use vlookup to find some data in a specific range, my lookup value are employee code number then look for there name, age, address and so on. but today, i want look up a value with multiple returns. i want to have the some of a worker which he have in a specific date. Please give help regarding this matter. Prasath 13 Nov 2009 10:00 am: Hi Need a help The ISBOLD function which is defined on top does not work if I change the cell which is Bold to Unbold. The formula should work automatically if a cell is changed BOLD or UNBOLD

User-defined functions to get cell formatting


I found a practical guide on how hackers use Google Code Search to identify vulnerabilities like exposed MySQL credentials. It demonstrates how simple search queries can be leveraged to compromise site security through public code repositories.

How hackers are using Google to pwn your site. Includes a very practical example of how to use Google Code Search to hack a MySQL account.

Using Google Code Search for hacking


I am taking a vacation from my blog and won't be posting updates until late March 2006. In the meantime, visitors are reacting to my recent site redesign, noting the improved color scheme and simpler layout.

I am on vacation, and probably won't update until 20th March 2006. Comments Madhu 20 Feb 2006 10:04 am: Happy Holidays:) Sai 22 Feb 2006 4:58 pm: The new colour looks better! Krishna Shirali 8 Mar 2006 10:10 am: Have a relaxed time PP 14 Mar 2006 10:48 am: Simpler; better. ravi 21 Mar 2006 2:30 pm: looking forward to hear ur holiday escapades

Vacation 2006


I’ve compiled a list of high-quality educational video resources, including Berkeley course webcasts, Google TechTalks, and LongNow seminars. These links provide access to university lectures, science documentaries, and deep discussions on technology and long-term thinking.

Berkeley webcasts of their courses. Google TechTalks. Authors@Google. LongNow seminars about long term thinking. UCTV Video on Demand. Nova. Computer History Museum. Comments Michelle 5 Dec 2006 12:39 pm: Do you have books I can learn From? Top 10 non-fiction books?

Videos you can learn from


I used an unorthodox variwide chart to visualize the centralization of over 300 banking activities. Mapping these across branches and hubs showed that 55% of work remained decentralized, helping overcome organizational resistance to further centralization.

Surely we don't have many activities to centralise? We already have a central hub for processing operations! We heard that from a fair section of our client organisation. They initially had operations spread across their branches. Some years ago, they had established a central hub and many regional hubs. Yet, Only a few prominent operations were centralised. Others were just regionalised. Regionalisation was inconsistent. Some branches still did these at their own premises. Branches still did the bulk of the work. We made a list of activities, surveyed all their branches and hubs, and got a good sense of which activities were happening at branches vs regionally vs centrally. Rather than make a list of these activities (they numbered over 300), we put the variwide chart to an unorthodox use. The chart below shows the activities on the x-axis, and the extent of centralisation on the y-axis. Variwide showing centralisation of activities The graph actually consists of thin vertical lines, one for each activity. The height represents the number of branches for which the activity is happening regionally. For the activities on the right, they're happening at branches. Dark blue lines are happening centrally. Light blue lines are regionalised. You can see at a glance that about 55% of activities are at branches, 35% are regionalised and 10% are centralised. Clearly there's a big potential to centralise. Once we showed this slide, most of the objections went away. Comments Sudheer 21 Sep 2006 5:01 am: Hi Anand, Without taking the credit away from analysis, te most amazing part of your analysis is the representation. I guess the simplicity and the novelty of the picture. One thing which you could elaborate a little more is to tell us how you identified the list of activities so that they are of similar significance/effort etc. Given that branches are the last mile in terms of delivery there will be a lot more of smaller activties compared to the HO. S Anand 21 Sep 2006 7:07 am: You're right, Sudheer -- that's an important question. We assumed that the size of activities is proportional to the size of assets at the operations. So the vertical axis is not the number of branches, actually. It's the asset size. This is not a perfect assumption, but for a homogenous bank like ours, a fairly good one. That takes care of the size of activities.

Visualisation - activities to centralise


I used bank data to show how centralizing operations reduces variance and smoothens demand. By visualizing load across hubs rather than using formulas, I made the mathematical benefits of consolidation instantly intuitive and easy to grasp.

