Yours Officially...

Recently I had the privilege of corrupting the MBR of my laptop. The modus operandi - I formatted the Solaris partition from my Windows boot. That consequently corrputed the grub and the Master Boot Record. Only later did I discover that a lot of people I knew had done this quite frequently. A typical solution for this problem was to boot from a live Windows CD, launch the Revocery Console, and run the fixmbr utility. (For Windows versions previous to 2000, the fdisk utility could be used as well, but for the newer versions, this utility was scrapped, since Recovery Console was provided).

An atypical but useful solution would be to boot Windows from any live CD (I used Belenix), boot Windows from the command prompt, and run this Mbrfix utility. You don't need to have a Windows Live CD or Recovery Console. This atypical solution was provided by an extremely resourceful and benevolent colleague, and it worked.

To get to know the details of a site, like the operating system, hardware, server, IP addresses of the servers among others, check out Netcraft

For instance, here are the details of this site:  http://blogs.sun.com/nithya

 Personal Branding is a new-age market mantra, synonymous with marketing yourself in a cut-throat competitive world. Here's a very interesting article on how to create a personal brand for yourself.

Am making the highlights redundant: Steps for a successfully branded you:
 

1. Know what you want: Identify what you want, and start walking toward it.
2. Be able to articulate what you do: When someone asks what you do, answer them immediately with a clear, concise, and confident response.
3. Elevator pitch: Be able to describe who you are and what you do in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
4. Be positive: Be positive.
5. Business card: A 3x5 piece of paper or mini-CD that has your personal contact information clearly printed on it.
6. Have a blog / Website / MySpace, or other online presence: Get your brand online.
7. Multiple e-mail addresses: Get more than one e-mail address.
8. Phone: Get a phone.
9. Signature: Your signature is who you are, your title, and your contact information. You should put this on everything you touch.
10. Logo: A visual image that positively identifies your brand.
11. Personal goals: Set goals for yourself that help you reach what you want.
12. More than one resume: Customize your resume to the potential employer or client.
13. Mentor: Find a guru and have them teach you.
14. Networking outlets / contacts: Continually develop your network by attending industry meetings and conferences.
15. Wardrobe style: When you are going to be near people who you wish to sell your brand to, dress to impress.
16. Multiple IM accounts: Get more than one IM account.
17. Alias: Obtain a positive nickname.
18. Mantra: Collect sayings that enforce your brand.
19. Speaking and PowerPoint template: Speak about what you do and have a hot-looking PowerPoint template to show.
20. Passion: Love what you do.