Alcoholics have one, and so do drug abusers. Now people addicted to e-mail also have a 12-step program designed to tackle their obsession.

An executive coach in Pennsylvania has devised a plan to teach people how to manage the electronic tool, which some users say can be as much an intrusive waste of time as it is fast-paced and efficient.

Developed for cases such as a golfer who checked his BlackBerry after every shot, and lost a potential client who wanted nothing to do with his obsession, Marsha Egan's plan taps into deepening concern that e-mail misuse can cost businesses millions of dollars in lost productivity.

"There is a crisis in Corporate America, but a lot of CEOs don't know it," Egan said. "They haven't figured out how expensive it is."

One of Egan's clients cannot walk by a computer--her own or anyone else's--without checking for messages. Other people will not vacation anywhere they cannot connect to their e-mail systems. Some wait for e-mails and send themselves a message if one hasn't shown up in several minutes, Egan said.

The first of Egan's 12 steps is "admit that e-mail is managing you. Let go of your need to check e-mail every 10 minutes."

Other steps include "commit to keeping your in-box empty," "establish regular times to review your e-mail" and "deal immediately with any e-mail that can be handled in 2 minutes or less, but create a file for mails that will take longer."

Egan says she hosts no 12-step meetings but is planning a monthly teleconference for "e-mailers anonymous."

Michelle Grace, an insurance agent in Lehighton, Pa., said she receives up to 60 e-mails a day and uses Egan's program to make it less time-consuming and less stressful.

"E-mail had me by the throat," she said. "When you can't find what you need, then it becomes a problem."

Now that her e-mails are transferred--some manually and some automatically--into files, Grace said she spends less time hunting for them.

On average, workers who receive an e-mail take 4 minutes to read it and recover from the interruption before they can resume working productively, Egan said.

She also recommends checking e-mails not more than three or four times a day.

Some employees resist the lure of e-mail during the regular workday, only to find themselves putting in extra hours at home to clear the backlog, she said. One of Egan's clients said he had 3,600 e-mails in his in-box.

Part of the problem is senders who copy messages too widely and are too vague in their subject lines, so recipients don't know what they need to open right away, Egan said.

For Grace, relief from her e-mail addiction means she is not checking her computer every 5 minutes.

She said she has let her colleagues know that if they need to reach her immediately, e-mail is not the way to do it.

"I told them, 'If you need me urgently, pick up the phone,'" she said.

 Courtesy: ZDNet News: February 20, 2007

In a tragedy caused by gross neglect on the part of the Kerala state administration, fifteen children - below the age of ten - and three teachers, died when a boat carrying about 50 students and staff of a school capsized in the Periyar river in Kerala's Ernakulam district on Tuesday (February 20).

A total of 103 students and staff of Elavoor School near Angamaly had gone to Thattekkad bird sanctuary in two boats when one of the three hired boats capsized at around 6 pm. The poor condition of the boat is being given as the reason for the capsizing.

The navy, fire service and police were involved in rescue operations, but the latter were hampered due to poor light and lack of enough rescue boats. Thirteen bodies were taken to Dharmagiri Hospital at Kothamangalam while two bodies were brought to Mar Baselious Hospital in the same town, sources said. Parents of the children rushed to the site of the accident on hearing about the tragedy. Few remained unmoved as the bodies of children, shrouded in white, were laid out in the nearby hospital.

Expressing grief over the boat tragedy, Kerala Governor, R L Bhatia said “I am deeply shocked and saddened at the boat tragedy at Tattekkadu that has claimed several tender lives. I convey my heartfelt condolence to the bereaved families.”

No safety measures in place

Shockingly, the boats appeared to be in a state of disrepair, but had been put to use to ferry children despite this, resulting in one boat capsizing. Moreover the boats, which were not registered, had been loaded much beyond their capacity by the boatmen. Survivors of the tragedy also alleged that one of the boats had had a leak. The driver of the boat has been absconding since the incident.

Now, in a knee jerk reaction, the government is talking of sterner safety measures.

“We need to strictly put down guidelines for children on how they should go for picnics. We need to enforce these guidelines,” said M A Baby, Kerala’s education minister.

Could this tragedy have been avoided, who is responsible, the school management, the person who was in charge of the boat, this is some thing that could have been avoided. 

India indifferent to e-waste contamination

Some of the biggest brands in electronics industries and their suppliers are contaminating rivers and underground wells with a wide range of hazardous chemicals, according to a Greenpeace survey.

An analysis of samples taken from industrial estates in China, Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand has revealed the release of hazardous chemicals during the manufacture of printed wiring board (PWB) and semiconductor chips, and the component assembly. The highly toxic polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), widely used as brominated flame-retardants, are used in a wide range of processes.

Explosive consumption

India is witnessing an explosive consumption of electronic goods and equipment, and is on its way to becoming the choice destination for manufacturing.

"It is imperative that India pay heed to the alarm bells being sounded on the environmental and human health front. It is time the IT Ministry realised its responsibility to regulate the toxic impact of this industry hand in hand with promoting its growth," said Vinuta Gopal of Greenpeace India.

