TATA Interactive Systems

Brain Teasers On Sale

We are delighted that Brain Teasers will go on sale from 27-Feb-07 in Landmark, a leading national bookstore chain in India. Brain Teasers is a book we created to meet the special educational needs of children with learning disabilities. The book has been developed in association with the LTMG Hospital in Sion, Mumbai and is published by Tata McGraw Hill. This is a proud moment for all those involved in the creation of this valuable book.

Brain Teasers provides practice in reading, writing and mathematics, and is intended to help children with learning disabilities rediscover the joy of learning. It also helps parents understand learning disabilities and find ways to address them.

If you are interested in getting a copy of the book, visit any Landmark bookstore in Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore, or Chennai. If you live elsewhere, please do write in to us, and we’ll try and figure out a way to get it across to you.

Go Hawks!

When I was asked to go onsite to Iowa City for three months, I was a little hesitant. It was more than just Mumbai to Iowa City – I’m sure you’ll agree that a change of temperature from an average of 30C to one of –20C is not particularly pleasant. However, I agreed. And here I am.

The flight was fairly uneventful, but I did have an interesting conversation at the immigration counter in Chicago (my port of entry).

Sam (the immigration guy with a friendly smile): So this isn’t your first time visit to the U.S.?
Me: No, I’ve been here before.
Sam: Where are you headed?
Me: Iowa City.
Sam: And where did you go the last time?
Me: (suspicious tone) San Francisco.
Sam (grimacing): Yikes! You’re gonna hate it in Iowa City then. It’s in the middle of nowhere. And compared to San Francisco it’s, well, BORING! Alright here you go…go through Gate 7…

As I waited for my connecting flight in O’Hare, I mulled over what Sam said. “Flee” was the first thought that came to my mind, but it was too late; my flight was announced and I needed to rush.

A blast of cold air literally paralyzed me when I stepped out of the airport at Cedar Rapids, IA. I rushed into the first taxi I found and headed to the apartment I was to be sharing with a colleague.

What Questions Should We Be Asking?

We got two of our senior designers, Chandra Shekhar Ghildiyal (Graphics/Games) and Anne Roy (ID), to discuss the Big Question for February. Their original idea was to come up with a list of intelligent questions. But during the discussion, they were drawn into some fundamental issues.

What do you do before asking a question?
Do you think of the implications of asking that question? This is especially important if the question is asked during a face-to-face meeting or in informal conversation. You usually get more time to word a document carefully.

Have you ever wished you could take a question back?

Do you always preempt the answer? Blurting out a question without thinking it through is almost always a mistake. Tailor your question so that you get an answer that is specific and meets your purpose.

Do you attempt to find the appropriate person to question? Do you try to get an insight into that individual?

Do you check that your questions are appropriate for the culture and the situation?

Why are you asking the question?
Identify your motives. Do you want to indicate that you are processing information? Are you asking questions to be noticed?

Are you trying to direct the questioning to the answer that you want? This kind of questioning works in presentations and training programs. A question may activate a new line of thought or may lead to thinking out of the box just like this month’s Big Question.

Why are you not asking questions?
Asking questions displays curiosity and an eagerness to learn. It’s a cliché that if you are not asking questions, you are not learning. Then why is it that sometimes you don’t ask questions?
Are you trying to avoid the limelight? Are you afraid of expressing your ignorance? Or is it because you don’t expect to get any answers?

Is the environment at your workplace conducive to asking questions?
Should you be concerned if you work in a place where people don’t actively question the status quo? Should you be disturbed if no one asks you questions? Does that mean you don’t answer questions consistently? Or that you are not accessible? Or that you answer questions with motherhood statements? Or that you are known not to take action? Should you actively increase your availability and accessibility?

You can't set up a question a day or provide a list of questions to ask; you need to create an atmosphere where asking questions is encouraged. Maybe then more of the questions posed will be the ones we should be asking.

A Social Network for Design Engineers

iKnowledge Solutions (iKS) a Tata Technologies company recently launched V5 for i.get.it®, a specialized social network for the Engineering Design community. The global launch happened in presence of a large press delegation from leading media houses, at Taj Mahal Towers, Colaba, Mumbai on 25-Jan-07. This was followed by a fun filled mega launch amongst the next-generation design engineers from India, at Techfest 2007 at IIT Mumbai with approx. 35,000 attendees.

The end product www.myigetit.com, is a cool place to hang out with Blogs, Forums, industry headlines, tech tips, really cool wallpapers and videos for downloading. Not to forget, courses for continued education, resource repositories and power tools.

With a ‘fundoo’ graphic design and using terminology like Lady’s Room, Break Room, Nerve Center to put the message across, it was only appropriate that the launch at the IIT Techfest 2007, included a spectacular video that combined racing and i.get.it®, in an open air venue with thousands of people in one place, with a fireworks show and a rock concert atmosphere.

Jointly developed by the TIS' software solutions practice & iKS, working across geographies on technologies like ASP .Net, AJAX, Java and SQL Server, the new i.get.it® leverages SaaS (Software-as-a-Service, also known as On Demand) business strategies and WEB 2.0 design patterns. With different teams working, the development process was virtually on 24x7. The new i.get.it® also includes an integrated search query powered by Google hardware and software, thereby providing the end users of the application, unlimited search capabilities.

This joint development initiative provided TIS & iKS an excellent opportunity to combine their expertise and experience of developing software applications in the domain of e-learning and engineering design respectively and create a 'one stop' solution.

• To know the ‘faces’ behind TIS' development team from its software solutions practice and learn about their experience – click here – and visit the i.get.it friends section from the home page