Often, presentations and documents make complex points. It's useful to convey these as a simple visual. It's worthwhile to make the effort and do a simple visual for every slide or paragraph. Once, a retail bank asked us if they should centralise their operations. They had operations distributed across branches, regional hubs, and a central hub. After 2 months of work, this was our story: 1. Centralising smoothens demand 2. Centralising improves productivity 3. Your activities are decentralised (so you should consolidate) 4. To do that effectively, you need a few more regional hubs Centralising smoothens demand The mathematics is simple. If you have operations in two hubs, A and B, the variance (in demand) for A and B, individually, will exceed the variance for a combined hub A+B. Therefore, you'll have a smoother demand for the combined hub. Var(A) + Var(B) >= Var(A+B) But we couldn't just say that in a slide. So we collected data about the daily volumes at three hubs, and it clearly showed the result. Var(A) + Var(B) + Var(C) > Var(A+B+C). Centralised Hub reduces total variance But it's tough to get the message instantly from this. The main problem is, it's not obvious how variance (a mathematical concept) relates to smoothening demand. So we showed a graph of the load, with individual hubs on the left and the combined hub on the right. Graphical view of how centralisation reduces variance It's very easy to see this from the graph: demand at the individual hubs varies more than at the combined hub. People would take one look at it and go, "Oh, yeah... I get it. Move on." (Incidentally, that's the best possible outcome for a slide. People glance at it, say "Oh yeah, that's clear. Move on." It's what we dream of.) Comments Anonymous 19 Sep 2006 6:28 pm: Anand, Here, are the demands for each hub independent of each other. If not then would the above result be distorted ? S Anand 19 Sep 2006 6:53 pm: Even if the demands are dependent, the variance will never increase. At worst, there'd be no improvement. In this case, we didn't know how correlated the demands were, so we took actual data. As it turns out, the demands were slightly correlated, but not much. So there was a fair bit of saving.

Visualisation - centralisation smoothens demand


I use variwide charts to visualize productivity gains and product profitability across different hubs. By mapping efficiency to height and volume to width, these charts reveal total impact and potential improvements that standard bar charts miss.

When you put people together, they tend to learn from each other. For example, we found one hub opening accounts much faster than another. Why? One guy had found this free software that enables auto-completion, and had installed it on his machine. Copying him, everyone else had done the same on their machine. So the hub as a whole was faster. When multiple hubs are put together, they'd all be as fast as the fastest (we hoped). It could be as simple as one guy finding a more efficient tool, or found Modafinil(which you can safely get on ) to help increase focus during working hours. Again, an Excel sheet can give us the estimated increase in productivity. Table showing increase in productivity due to centralisation Each hub can (in theory) become as productive as hub A, and you can calculate the improvement in productivity as a % of total effort. But it's easier to visualise this as a graph. Variwide chart showing increase in productivity due to centralisation This is a variwide chart. Variwides are a very powerful way of presenting data, especially when sorted by height. It fully utilises both height, width and area to convey useful information. From the above graph, you can instantly understand all the following: A is the most productive hub, because it's the tallest B is the biggest hub, because it's the widest Most of the effort is spent in B, because it's the biggest block The white space is the possible gain in productivity You can't create these by default on Powerpoint. Jon Peltier has a good tutorial on how to create matrix charts (as he calls them). Another way to create them is using X-Y scatter plots to draw the lines. Here's another example. We determined the profitability of products for another bank. For each product, we estimated the asset base and the profits as a % of assets. Here is what it looks like on a variwide. Product profitability variwide You can clearly make out, at a glance, that staff loans and savings accounts are highly profitable, that commercial advances make the most profit, that term deposits are the only loss-making product, and NRE products are the least profitable. Comments Ki 20 Sep 2006 3:59 am: Productivity through learning improves only as long as the cost of communicating is negligible. Have you read the mythical man month? S Anand 20 Sep 2006 6:20 am: I did read it a long time ago. I remember this point in the context of adding people making projects late. True enough. Fortunately, in this case, it's a process that goes on forever, and productivity has enough time to reach an equilibrium. Peter Ritter 23 May 2009 4:11 pm: Is productivity the volume produced by each member of the HUB? If so, I only get 3.5% improvement for the second HUB. Could you numbers be off by one? Peter Giants’ playoff pitching | Diamond Graphs 31 Oct 2014 3:41 am (pingback): […] The variwide chart above shows the Giants’ performance by pitcher in the 2014 postseason. With innings pitched on the x-axis and ERA on the y-axis, the area of each bar represents total earned runs allowed — and wide bars far above or below the average have the most impact. Three of the Giants’ four starters had mediocre to poor ERAs, and none of those three pitched many innings. The fourth, however, was Madison Bumgarner, who tossed nearly a third of San Francisco’s innings with a sensational 1.03 ERA. The back end of the Giants’ bullpen was also excellent, with Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo combining for one earned run. […]

Visualisation - centralising improves productivity


I used the Haversine formula in Excel to calculate branch distances and visualized hub coverage using X-Y scatter plots over a map, helping a bank identify regional gaps and justify new hub locations.

