Thursday, June 30, 2005

Computer that understand human language

http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/01/stories/2005070116020100.htm

Scientific Imaging explores many worlds


Cancerous polyp in Virtual Colonoscopy

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Gamedev.net acquires NeHe productions

Leading online destination for game developers acquires leading online resource for OpenGL

Perseverance may pay off for chipmaker

Article on NVIDIA

OpenGL Red Book

http://fly.cc.fer.hr/~unreal/theredbook/

Monday, June 27, 2005

A good site for C

http://www.crehberi.cjb.net/

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Game Programmer Salary Survey - 2003






Courtesy: Gamasutra

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Irrlicht 3D Engine

The Irrlicht Engine is a free open source high performance realtime 3D engine written and usable in C++ and also available for .NET languages. It is completely cross-platform, using D3D, OpenGL and its own software renderer, and has all of the state-of-the-art features which can be found in commercial 3d engines.

http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Steve Jobs to Stanford Grads


An inspiring and touching speech that Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO of Apple and Pixar, gave to Stanford graduates this week:

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal.
Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the! last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it! would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following
my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example: Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligr! aphy class to learn how to do this. I
learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impo!ssible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.

But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a
company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who ! I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out.

And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating. I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and
Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired ! from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.
I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of m! y life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.! My
doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope
the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it,! I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already
know what you truly want to become.

Every! thing else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop
publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay ! Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much." - Steve Jobs - June 2005

OpenGL vs DirectX : a comparison

http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/openglvs.html

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Intel NURBS sample

OUTPUT




Download code from HERE

Monday, June 06, 2005

Colon Volume Overview




Fixed the bug finally for the display of colon volume overview on QglWidget.
Resulted in learning some more concepts in OpenGl.

Set the Ortho() values as glOrtho(0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, -1.0)

Two doubts still remain:-

  • glOrtho(left, right, bottom, top, znear, zfar) is the standard format. That means znear=0.0 and zfar=-1.0 sets the respective z-limits. But z value in glVertex3f(x,y,z) while rendering does not seem to accept between 0.0 and -1.0 (only between 0.0 and 1.0).
  • The first few values read out from the data structure used for storing the mesh information seem to be zeros. How is that possible, and doesnt it affect the rendering?


The above result uses ambient, diffuse and specular lights. Two light sources are used - one on the top and one on the left side.

Mission to build a simulated brain begins

00:01 06 June 2005
Duncan Graham-Rowe

An effort to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level, was launched on Monday.

The “Blue Brain” project, a collaboration between IBM and a Swiss university team, will involve building a custom-made supercomputer based on IBM’s Blue Gene design.

The hope is that the virtual brain will help shed light on some aspects of human cognition, such as perception, memory and perhaps even consciousness.

It will be the first time humans will be able to observe the electrical code our brains use to represent the world, and to do so in real time, says Henry Markram, director of Brain and Mind Institute at the Ecole Polytecnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.

It may also help in understanding how certain malfunctions of the brain’s “microcircuits” could cause psychiatric disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and depression, he says.

Until now this sort of undertaking would not be possible because the processing power and the scientific knowledge of how the brain is wired simply was not there, says Charles Peck, IBM’s lead researcher on the project.

“But there has been a convergence of the biological data and the computational resources,” he says. Efforts to map the brain’s circuits and the development of the Blue Gene supercomputer, which has a peak processing power of at least 22.8 teraflops, now make this possible.

Mapping the brain

For over a decade Markram and his colleagues have been building a database of the neural architecture of the neocortex, the largest and most complex part of mammalian brains.

Using pioneering techniques, they have studied precisely how individual neurons behave electrically and built up a set of rules for how different types of neurons connect to one another.

Very thin slices of mouse brain were kept alive under a microscope and probed electrically before being stained to reveal the synaptic, or nerve, connections. “We have the largest database in the world of single neurons that have been recorded and stained,” says Markram

Full Text at NewScientist
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7470

Friday, June 03, 2005

C-Functions

List of C functions

Srinivasa Ramanujan

A wonderful website about the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Qt Signal/Slot FAQ

http://qtwiki.qtforum.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=FAQ

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Mobile Phones Tips and tricks



---------------------------------------------------------
.::MOTOROLA::. TIPS & TRICKS
These Motorola codes will work on most Motorola Mobile Phones,

Code

Description

*#06#

For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI Number).
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[][][] 119 [] 1 []

Activate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) - Your phone uses the best sound quality but talk time is reduced my approx. 5%.

