Vasanth Vaidyanathan's Blog

I read somewhere about zero e-mail inbox. I am not sure how others treat their inboxes, but for me it has to be well organized. I feel organized myself only if I organize my inbox. One technique that was suggested in these columns is the idea of zero e-mail inbox. Ensuring that you have zero e-mails in your inbox means you are on top of things.  To get to zero mails, you need to clear your e-mails and take the required action at the earliest opportunity. I am not sure if I will ever get to zero, but I am satisfied if I have 20-30 e-mails in my inbox. That gives me the notion that I am on top of things, as opposed to 300 e-mails where I can't even be sure if I have read everything.

How does one treat the inbox? To me, the inbox represents these things:

1. A list of things that I need to act on
2. A list of things I need to remember
3. A list of things for me to do

I know I look at my inbox and check for e-mail several times a day, so I send mails to myself so that I am reminded of what is pending and what I need to do. I have tried sticky notes, "Todo" software, digital diaries and PDAs. But nothing can beat the power of reminding by sending a mail to yourself.

You can also send a file you are working on to yourself by e-mail and continue work from home. So, e-mail IS powerful.

You are at work in your cube. And you overhear a rather loud conversation happening in your neighbour's cube. They are discussing the best way to solve a problem or debug some code. You see your colleagues struggling to find a solution. You happen to know the answer for the problem being discussed.

Would you:

• Go to the next cube and give them the solution? 
• Keep quiet since you are not supposed to be hearing the discussion anyway 

Which is the best time to have an international conference call? Everyone must be on the same day. It is.....6 AM Pacific. Everyone around the world will be on the same day at this time. So, when you set up a conference call, forget "your tomorrow, my today" etc. Just say "tomorrow". This time can be a bit inconvenient for those in Japan and Australia, of course. There can be "no best time", but this can be the time of least confusion.

Time around the world at 6 AM pacific:

• Americas - 6 AM Pacific, 9 AM Eastern
• Europe - 2 PM GMT
• South Africa - 3 PM
• Middle East - 4 PM (Riyadh)
• India - 6:30 PM
• Singapore - 9 PM
• Japan - 10 PM
• Australia - 11 PM (Canberra)

It is all the same day, remember! In fact, when I googled for this time, I also found a blog with this title.

Sun's India Engineering Center (IEC) employees had a bash on Friday, Aug 17. Did you miss it? Don't worry! Just check out this excellent blog entry by Manjula Kandula.

63072000 seconds (more simply, 2 years) - That's how much time I have spent at Sun. I know it is not a lot! But still, I have employed a private chimp to count the seconds I put in at work.

Today, it was dream come true for many Sun employees in Bangalore, India. We had a chance to hear Scott McNealy, the legendary co-founder and former Sun CEO, visiting India after 4 years. The auditorium was packed, 15 minutes before the scheduled start time - 4 PM. He just spoke for 15 minutes, and dedicated the remaining 45 minutes for Q & A. Though he seemed a bit tired (thanks to non-stop travel), his enthusiasm was contageous. His answers were packed with humor. Everyone had fun listening to him. Scott had a sense of purpose, and clearly knew what was in for Sun. No wonder, he is an industry leader.

"Would you have a nuclear power plant in your basement just because you need electricity at home?", McNealy asked when confronted with a question on using personal computers. Obviously, there would be a common power plant supplying power to a whole city. Similarly, the network is the computer. A network can provide the computing resources you need to accomplish work. Emphasis here is on thin clients that everyone can use. These thin clients are connected to the bigger network providing you the required resources.

If you are passionate about Sun technologies, don't miss the opportunity to meet Scott McNealy in your city. Scott is visiting Bangalore next week. Check out this link for more information.

John Domenichini has compiled the list of blogs from my department - IPG. Check it out here:

http://blogs.sun.com/JohnD/entry/various_bloggers_various_views_sun

Today, those of us in Sun's India Engineering Center went through a mock fire drill cum mini-training program for an hour. A siren was sounded at 4 PM local time, and all employees were asked to walk quickly towards the corporation playground next door. The playground served as the assembly area. Those in the upper floors of the building were asked to walk down the stairs rather than take the lift. Within 10 minutes, the whole building was empty and all of us assembled in the playground nearby.

The safety instructor was Karnataka's Chief Fire Safety Warden, Mr. Moiz Ahmed. We did have this kind of a drill organized before by the same person, but this time it involved a few demos too! The instructor went about the session very seriously. He appeared very dedicated to his job, having served as a fireman for over thirty years. We did have a few fun moments too - when he addressed volunteers by the names of bollywood heros or heroines. The demos included using carbon-dioxide, foam and water extinguishers. A few methods to get ourselves out to safety if there is lot of smoke around plus tips on how to evacuate those who need help were also part of the session.

Overall, a very useful and helpful training session! Thanks to those who organized.