End of Google & Beginning of Bing..

The changing world and Technology leaves back lot of stuff. In my recent visit to India's leading Technology & Business Schools where I asked students about Social Networking space and folks come out with Facebook and Twitter. Interesting to note that they dont want to associate with orkut anymore. They futher say being on Orkut is like being out dated and couple of them deleted their accounts. They no more want to associate with orkut which is no more fashionable . This is the trend and going forward same applies to Google Search.

Google in a way has a tough journey going forward whether it is Orkut, Youtube or other experimentation which actually have not seen the launch beyond beta phase..

Microsoft’s taking on Google on its home turf with its new search engine Bing. Bing uses powerful imagery that’s eye catching. Google’s always gone down the minimalist route when it comes to visual design. Interestingly, Bing’s background images seem to change almost daily, so a bit more frequently than the Google boring holiday logos.

Bing has a series of Google-beating features "Google is essentially the same as it was a decade ago. The world has moved on, but search absolutely hasn’t."

The new features in Microsoft's search engine include the ability to "guess" what the user is looking for, then offer suggestions based on that guess.

"Bing knows what it is you enter into that search box if you enter Canon A590, it will know that you are looking for a camera. From that moment on, a lot of things happen differently. With Google you get 500,000 search results in decreasing relevance. With Bing, it immediately open up categories on the left-hand side, breaking it down into the things you are likely to be looking for, such as where to buy Canon A590s, or how to use Canon A590s."

Bing's other key feature is the way it displays search results. If the search returns video clips, for example, these appear as thumbnail images at the top of the search results. Hovering over the thumbnail plays a key part of the video, so users have no need to leave the search results page to ensure they have the clip they were looking for.

Similarly, a search for a large company such as British Airways will return not only its homepage, but a summary of the most likely desired information on that homepage, including the address, customer services telephone number and even the ability to search within the BA site directly from the Bing search page.
Reaction across the online advertising industry to Microsoft’s new product has been largely positive.
Ten years ago, when the current model for search engines appeared, there were around 160,000 pages on the internet. Today there are 160 million. Any company that finds the best way of delivering what its users want will attract more users, and therefore paid, linked advertising. Companies such as Wolfram Alpha have already started to produce alternative search engines that use different parameters to produce their results.
The feather in Bing’s cap is its preview feature on the search results page. This is a nifty little feature as it saves users to-ing and fro-ing between the search results page and the websites. Till now, the only way to explore the results in a bit more detail was to leave the search engine and go to the actual pages. An area that this preview’s great for is online comparison shopping. Imagine quickly being able to see the differences right there on the page and making a decision.

Meanwhile, have you tried Bing? How did you find it? Tell us about your experiences folks

Imagine Cup

The world’s premier student technology competition, Imagine Cup is one way Microsoft is encouraging young people to apply their imagination, passion, and creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference in the world today. The Imagine Cup 2009 worldwide finals will take place in Cairo, Egypt from July 3rd to the 7th, 2009. More information is available online at http://www.imaginecup.com/ .

Imagine Cup is a year long activity open to students across the globe. The competition begins with local, regional and online contests, followed by screening of best projects from each country and with winners from these legs participating in the global finals held in a different location every year. In its seventh year in 2009, the competition challenged the students to address the hardest challenges in the world today as identified by the United Nations in its Millennium Development Goals — ranging from halving extreme poverty and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS to providing universal primary education.

Team Pearl (Proactive Emergency Alerting and Response Loop) from VESIT, Mumbai University emerged victorious at the India finals of Imagine Cup 2009, the world’s premier student technology competition. The team – comprising of Noel Sequeira, Sameet Khajuria, Sujay Kakarmath and Yogita Rochlani gets the opportunity to represent India at the world finals in Cairo, Egypt, in July, this year. Microsoft Imagine Cup, now in its seventh year, saw registrations by more than 52,000 Indian teams from colleges across the country. Out of these, after a series of shortlists, the top seven teams remained to compete for the first prize and the honor of representing the country. These seven teams showcased their software solutions in front of an eminent panel of judges comprising of academicians and industry representatives – with Team Pearl finally being chosen as the best. Team Tamana and Team Trailblazers were judged the first and second runners-up respectively.

Workshop on Screenwriting- Kamal Haasan & IIT Madras

Kamal Haasan, in association with Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, is presenting a first-of-its-kind international workshop and seminar on screenwriting in south India. Basic education is compulsory and candidates need to demonstrate their seriousness to get selected.