[][][] 119 [] 0 []

Deactivate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR).


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

.::NOKIA::. TIPS & TRICKS
These Nokia codes will work on most Nokia Mobile Phones,

Code

Description

*3370#

Activate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) - Your phone uses the best sound quality but talk time is reduced my approx. 5%

#3370#

Deactivate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR)

*4720#

Activate Half Rate Codec - Your phone uses a lower quality sound but you should gain approx 30% more Talk Time.
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#4720#

Deactivate Half Rate Codec.

*#0000#

Displays your phones software version, 1st Line : Software Version, 2nd Line : Software Release Date, 3rd Line : Compression Type.

*#9999#

Phones software version if *#0000# does not work.

*#06#

For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI Number).

#pw+1234567890+1#

Provider Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w" and "+" symbols).

#pw+1234567890+2#

Network Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w" and "+" symbols).

#pw+1234567890+3#

Country Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w" and "+" symbols).

#pw+1234567890+4#

SIM Card Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w" and "+" symbols).

*#147#

(vodafone) this lets you know who called you last.

*#1471#

Last call (Only vodofone).

*#21#

Allows you to check the number that "All Calls" are diverted to.

*#2640#

Displays security code in use.

*#30#

Lets you see the private number.

*#43#

Allows you to check the "Call Waiting" status of your phone.

*#61#

Allows you to check the number that "On No Reply" calls are diverted to.

*#62#

Allows you to check the number that "Divert If Unreachable (no service)" calls are diverted to.

*#67#

Allows you to check the number that "On Busy Calls" are diverted to.

*#67705646#

Removes operator logo on 3310 & 3330.

*#73#

Reset phone timers and game scores.

*#746025625#

Displays the SIM Clock status, if your phone supports this power saving feature "SIM Clock Stop Allowed", it means you will get the best standby time possible.

*#7760#

Manufactures code.

*#7780#

Restore factory settings.

*#8110#

Software version for the nokia 8110.

*#92702689#

Displays - 1.Serial Number, 2.Date Made, 3.Purchase Date, 4.Date of last repair (0000 for no repairs), 5.Transfer User Data. To exit this mode you need to switch your phone off then on again.

*#94870345123456789#

Deactivate the PWM-Mem.

**21*number#

Turn on "All Calls" diverting to the phone number entered.

**61*number#

Turn on "No Reply" diverting to the phone number entered.

**67*number#

Turn on "On Busy" diverting to the phone number entered.

12345

This is the default security code.

press and hold #

Lets you switch between lines.


=============================================================


::ERICSSON::. TIPS & TRICKS
These Ericsson codes will work on most Ericsson Mobile Phones,

Code

Description

*#06#

For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI Number).

*#0000#

Reset language back to English.

> * < < * < *

Service Menu - tells you the phone's software version (good for checking your phone's "age" before buying it) Press "Yes" repeatedly to see all the software data & press ">" to see all the texts available in your phone.

< * * <

SIM lock - Do not lock your phone if you don't know the unlock code. This is another good check before you buy any phone, especially second hand ones. If phone is SIM locked, you may not be able to switch to other GSM operators.

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Shortcuts

Save a Missed Call into
your phone directory

Scroll to "Missed Call", press "Yes" to display the required number. Press any number (i.e. 0 to 9), then press "clear" once to clear that number, then press & hold "<" until you see "Store". Press "Yes"

Hide your number when calling when you don't
want the other party to
know your number)

After dialling the required number & before pressing "Yes", press ">" twice to choose "Hide Id?" & then press "Yes". Also works for pre-programmed & last dialled numbers just press "No" & wait for the number to appear on the screen first then follow same procedure

Check you battery
level when phone is off

Press "No" quickly one time & wait for the battery meter to show up!

Save a number into your phone memory (not SIM card)

Follow normal procedures to store a phone number. When prompted to set a storage position, press "#" once & key in desired location, or press "#" twice for next available position

Call a phone number from
SMS message

You can call from within a SMS message if the phone number is written in it. Just scroll the message until the phone number appears on the display, then press "Yes" to call



===========================================================


.::PANASONIC::. TIPS & TRICKS
This Panasonic codes will work on most Panasonic Mobile Phones,

Code

Description

*#06#

For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI Number).

