Thought Garage

When it comes to Internet connection, we always take it granted that there is no limit on the bandwidth. We are free to download and upload as much as we can. The only limitation so far is the speed at which we could do. High Speed Internet connection Speeds range from 0.7Mbps to 15Mbps. But Time Warner is moving to a metered model where you will be charged based on your bandwidth consumption. Beware!

Time Warner Cable this week said it will move away from the “buffet” model of broadband and start experimenting with a “metered” model. The cable operator is rolling out a trial program in Beaumont, Texas, in which customers will be charged based on the amount of bandwidth they use. Given the rise in bandwidth-sucking content, such as high-definition movies streamed over the Internet, the move is hardly a surprise. Of course before HD movies, the culprit was peer-to-peer file sharing and before that, gamers.

Source: Video Killed the Broadband Buffet

“A thought which does not result in an action is nothing much, and an action which does not proceed from a thought is nothing at all” – Anonymous. Few notable thoughts that are worth sharing and spreading.

Lenovo: A Company without a Country
A handful of companies have two headquarters, but Lenovo might be the first multinational corporation to have none. The company, formed by Lenovo’s purchase three years ago of the IBM PC Co., has executive offices in Beijing, Raleigh, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Paris. But it doesn’t have an official headquarters.

How Fast is Social Media Growing? Akamai Should Know
The company counts 7 of the the top 10 social networking sites as customers and claims that 92% of traffic to such destinations was carried across their network in December. Overall, traffic to these sites increased more than 5x over the past year, with Akamai delivering more than one million requests per second

MacBook Air: Some closer looks
They say the MacBook weighs three pounds, but it honestly didn’t feel even that heavy when I held it in my hand—it seemed lighter somehow. The screen was bright, the keyboard a joy to touch, and the trackpad "touch" software had specific settings for one-, two-, and three-finger operation

Source: Notable Thoughts :

Microsoft’s India Managing directory cites piracy and lack of law enforcement as the reason why Microsoft doesn’t create any India specific products.

The global software industry generally refrains from developing India-specific products mainly because of high levels of piracy and poor awareness among law enforcement agencies, said a top Microsoft official.

Microsoft (India) Managing Director Neelam Dhawan on Wednesday said enforcing IPR laws was a "challenge" and that the industry, as per studies, was losing almost 72 per cent of its revenue due to circulation of pirated software – a menace which hasn’t been checked due to poor awareness among law-enforcing agencies here. "We have the best IPR laws in the world but their poor enforcement acts as a deterrent to innovation. This is why we do not have a product made for India," said Dhawan, at a function to award Microsoft IPR scholarships to 33 law students from 11 law schools.

Source: India losing out on country specific software dev: Microsoft – Times of India

Software for sure has changed the dynamics of Indian Economy. Here is an interesting report from SIIA about the Economic impact of Software and Information in US and Global economies. Read the report(pdf) here.

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association for the software and digital information industry, today released a first-of-its-kind report that measures the substantial economic impact of the software and information (S&I) industries on the U.S. and global economies. The report, entitled “Software & Information: Driving the Global Knowledge Economy,” finds that these industries are among the fastest growing and most important for propelling continued economic growth — both in the U.S. and globally.

Software & Information Industry Association

Update: Now its official. USCIS announced today that it received about 163,000 H1B petitions for year 2009 that starts from 1st of October 2008. About 31,200 of those are for Advanced Degree category. Read more. It will be a lottery to accept petitions. I wish you all good luck to you. So, to answer my question I posed in January, whether H1B rush will repeat in 2008, as expected, the answer is a big YES.

Update: USCIS announced today that H1B Visa cap has been reached for both regular quota(65,000) as well as Advance Degree exemption quota(20,000). USCIS hasn’t yet announced concrete number of petitions received. Read more...

Last year, the visa cap for H1B petitions has been reached on Day 1. USCIS had in fact received about 150,000 applications and had to resort to ‘lottery’(Random Selection) to pick up eligible applications. Many applicants had to wait quite longer just to know that their application wasn’t picked up. Due to sudden rush, many had to wait for months to receive a status on their accepted application as well.