OK, we agree we need to centralise more. But do we really need additional hubs? If so, where? We'd shown that this bank could further centralise 55%. They had 10 regional hubs. We felt these weren't enough. But how to prove it? For regional activities, the key factor is distance. (That's why they're regional and not central.) For example, cheque clearing can be delayed at most one day, to transfer the cheque to a nearby hub. Shipping them all to, say Gurgaon, would take 2-3 days and that's too long. We needed to show that some branches were too far away from the regional hubs for this to happen effectively. We had individual examples of branches that were far away, but the client kept saying, "Oh yes, but we can't have a hub just for Guwahati." We had a list of their 350+ branches, and their 10 regional hubs. The question was, were there many branches very far from a hub? (We agreed that 300 km was the acceptable "range" of a hub.) This is a tougher problem than it looks. We needed the latitude and longitude of every city that had a branch. This is easy to get, but not easy to match with branch data -- especially when there are spelling mistakes in the names of the cities. This was where I learnt how to reconcile data. Using the Haversine formula to compute distances between latitudes and longitudes, we finally came up with this (messy) sheet. The last column shows the minimum distance to a hub for each branch. The items in red were more than 300 km. We were proved right. They needed more hubs. Distance of each branch from the closest hub But where to locate new hubs? We initially tried some fancy algorithms, but our clients were lost a long time ago. So we plotted the branches on the map, along with the hubs, and the range of the hubs. (This wasn't a projection or anything -- I just plotted latitudes and longitudes on a X-Y scatter plot, put an India map below, and tweaked it.) India map showing branches and hub coverage Then people got it. They'd take one look at the map, and say "Ah, so we have uncovered regions in UP, Haryana and Karnataka. OK, I'll put a hub there. Move on." This is an obvious thing to do. But it takes effort. Which is why, sometimes: it's better that the person who's thinking of the slides is not the one who makes the slides -- just so he doesn't shy away from good, tough slides. Comments Sudheer 22 Sep 2006 3:29 am: "Which is why, sometimes: it's better that the person who's thinking of the slides is not the one who makes the slides -- just so he doesn't shy away from good, tough slides." :) Somnath 22 Sep 2006 5:19 am: Anand - are you going to use Excel for anything and everything. Thanks to you I am learning Excel. S Anand 22 Sep 2006 5:52 am: Well, Excel IS a full-fledged functional programming language! So, at least in theory, it's possible to write EVERY program in Excel :-) pegasus 26 Dec 2006 5:40 am: aha.. another case of a picture is worth a thousand words Perl, 1994-2011 - S Anand 28 Sep 2024 10:21 pm (pingback): […] Analyze where to place the central processing hubs for a […]

Visualisation - locating hubs


I upgraded from sorting UNIX du output to using WinDirStat for disk management. Treemaps help me visualize file sizes and types instantly, letting me identify exactly what’s taking up space on my hard drive at a single glance.

I have managed to fill hard disks of all capacities within a few months. My first PC had 10MB of disk space, while I work on 140GB today (remember: that's 14 thousand times more capacity in 14 years). Both were filled within 2 months. (An aside: the number of files / folders hasn't growth by 14,000. The files themselves have grown in size. I have roughly the same number of files/folders today on my machine as I had 14 years ago.) To regain space, I used to go through every file and delete the unnecessary ones. My favourite tool was the UNIX utility du (Disk Usage). It lists the disk space used by every subdirectory. I would sort the result and find big, useless stuff. Here are the first few lines of a sorted du output: 1342507 ./Books 1188020 ./Non-Fiction 1047607 ./Comics 842832 ./Non-Fiction.Magazines 594939 ./Audio 298737 ./Books/kokona - Business 172166 ./Books/Terry Pratchett 164246 ./Books/Terry Pratchett/Discworld 162287 ./Calvin 142274 ./Books/S 77407 ./Scripts 74858 ./Science It would take 5 minutes to create the list, and 15 minutes to read. Nowadays I use WinDirStat , which shows every file and folder in an intuitive, graphical manner. This view is called a Treemap. Each small block is a file. Bigger blocks are folders. Colours indicate the type of file (MP3s are blue, AVIs are red, WMVs are yellow, JPGs are green, etc.). This view has many advantages: I can see the relative sizes of files and folders. I can get an idea of the % of free space (grey block). I can see what type of files occupy the most space. etc. etc. But the most important thing is, I see the useful stuff at a single glance . That's the key in visualisation: conveying a complex topic so people get it in a second . (Incidentally, Google has a TechTalk on visualisation, including treemaps .)