========================================================


:SIEMENS::. TIPS & TRICKS
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All Siemens Phones: Service Provider Unlock: *#0003*(secret code 8 digits)#

Siemens S25/C25

SP unlock *#0003*(secret code 8 digits)#
Show IMEI code: * # 06 #
Resets language to automatic selection : * # 0000 # then Green button
Pin Out
Data Cable schematics
Phone's connector pin-out:
1- GND
2- SB
3- POWER
4- NC
5- TX
6- RX
7- CLOCK
8- DATA
9- GND MIC
10- HF MIC
11- AUDIO
12- GND AUDIO

Siemens S1/S3/S3 Com

To view the software date and else with S3 com, S4, S4Power, Sony cmdx 1000e press with SIM removed *#06# and left softkey.
To view some other stuff with S4Power, Sony cmdx 1000e press with SIM removed *#06# and left softkey twice.
To view the software date with S3 com, S4, S4Power, Sony cmdx 1000e press with SIM installed menu 98 and left softkey twice.
ACTIVATE MONITOR MODE
Siemens S1/S3

Menu, 9 (Phone Options), 7 (Phone Status), Left Display Button (left MENU key), 5553756, Hang-Up Button (Red Handset key)

Siemens S3 COM/S4

Menu, 9 (Phone Options), 7 (Phone Status - 8 on Some), Left Display Button (left MENU key), 7684666, Hang-Up Button (Red Handset key)

Note: Now Monitor should appear at the bottom of the Network Options menu.
MONITOR MODE
Pressing the right Display Button when in monitor mode will toggle into 1 and 2 modes

Pressing the right Display Button when in monitor mode will show a list of the six cells with the strongest signals.

Test Mode Indicators: (* = only available when call in progress )
CH Channel Number

RX Signal Strength (dB)

N NCC (Colour Code)

B BCC (Colour Code)

CI Cell ID (in Hex)

C1+ How long before phone does forced hand over. (see RX and RXAM)

LAI Location Area Identity. Display Network ID code (42F010 = 240.01) and MSC

TXPWR Transmit Power (dB)

RXAM Receive signal strength cut-off point

TS* Time Slot Number

TA* Timing Advance. Distance from tower in Km X 2

PL* Power Level
POWER table
PL: 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

dB: 33 31 29 27 25 23 21 19 17 15 13

Watts: 2 1.3 .8 .5 .3 .2 .13 .08 .05 .03 .02
LF* C1 value with continuous transmission from tower

LS* C1 Value with discontinuous transmission from tower

QF* Bit Error Rate with continuous transmission from tower

QS* Bit Error Rate with discontinuous transmission from tower
BER (bit error rate) table
QF/QS register: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

% of bit sent: 0.2 0.8 0.4 1.6 3.2 6.4 12.8 25.6

Siemens S1/S3

Here's a trick to play Tetris, also known as Klotz on a Siemens S1.
Turn the phone on. Enter PIN. Before the telephone has logged in to the your GSM net do the following steps.
1: Choose F 9 (function settings)
2: Choose send own number and push the right button for choose.
3: Push 9
USE 2 as <> , rotate the klotz with 5 and drop with 4.
[I have just heard from one of the programmers of the phone that Tetris was in the phone during development, but it was removed before it was produced. Apparently someone has the patent on games in mobile phones and Siemens didn't want to pay the licensing fees. It was either in Menu F-9-9 or it's not there at all.]

Siemens S3 Comfort

MONITOR MODE

The Siemens S3 Com series have a Monitor mode that can be activated directly from the standard user keypad. In order to activate this mode, you must enter the special access code currently programmed into the phone.
TO ACTIVATE MONITOR MODE:
Turn the phone on.
Enter the PIN access code on press OK. (Only if is enabled).
Press Menu. (Left top button).
Press 9. (Phone Options).
Press 8. (Phone Status) (May be button 7 in some phones).
You may see your IMEI Number
Left Display Button (Top left MENU key).
7684666
Hang-Up Button. (Red Handset key).