"In fact, even as governments worldwide, including China, recognise that toxic contamination from e-waste is a looming environmental disaster, and enforce a phase-out of toxic chemicals, India does nothing. This inaction on the part of the Government is nothing short of shocking, the IT Ministry and Ministry of Environment and Forests are abdicating their responsibilities," she said.

The study, "Cutting-Edge Contamination," was undertaken to highlight the environmental contamination resulting from manufacture of electronic equipment such as computers. Discharged wastewaters and sediments from discharge pipes/channels were analysed near PWB facilities and one component assembly facility. Where possible, treated wastewaters and treatment sludges/sediments from wastewaters and treatment plants were also collected and groundwater samples from many sites analysed.

Evidence of environmental contamination by a diverse range of chemicals, many with known uses in this industry, was found in each of the three sectors investigated. These included both chemicals incorporated in the products and chemicals used in manufacturing processes, many with known toxicity to humans and other potential environmental impacts.

Chemicals found

Some chemicals were found in waste streams from more than one sector, including some toxic and environmentally persistent groups such as PBDEs, phthalates used as plasticisers (softeners) in plastics, certain chlorinated solvents and high levels of some heavy metals.

Other chemicals found in waste streams and groundwater samples were specific to each of the manufacturing sectors, for example brominated flame-retardant tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA) and photo initiator-related chemicals at PWB manufacturing sites.

Flame-retardants are chemicals added to a wide variety of materials, including casings and components of many electronic goods. Two widely used groups of chemicals are PBDEs and TBBPA.

Wind can be used to do work. The kinetic energy of the wind can be changed into other forms of energy, either mechanical energy or electrical energy.

When a boat lifts a sail, it is using wind energy to push it through the water. This is one form of work.

Farmers have been using wind energy for many years to pump water from wells using windmills like the one on the right.

 

In Holland, windmills have been used for centuries to pump water from low-lying areas.

Wind is also used to turn large grinding stones to grind wheat or corn, just like a water wheel is turned by water power.

Today, the wind is also used to make electricity.

Blowing wind spins the blades on a wind turbine -- just like a large toy pinwheel. This device is called a wind turbine and not a windmill. A windmill grinds or mills grain, or is used to pump water.

The blades of the turbine are attached to a hub that is mounted on a turning shaft. The shaft goes through a gear transmission box where the turning speed is increased. The transmission is attached to a high speed shaft which turns a generator that makes electricity.

If the wind gets too high, the turbine has a brake that will keep the blades from turning too fast and being damaged.

You can use a single smaller wind turbine to power a home or a school. The small turbine on the right makes enough energy for a house.

In order for a wind turbine to work efficiently, wind speeds usually must be above 12 to 14 miles per hour. Wind has to be this speed to turn the turbines fast enough to generate electricity. The turbines usually produce about 50 to 300 kilowatts of electricity each. A kilowatt is 1,000 watts (kilo means 1,000). You can light ten 100 watt light bulbs with 1,000 watts. So, a 300 kilowatt (300,000 watts) wind turbine could light up 3,000 light bulbs that use 100 watts!

 

• Of the 223 hectares, 144 hectares will be redeveloped over 7 years
  
• Of the Rs 9,250 crore, a fifth to be spent on basic amenities
  
• Developers to build 57,531 units for rehabilitation, but sell 35% of the redeveloped area in the open market
  
• Builders to make a minimum profit of Rs 4,700 crore; critics estimate it to be ten times this figure
  
• Profits to be shared between developers and government
  
• Households to pay Rs 450 per month for maintenance
  
• The plan envisages a shuttle train service and a skybus link to the metro

Seventy thousand residents of Dharavi, Asia's largest slum in the heart of Mumbai, are angry. They want to have a say in the state's redevelopment plan to demolish their houses and build a new township. They have decided to let the policymakers know about their angst. "We are protesting against the state's rigid stance in imposing the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) on its extremely dissatisfied residents. We want the chief minister to see for himself how the people of Dharavi will behave in case they're pushed too far," says Arputham Jockin, Magsaysay award winner and the president of the National Slum Dwellers Federation.

The anti-DRP agitation has acquired a political tinge with the formation of the Dharavi Bachao Samiti (DBS), which has 20,000 members. During last week's municipal polls, the Samiti, along with the CPI(M), fielded its candidates in all the six electoral wards in Dharavi, which has been a Congress stronghold. It's a shrill reminder that the tussle in the slum has transcended issues of development to become a contentious political battle.

Dharavians complain the DRP doesn't even require their consent unlike other slum redevelopment schemes, is ill-planned and hasn't considered the existing socio-economic realities, that it would really benefit the builders and the state government. In addition, they feel that powerful lobbies have shaped the contours of the Dharavi plan. Not surprisingly, over eight years after it was conceived, and four years after the DRP was included in the Vision Mumbai plan, there have been several hiccups in Dharavi's proposed makeover.