Visualisation of data


I found this blog called Waiter Rant which documents the daily life of an anonymous waiter in New York. It offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the service industry through his candid, daily storytelling.

Waiter Rant: daily experiences of an anonymous waiter in New York. via Shruti's post on Waiter Rant

Waiter rant


I found Peekvid, a site that lets you watch TV shows online for free. It acts as a comprehensive directory for streaming video, making it easier to track down full episodes from around the web.

Watch TV shows online.

Watch TV shows online


I explored We Feel Fine, an interactive project that scrapes blogs to visualize global emotions by age, gender, and location. It uses beautiful data visualizations to track the shifting moods of different demographic groups.

We feel fine analyses blog posts, and determines the current mood by gender, age and location. So you can see check if the mood of teenagers in London has improved this week. Amazing visualisations.

We feel fine


I’m following Seth Godin’s curated list of Web 2.0 traffic trends via Alexaholic. This watch list tracks the growth and popularity of key startups, offering a snapshot of which platforms were gaining momentum during the mid-2000s boom.

Seth Godin's Web 2.0 traffic watch list.

Web 2.0 traffic watch list


Explore Martijn van Welie's extensive library of web design patterns. This resource provides documented solutions for interaction design, navigation, and UI components to help you build consistent, user-friendly interfaces across different web platforms.

Web design patterns.

Web design patterns


I highlight Eugene Lazutkin's insights into the multifaceted nature of programming. The post examines why the job involves much more than typing code, focusing instead on the problem-solving and structural thinking required for the role.

What programmers do.

What programmers do


I shared a link speculating on Google's 2006 April Fools' Day release. While Google Calendar was the most anticipated launch, commenters also held out hope for the long-rumored GDrive cloud storage service.

What will Google release on April 1st? Google Calendar seems to be the popular demand. Comments Gautam 30 Mar 2006 6:38 am: I hope it's GDrive

What will Google release


Household dust primarily consists of shed human skin cells. Aside from vacuuming carpets regularly, there are few ways to eliminate it, as the main source is the people living inside the home.

Where does dust come from? Inside the house, it's mostly from our skin. Short of vacuuming the carpet regularly, there's little you can do about it.

Where does dust come from


Hosting location significantly impacts search visibility because Google prioritizes sites hosted in the same geography as the searcher. Placing your server in a remote region can negatively affect your ranking for global audiences.

Google's dirty little secret talks about how Google determines whether your site appears on top for a search depending on whether you and the searcher are in the same geography or not. So if your server is in Kazakhstan, expect fewer hits.

Where you host determines your page rank on Google


I examine why advertising agencies rarely use mainstream media to market themselves. I wonder if they prioritize niche B2B channels or if it's an industry quirk that those selling visibility for others often choose to remain invisible.

Why Don't Ad Agencies Advertise? Comments Sai 4 May 2006 10:39 pm: Thats hogwash Anand. Just my opinion. Sudheer 5 May 2006 5:50 am: Seems more like a crib article more than one which gives answers... S Anand 5 May 2006 6:09 am: I wonder, though: isn't it true that ad agencies, in general, don't advertise? Why is that? Sai 15 May 2006 11:16 pm: Don't you think the reason they do not advertise in mainstream media like newspapers & tv is that it is catered to the b2c crowd. But i have always thought that Ad firms do advertise in magazines and such read by decision makers, thought that was the case. S Anand 17 May 2006 12:27 am: Quite possible. Even so, it looks like they advertise less than other industries. And that is odd...

Why ad agencies do not advertise


I reflect on why process is underrated, drawing on Seth Godin’s insight that systems are essential when intuition fails. In domains like IT consulting, process provides a reliable foundation for scaling efficiency and maintaining performance.