Note: Monitor should appear now at the bottom of the Network Options menu.
MONITOR MODE

Pressing the right Display Button when in monitor mode will toggle into 1 and 2 modes

Siemens S4/S4 Power


In phonebook under "Own Phone No." enter +12022243121 (which is the number to the White House) and you'll get a greeting from the people who programmed the phone.

MONITOR MODE

The Siemens S4 series have a Monitor mode that can be activated directly from the standard user keypad. In order to activate this mode, you must enter the special access code currently programmed into the phone.
TO ACTIVATE MONITOR MODE:
Menu, 9 (Phone Options), 7 (Phone Status), Left Display Button (left MENU key), 7684666, Hang-Up Button (Red Handset key)
Now "Monitor" should appear at the bottom of the Network Options menu.
Pressing the right Display Button when in monitor mode will show a list of the six cells with the strongest signals.


Test Mode Indicators: (* = only available when call in progress )

--------------------
CH Channel Number

RX Signal Strength (dB)
N NCC (Color Code)
B BCC (Color Code)
CI Cell ID (in Hex)
C1+ how long before phone does forced hand over. (see RX and RXAM)
LAI Location Area Identity. Display Network ID code (42F010 = 240.01) and MSC
TXPWR Transmit Power (dB)
RXAM Reeceive signal strength cut-off point
TS* Time Slot Number
TA* Timing Advance. Distance from tower in Km X 2
PL* Power Level


Power Table

PL: 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
dB: 33 31 29 27 25 23 21 19 17 15 13
Watts: 2 1.3 .8 .5 .3 .2 .13 .08 .05 .03 .02

LF* C1 value with continuous transmission from tower
LS* C1 Value with discontinuous transmission from tower
QF* Bit Error Rate with continuous transmission from tower
QS* Bit Error Rate with discontinuous transmission from tower


BER (bit error rate) table
QF/QS register: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
% of bit sent: 0.2 0.8 0.4 1.6 3.2 6.4 12.8 25.6

Siemens S6/S10

In Phonebook, store as your own number: +12022243121
Then you get the sun and two palms in the display, also a greeting message of the "MMI-team".
It has been said that the phone number is the number of the Capitol building in Washington, DC (but not sure).

Siemens S15 Secret Menu's

Press * -> # -> 7 -> 4 -> 3 -> 6 -> 3 -> 6 -> 7 -> * -> 8 -> 3 ->
7 -> 8 -> # ,press clear key to clear screen and return to
stand-by mode
press Menu, it will show additional menu
Menu 3.3.4 Band selection,
Menu 3.3.4.1 Automatic band selection,
Menu 3.3.4.2 select GSM 900 only,
Menu 3.3.4.3 select GSM 1800 only,

Menu 10 Engineering,
Menu 10.1 MS info,

Menu 10.2 software detail,
Menu 10.2.1 software version,
Menu 10.2.2 EEPROM version,

Menu 10.3 Test/production details
Menu 10.3.1 Hardware deta
Menu 10.3.2 production deta
Menu 10.3.3 Service deta
Menu 10.3.4 Mechanical deta

Menu 10.1.1 MS info on, then on the screen show these, for example:

FCN RXL C1 C2
642 011+11+91 -> PAGE 1

CID DSC CB
11211 045 000 -> PAGE 2

BCC NCC TN
000 002 00 -> PAGE 3

RXf RXs RQf RQs
00 00 00 00 -> PAGE 4

ATa APa Hn Hf
001 000 05 00 -> PAGE 5

DTU DTD HP CI
+ ? - - -> PAGE 6

MM CC RR
IdNS Nul Idl -> PAGE 7

some biz's now hiring bloggers

Blogging Becomes
A Corporate Job;
Digital 'Handshake'?

By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN
CAREERJOURNAL.COM
May 31, 2005; Page B1

In its short lifespan, blogging has largely been a freewheeling exercise in online self-expression. Now it is also becoming a corporate job.

A small but growing number of businesses are hiring people to write blogs, otherwise known as Web logs, or frequently updated online journals. Companies are looking for candidates who can write in a conversational style about timely topics that would appeal to customers, clients and potential recruits.