But before we get into specific issues, a quick reminder about DRP. The project will cost Rs 9,250 crore, of which Rs 1,800 crore will be spent on civic amenities. Two-thirds of the total area of 223 hectares will be redeveloped as a township by builders, under the private-public partnership model. Over 57,500 residential units—225 sq ft (1 BHK) each—in 7-storey buildings will be given free to existing households. Of the total redeveloped area of 144 hectares, the builder will be allowed to sell 35 per cent of the land as residential or commercial spaces in the open market.

Similar rules regarding free units and open sale govern other slum development plans in the state. The glaring difference is that the other schemes require the consent of 70 per cent of the residents, but in DRP's case, the state government has omitted this condition. Instead, it invoked an existing clause in the development control regulations, which states that projects undertaken by government agencies on public land don't require the approval of the affected slum-dwellers. And this has now become the primary issue for DBS. Complains Raju Korade, a CPI(M) member and the editor of Dharavi Times, "Many surveys have been conducted for DRP, but the people don't have a clue as to what exactly the plan holds for them."

Adding to this confusion are other arguments being raised by DRP detractors. Arputham is using religion to drive his point home.

 In the last three weeks, he has advertised the fact that the DRP project document doesn't mention what will happen to the 110 religious structures (of all religions and some that are nearly 100 years old) in Dharavi Korade questions the state's motives. "The DRP's aim is not to ameliorate the conditions of the families living and working in Dharavi for the past 100 years. It's to access and auction prime property, with proximity to the city's financial centres (like the Bandra-Kurla Complex), to global bidders," he says.
The pro-DRP lobby sees such views as misrepresentations. "This is another ploy to needlessly undermine a project of this magnitude that has been undertaken for the first time in the world, and is likely to be emulated elsewhere in India and in other countries," says an angry Mukesh Mehta, CEO, MM Consultants, the state-appointed consultant for DRP. He argues it will integrate Dharavi with Mumbai, convert slums into a cultural-knowledge-business centre, and transform Dharavians into a middle-income community by 2010. CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, feels the DRP is for the "development of Dharavi and the city, so people should cooperate with us."
 

 

When the lunar new year comes, as it does Sunday, so, too, arrive the lions, dragons and lucky money.

Several but not all Asian cultures celebrate the holiday, which marks the first day of the lunar year and often is known as the Chinese New Year. This year's turning ushers in the Year of the Boar (or pig). Anyone born in the coming lunar year, according to Chinese astrology, will have the sign's traits - including honesty, loyalty and amiability.

The Chinese, Taiwanese, Koreans and Vietnamese - along with the Tibetans and Mongolians - observe Lunar New Year. There are time-honored foods to be eaten, decorations to be hung, ancient rites to be observed.

It is a time for communities around the world to reunite with family and invoke long-held superstitions in hopes of gaining prosperity, luck and longevity.

Lunar New Year grew out of agricultural beginnings. Its arrival heralded the end of winter and the coming of spring. The day often is regarded as a communal birthday, as well.

Families have much to do before the big day arrives. People begin making their way back to the family home. Unfinished business and debts get settled. Around their doors, the Chinese and Taiwanese hang red scrolls - the color of life and vitality - scrawled with hopeful messages. They scurrilously clean house, along with the burial plots of their deceased.

Cleaning is taboo in the first few days of the new year, for fear of sweeping away good luck.

Taiwanese and Chinese families prepare sweets for the Kitchen God, hoping he'll have sweet things to say about them - or that his mouth will be too full to speak - when he reports to the Jade Emperor in heaven.

It's customary to pay your respects to your ancestors. Many families have an altar in their homes for such a purpose. They set bowls of food on the altars as offerings and light incense and burn ceremonial money as a way to communicate with and appease the dead. They ask the spirits to bless and watch over the family in the coming year.

Afterward, all the food is taken down and added to the dinner table. During dinner, conversation is kept cheerful and positive. Nothing negative can be uttered.

Each culture has special dishes they eat at this time of year. For the Chinese and Taiwanese, that includes fish, since the word "fish" in Chinese, "yu," also sounds like the word for "plenty." Dumplings resemble Chinese ingots of money, so they're considered lucky to eat. Shark's fin soup is thought to bring good health.

The Vietnamese eat banh chung, a square block of sticky rice with pork and bean paste inside. The rice cake is wrapped in banana leaves and tied with twine. The leaves stain the outer layer of rice green, representing the Earth.

In Korea, families sit down to eat a special noodle dish with vegetables and meat, and fried mung bean patties known as bindaeduk. Everyone also dines on duggook, a traditional rice cake soup believed to add a year to a person's life.

Korean families often spend New Year's flying kites, spinning tops and playing a traditional board game using four dowels. The sticks are thrown in the air, and the way they fall determines how players can move on a board. The first one around the board wins.

In China and Taiwan, the lunar new year festival lasts 15 days, although typically people return to work after four or five days.

Throughout that time, businesses often call upon lion and dragon dance teams to perform. The mythical creatures are considered auspicious. They often dance to the explosive whirl and pop of firecrackers, since the loud noises are thought to scare away evil spirits.

We at SunCorp wish everyone a very "Happy New Year"