Mail-in Rebates 911

So after shopping for stuff on the internet, getting great deals (thanks often to MIRs - Mail-in Rebates), I started to feel frustrated and cheated time and again!
Valid rebates get returned and barely damaged UPC barcodes are rejected. While some companies were liberal and more customer oriented, others just didn't care a hoot.
So that brings me to OneClickRebates . I set up this website with the whole idea that people should be able to take corporates to the task, and companies need to realize their financial liability.
Currently it speaks about MIRs, and has a discussion forum setup.
Will be setting up polls on the good and bad deals/companies out there, and plan to bring out a host of features to help the beleaguered net shopper.
So drop by to check on the MIR deal you're planning on - is it a real deal?

Niagara Falling

Yes, so we did the typical Indian thing.
Wife and I. Another couple. Four of us Indians... headed to Niagara falls. Memorial day weekend.
DARNED! The whole place is full of Indians! Where did so many Indians come from! Did all the Indians in the US decide to descend in that weekend? From what I hear, that's not the case. Niagara is a perennial spot for Indians.
Apart from the plethora of Indian restaurants, what really "blew me" - was the fact that you would see not only the American and Canadian flags, but also the Indian flag flapping in the wind.

So where did so many Indians come from? Why at Niagara? Well I have done some investigations, and have found that another natural wonder - the Grand Canyon - is also overflowing with Indian tourists.

In another blog, I found a theory about two types of Indians - 1. A bunch of guys who decided to jump in a car and go to Niagara. 2. A married Indian husband bringing his wife and parents (possibly in-laws) to see the falls.
I believe there exists a third group - the newly married Indian who wants to show his wife something spectacular. I belong to this group.

So by this time, it should be an established fact that there are a lot of Indians at Niagara. I'm not particularly proud of my nationals swarming the holiday spot... but here's something I found snooty - there were language translations into French and Spanish, but there weren't any translations into Hindi or any of the Indian languages. I can understand the desire to be hospitable to Canadian neighbours coming to see the falls - but I can't understand how the large throngs of Indians are completely ignored in translating for the tourists.

It's Promotion Time!

No, not job promotion. Code Promotion.
So I've been working on this piece of code for ages... first step is to get offshore working on it. Train them... explain the requirement... and how it is to be implemented. For no fault of theirs, they take a week. Darned, I feel I could've done it in a day! But that's human nature I guess - it always seems to be so much simpler than the task is.

Anyway, after all the review sessions, in the code goes to QA.
Manager is hovering over us... 'is it done yet' is the mantra he's chanting. As if that was not enough, he also passes some other tasks onto my plate.
Nonetheless... QA starts on the testing... no, they don't understand the system too well. They come back to me - 'can you run a test on our environment please?'. Innocent and sweet is they way they ask it... but innocent and sweet the request is not. The environment is warped, nothing is setup as it ought to. Finally I run an entire test run in their environment.
Yes, the test run includes a data refresh.
"Where's all our test data gone!!" whimpers QA! Well that was gonna happen if there's a data refresh!
And all the clients come pointing fingers... 'YOU! You are the one who erased all the data'.
"Dude! I was working on QAs request! They need to know what they are asking for! They need some ownership training !'

A day passes... "there's a defect #6845 assigned to you" says QA. The developers heart is in my mouth - "huh? me? a defect? OH NO! "
On looking it up... "pah -its a dud". That was no defect... working as planned.
Next day, another defect raised... That was no defect... testing not correctly done.

And so the day draws close... another release... full of the twists and turns that Information Technology includes... gets ready to go to production.
Will it make it okay in production? will it bomb? Only time will tell... not the QA sign-off.

Well only time will tell! With QA Sign-off, atleast I'm covered.

Obama for Change

Yes, Barack Obama is winning hearts all over the United States. He just won me over.
Though politics is not really my area of interest, but reading this article (one of the first commentaries on Obama's speech I've come across), one can't help but feel great about this guy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/us/politics/07cnd-obama.html
He's matter-of-fact and willing to speak out about what we may be doing wrong - and that makes him just the change the US needs.
I'm waiting to come across other speeches of Obama.

I do hope the US can go through elections next year without skin-colour or hardened political allegiances coming into play. The country should consider the qualities of the President they bring in -after all, it impacts not just the United States, but the world at large.