Why are you afraid of process? ... we bristle when we're asked for our weekly goals sheets, or when the boss wants us to use a database or when the insurance company requires docs to follow data-driven guidelines. We pass up the tenth novel by a successful author... because the process has become too transparent. And yet, in many cases, process is underrated. Process is your ace in the hole when your intuition stops working. Process is the system that doubles a plant's efficiency when you've done everything you can think of. Comments Gautam 26 Apr 2006 6:07 pm: when did you move to infosys consulting? and why? S Anand 26 Apr 2006 9:04 pm: Moved about a year ago. Wanted to get back into IT. Anonymous 27 Apr 2006 9:36 am: Is Infosys Consulting into IT? S Anand 27 Apr 2006 11:08 am: IT consulting, actually. Gautam 28 Apr 2006 6:40 pm: oh ok. I remember coming to the blog a couple of months back and still seeing BCG :) If you want to move to better IT consulting firm then let me know ;-)) S Anand 28 Apr 2006 7:28 pm: Nah, I'm very happy, thanks!

Why are you afraid of process


I explore why nanotechnology became a top Google search query in India in early 2006, comparing its technical popularity to global trends and considering the influence of local science writers and media coverage.

Why is nanotechnology in the top Google queries from India? Google Zeitgeist India Feb 2006 popular queries Comments ravi 15 Apr 2006 10:48 am: from all countries in the list indians are the only one with something technical in their queries. hurrah for that Prabhu 17 Apr 2006 6:03 am: Could be due to the fact that Sujatha is writing an article about it in a tamil weekly S Anand 17 Apr 2006 7:37 am: If so, Tamil Nadu would have to be a big chunk of India's Google searches. Given the absense of other Tamil queries, I doubt this was the only factor... but it sure must have contributed! Gautam 26 Apr 2006 6:05 pm: funny how sania mirza ranks over aishwarya, though !

Why is nanotechnology popular now


Understand how Linux file systems prevent fragmentation by intelligently spacing files across the disk. This proactive allocation strategy leaves room for expansion, ensuring high performance over time without the need for manual defragmentation tools.

Why Linux does not need defragmenting (via Google Operating System's article on fast disk defragmenters.)

Why Linux does not need defragmenting


I reflect on why software is sold with bugs, noting that every fix risks introducing new errors. This challenges the assumption that code only improves with work, highlighting the accidental nature of regressions in the development process.

Why we all sell code with bugs. All the reasons are tied up in one truth: every time you fix a bug, you risk introducing another. Don't we all start out with the belief that software only gets better as we work on it? Nobody on our team intentionally creates new bugs. Yet we have done accidentally.

Why we all sell code with bugs


I explore why canceling cable television is a smart move for your wallet and schedule. This 2006 link makes a case for cord-cutting by highlighting how much time we waste on passive, low-quality channel surfing.

Why you too should cancel cable.

Why you too should cancel cable


I explore tournament theory, which suggests that high executive salaries exist to motivate lower-level employees to compete. The theory explains why luck-driven roles have larger pay gaps and why companies prefer promoting insiders to maintain worker motivation.

Why your boss is overpaid. The ugly truth is that your boss is probably overpaid--and it's for your benefit, not his. We work our socks off in underpaying jobs in the hope that one day we'll win the rat race and become overpaid fat cats ourselves. Economists call this "tournament theory." The second, and more counterintuitive, prediction of tournament theory is that the more luck is involved in work, the larger the pay gaps should be between the winners and the losers. If Jack's promotion is 90% luck and 10% effort, Jack may be inclined to goof off--unless, of course, the rewards for promotion are absolutely astronomical. And they sometimes are. Finally, tournament theory also helps to explain why insiders, not outsiders, get cushy jobs. You thought it was all about the old-boy network, but in fact, the logical reason for promoting insiders is clear: These jobs are designed to keep your workforce motivated. Comments joey 6 Jun 2006 1:44 am: interesting analysis. no wonder the top execs in usa are paid enormously regardless of whether the company does well or not Rghu 6 Jun 2006 2:55 am: A professor in a US school once told to me â€˜one of the reasons you have a job is most managers are unsure of anything. All they do is follow the 'latest trend', be it Java or .NET or something fancy demanding more funds every few months and adding more peopleâ€™. Well I worked for a boss who didnâ€™t know the difference between a â€˜bitâ€™ and a â€˜byteâ€™ and supposedly led technical teams for many many years!

Why your boss is overpaid


I found a useful directory of Windows XP command prompt commands. This reference covers terminal utilities and system tools essential for managing legacy Windows environments directly from the command line interface.

Windows XP commands for the command prompt. Comments sathish 11 Apr 2006 11:18 am: this is a cool link

Windows XP commands