The Chennai International Screenwriting Workshop to be held at the IIT-M campus from May 29 to June 3, 2009 will feature some of the best screenwriters and filmmakers from around the world.While veteran writer Jean Claude Carriere has confirmed his participation via video conference, Kamal Haasan himself will join the discussions and don the role of faculty during the workshop and seminar.

This summer for youngsters who love movie making great chance and do join this course..

. To apply, students have to write to admissions@screenwritingindia.com.

CAT-Online

The online Common Admission test (CAT) pattern is likely to throw up surprises as the new platform will bring many new dimensions in the test, known for its innovative and competitive exam pattern. A 16-member committee is giving a final shape to the computer-based CAT. The committee, consisting of seven IIM directors and admission chairpersons, is expected to come up with the new modalities by the end of summer.

CAT committee is also considering an upward revision in the exam fees from Rs 1,300 for CAT 2008. Candidates paid Rs 1,000 for CAT in 2004 and 2005, and Rs 1,100 in 2006 and 2007. Further, the candidates will no longer get a copy of their paper, a practice followed since 2003. The CAT examinations will be more on the lines of GRE and IIMs, being educational institutions, will be able to concentrate on teaching rather than arranging for CAT. We have a strong security system in place like biometrics and video monitoring so that we do not encounter any rigging.

CAT applicants are growing by nearly 40,000 a year and computer-based test would make the task easier for CAT organisers and three lakh applicants this year

Leeds- In India

The Leeds Metropolitan University of the United Kingdom announced the launch of its India campus in partnership with JSWS, a non-profit organisation.

Leeds Met India, set up in Bhopal, will begin its maiden academic session from September with a batch of 160 students and promises to charge only 30 per cent of the fee at its UK campus.It will offer undergraduate courses in business management, retail marketing, international hospitality management and event management.The course fee for a three-year undergraduate course will cost nearly Rs 8.5 lakh, whereas it costs Rs 40-45 lakh on its UK campus

IIMC- Working Professional's Destination

I been receiving request to recommend few courses for working professionals and here is my pick for this week.

The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) has introduced two new courses- "Executive Programme in Business Analytics" and "Executive Programme in International Business" for the working professionals.

IIMC has been giving importance to the education of executives from the last several years and has been widely appreciated for the various innovative and customized programs that has been introduced over the years based on its front line teaching, research and consulting.Business Analytics is about sophisticated, quantitative & statistical analysis and predictive modeling used towards building competitive strategies around data-driven insights that in turn generate impressive business results. Executive Program has been specially designed to help students acquire knowledge and skill to help work in International companies and environment. The program covers aspects related to International Business Environment, Challenges in International Marketing & Sales, International Operations, International Logistics and Supply Chain etc.

I feel this course is worth doing especially in this kind of recession, you need to compete and upgrade your skill set along with job. For all those who are thinking of a Full time course, I would ask them to have a look at these courses which is safe than leaving job and going to ISB and then left out with NO JOB...

ISB- Think Twice before you Join

For those who are planning to leave jobs and join ISB, here is a shocking trend that I observed and was really worried and thought I should blog about the same.

Over 100 students of 437 students of the Class of 2009 did not find placements due to recession. The high-profile business school was ranked 15 among the top 100 global business schools by the Financial Times. ISB would also be setting up a taskforce to identify right opportunities for the students. The school plans to introduce four specialist schools at its second campus at Mohali, which is getting ready. The Max India Institute of Healthcare Management, BML Munjal Institute of Manufacturing and Operational Excellence, Bharti Institute of Public Policy and Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management would be coming up at Mohali. The students (and their parents) who had taken educational loans and quit good jobs to Pursue studies are the main victims. The Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad ranked among top B-School in the world has extended its placement season for the first time since it came into existence. Out of total 440 students of 2009 batch, only 250 have got placement so far. The placement drive began at ISB in January. The institute has also witnessed fall on the annual average salary offers from Rs. 18-20 lakh to Rs. 13-15 lakh.

The Interesting part where I feel surprised is that the Indian School of Business (ISB), is raising its intake from 440 to about 600 from 2009-10, and has announced Rs.1.5 lakh hike in its fee from this year. I really think they need to focus on placing students who have spent close to 20 lakh’s which is not a small amount according to the Indian standards. I who use to suggest and recommend students to ISB now look back and see that it’s no more a good viable option in the current trend. ISB should seriously focus on improving things and should not rush in to the mad rush of increasing students and opening up new centers.