And so I join the chorus: "Obama for Change"

PS: No, I'm not affiliated in any way to Obama's campaign. Thanks for asking.

Loads about Nothing

Hello Everyone
Today, I have nothing to share. Absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada. Zero.
With nothing to share whatsoever, and no idea what to write, I have decided I will write my blog nonetheless. This blog is therefore full of no useful information. It definitely is full... of words, sentences, and even its very own paragraph - but it doesn't have any information in it.
Having said that, I would like you to keep reading, and keep commenting on this blog of no importance. All the time you have spent reading this post has been spent without gaining any information. I won't say it's time wasted, cos some wise-ass will inform me that maybe they were here to waste time in the first place -> so it still would fulfill the purpose -> and so it won't be time wasted.
Now that I am getting on to the second paragraph, I feel that it really is time I stop writing. I mean... I have nothing to say... yet I am going on, and you are continuing to read. This has to stop at some point. It is criminal to go on, and a criminal I am not.
And lets be honest, I did warn you right in the beginning that you aren't going to get anything out of this post. No pearls of wisdom, no what-have-you's. So I'm not a bad guy after all... the only one who fell for a trap that never was... the only sucker who suckered himself into reading this... is YOU.

Freedom Beckons

So the monday morning blues are not yet over... and its tuesday already. Maybe the blues will carry for a day or two longer, until the sweet thought of the next weekend starts to emerge.
Oh the drudgery of our daily work!

After a long day
not much work not much play
the clock comes close to 5 o'clock
the heart is ready to burst with song
the droopy eyes start opening up
and energy flows in the body anew
Yes, its time to go home.

On Freedom

The US is a fast moving country. It's admirable how open minded this nation is. Also, the freedom enjoyed by the people is great. Unfortunately, with a lot of freedom - come people willing to trample and misuse that freedom. While we can put up many checks on people, there's no real way to determine which normal person may become psychotic tomorrow, and what's going on in people's minds.

I share in the sorrow of the shootings at Va. Tech. Also, my wife studies at Columbia University and I count my blessings no such thing happened here in New York.

The sad but true part is, with great freedom, come great psychos. I don't believe there's a way of changing that.

Happy First Anniversary

So... it's 15th of April, and yours' truly's wedding anniversary! Yes, I'm married, and yes, its just my second blog and i've let the cat out of the bag!

Well, so a month back, my wife declared that she had run into the perfect anniversary gift for me.
That, to a single person, would sound like music to the ears. Unfortunately, my friends, it is not so in reality. Immediately the stress of finding an equally wonderful gift for my lady was turned on. My dearly beloved didn't mince words in telling me I better find her an equally wonderful gift (heck, I didn't even know what she'd got me !)
The tension was high, and being an unromantic fellow (like most men?), I had the daunting task of finding her something awesome.

So finally a few days before our anniversary, I went over to Bloomingdales and picked up some golden earrings - which I hoped and prayed and used law-of-attraction on - that my wife will like. Also some body shop perfume thingys. Also a restaurant reservation at a highly rated NY restaurant, planned a carriage-ride across central park and finally tickets to the Lion King. There must be **Something** out of this she will like a lot - I figured.

So anyway people - that is how I have gone through my first anniversary. While I'm still in the middle of it, I must say, it has been a good experience - everything has gone well, and my wife has liked all the gifts. Only thing that couldn't happen was the ride across the Central Park.

In the end, I would like to say, to all men - be brave guys - with a little planning, you too can make it through your anniversaries.

PS: The gift, by the way, which my wife got me was an aquarium. Odd and unique as it is, I did really like that!

Hello World! Senseq's first Blog

Hello World
The first words of any computer program, and my first words on my first blog!
So after calling myself a techie over the years, I was somewhat ashamed when it occurred to me that I don't have a blog of my own. Especially since I consider my life to be quite out of the ordinary (isn't everyones?)
So here I am, starting out on writing my own blog. A little apprehensive - feeling as though I'm speaking to a massive mass of people... better be careful of what I write... better think twice about what I'm writing. But trying to get a flow nonetheless.
So here's to my first 'baby step' to the world of blogging.
"Hello World" to the world of blogging. "Hello World" to all the people out there reading this.
I arrive.