Now, this year, its already almost end of Jan, that means 2 more months to go before USCIS accepts applications on 1st of April for Year 2009 H1B Quota. Having watched and followed the rush last year, I am wondering whether this heavy demand for H1B applications repeat in 2008?

Though there are few concerns that H1B prospects may be considering little carefully this year, the answer to that question will be a ‘likely yes’. Here are few things that may affect the drama this year and may change the stats a little bit.

USA Economy Slowdown and Imminent Job cuts in 2008

US economy is not in its brightest of times towards the end of 2007 and economists are predicting that 2008 will be very tough. While some analysts are pronouncing a ‘recession’, many say that it may be just a ’slow down’ of economy due to rising fuel costs and deep troubles in credit markets. Many consider that the recent announcement of such a high of 0.75% in interest rate cuts just confirms the impending deep trouble.

This puts a rather bleak outlook for all IT consultants and Prospective H1B consultants for year 2008. For some, it reminds of the "dotcom" bust in 2001, where 1000s of IT consultants lost their jobs and had to leave for India after spending months searching for their next gig. For H1B consultants, this is a lot more serious issue, as if they loose their job, they almost immediately have to leave US.

Are you ready to throw the dice?

Just like last year, it is expected that visa cap will be reached on day 1 and USCIS may again resort to ‘random selection’. That would mean, there is no guarantee and chances are completely based on luck rather than a consultant’s qualifications and specialization. That may make some consultants not consider H1B as a serious option.

New Competition for H1B Holders

2007 is a historic year in the sense that visa status became current for green card applicants from India and almost all submitted their I-485 applications. You may recall the Gandhian way of sending flowers to USCIS in protest. Many applicants already received EADs  for themselves and their spouses. Spouses of many of these applicants are currently on dependent visas like H4 and now they have EAD to work without any restriction. That brings in a totally new breed of workforce to the already downsized market for 2008. I am very sure that this additional supply of workforce surely put more pressure in the job market.

Rush of Entrepreneurial Activity in India

For those who want to come to US to work on new technologies and latest applications there is a good news. Recently there has been a rapid growth in Entrepreneurial activities in India and many new startups are hiring with irresistibly great packages. And working in a startup beats flat out working in big companies, for most techies. One of my friends resigned from his excellent paying, often considered as a safe job by his peers, to work with a startup in Chennai for the sheer joy of working in a startup. Its no longer fun and exciting to work at companies like Wipro and Infosys who became so large in such a quick time that no body cares about individuals any more.

Weak Dollar and Upswing of Salaries in India

Just a couple of reasons why US salaries may become less attractive in 2008 to IT consultants coming from India

• In times of recession, you won’t be able to negotiate on price. Particularly if you are on H1B, the whole vendor food chain will definitely exploit the situation to squeeze on price. In general, in times of recession the billing rates/salaries go down, as many are desperate to latch on to anything at any cost, as evident from 2001 bust. Salaries never went up again after that.
• Upswing of salaries in India combined with weak dollar puts Indian salaries very significant if no way on par with US Salaries. Moreover, they can save daily chores, bland Indian food and little or no social activities in US and enjoy the much more vibrant India.

New IT Consulting Companies

However, there is a recent surge in starting up of new IT Consulting Companies in the last few months, mostly thanks to EADs received in 2007. For sure, these firms will try some innovative techniques to lure as many prospects as they can to bring them to US to work for them. It will be very interesting to see how the tides turn.

Little bit on numbers …

The official H1B quota still stands at 65,000. No news about any possible increase yet. The actual number of visas available is infact about 58,000 once you subtract the visas reserved for Singapore/Chile. For those who received or receiving  Graduate Degree or any other Advanced Degree from US Universities, there is an additional quota of 20,000.

Better hurry up!

If you are considering coming to US to work, you better prepare now. Ask your employer to file at the earliest possible to reach on 1st of April. If your organization is a large one, make sure you put enough pressure to beat the red tape as quickly as possible. Once you file, it all depends on your luck. But most cases you will have about 50% chance of success. Considering the whole immigration process, it’s not that bad.