Last year, Christine Halvorson was hired as chief blogger at Stonyfield Farm Inc., a Londonderry, N.H., organic yogurt company owned by Groupe Danone. She applied for the job after responding to an ad posted at Monster.com. A former freelance writer and Web content editor, Ms. Halvorson now writes four blogs for Stonyfield, including a blog about the company, the Daily Scoop, and Creating Healthy Kids, about healthy foods in schools. Her job entails researching, linking to news and providing personal insight.

"It's wonderful to write every day," Ms. Halvorson says. "The only challenge is keeping up with this rapidly changing blogging technology, like audio and video blogging," she adds. She earns an annual salary in the mid-$40,000s, she says.

Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield's chief executive, says he plans to hire one or two additional full-time bloggers within the next two years. "The blogs give us what we call a handshake with consumers, a bond of loyalty and mutual trust that's different than the typical selling relationship, where it's all about price," Mr. Hirshberg says. "With the blogs, we are giving a little bit more access to us as a people with a mission."

Mr. Hirshberg says he looks for candidates "who are comfortable writing in a colloquial voice and who aren't overly programmed in their approach to writing." He adds, "You have to be conversational, and that sounds simple, but it's not."

The notion of a corporate blog is a bit of a contradiction: Some paid bloggers get a long leash, as far as the topics and tone of their postings. Stonyfield Farms' Ms. Halvorson says her job is unsupervised. "That doesn't mean you can give away proprietary info," she adds.

Even some independent bloggers think there is room for the corporate-owned blog. "If a company has a credible [blogger], whether or not that person toed the line for a company marketing message, that person reflects positively on the company," says Paul Brown, author of pbblog, a blog on software-industry standards, and CEO of FiveSight Technologies, a Chicago technology company.

Heather Hamilton, who works for Microsoft Corp. as a staffing programs manager for marketing and finance, suggested that she write a blog to help in recruiting and has been doing it since last year. Hers is one of about 1,500 blogs written by Microsoft employees (available at Microsoft.com/community/blogs). She writes about what it is like to work at the company, jobs she is filling and hiring trends. "When I started my blog, I didn't realize it would become part of my job," she says. "I wanted to help people think about Microsoft as a career destination."

Blogging as a job has emerged as companies of all stripes increasingly see the Web as an important communications venue. Blogs allow firms to assume a natural tone rather than the public-relations speak typical of some static Web pages, and readers are often invited to post comments. While some companies are hiring full-time bloggers, others are adding blogging duties to existing marketing or Web-editing positions.

Currently only 4% of major U.S. corporations have blogs available to the public, according to a recent survey by eMarketer, a New York research company. But ads for blogging jobs are popping up on online job boards in recent months. "Blogging jobs are growing in popularity," says Jennifer Sullivan, spokeswoman for CareerBuilder Inc.'s CareerBuilder.com, based in Chicago. She notes that in March she recruited a communications specialist whose job includes writing CareerBuilder's blog.

Flycell Inc., New York, an 18-month-old provider of mobile-phone content such as games and ringtones, posted an ad on the technology-job site Dice.com in April for a "blogger/copywriter/editorial-content producer." The ad includes the following description: "Create, maintain and promote a blog that covers and reports about mobile-phone content and the marketplace ... Must have experience creating and updating blogs, including creating links to other topical blogs ... Blog savvy is a must."

The annual salary ranges from $50,000 and $70,000. The job also includes duties, such as writing marketing copy and content for the Web site of the company, which currently has 15 employees, says Mark Lehmann, Web marketing director.

Dale & Thomas Popcorn, a Teaneck, N.J., gourmet popcorn company, is seeking an online-marketing coordinator to create and maintain a company blog on the love of popcorn, among other tasks. Paul Goodman, senior vice president of ecommerce, says he hopes a blog will enhance customer relations and help boost the company Web site's search-engine rankings.

The new position, with an annual salary between $40,000 and $55,000, opened in April. Prior blogging experience isn't necessary, Mr. Goodman says. "We're looking for candidates who are good at expressing themselves. What they write doesn't have to be perfect. It needs to be conversational and should translate our feelings to the community."

He's received about 100 applications, and is close to making a decision, he says. The blog will be subject to Mr. Goodman's approval prior to publication, he notes: "This will not be an unauthorized blog."

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@dowjones.com

Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal