As Life Goes Digital : Guide to Cricket, Deals, MBA and Immigration

Free Weekend Admission National Parks

Government national parks all over US will have free admissions on two weekends - July 18 - 19, 2009 & August 15 - 16, 2009. This is a good deal to plan for a trip to those parks that charge admission fees.

Here are some useful links to plan for park visit -

> All Free Weekend Admission parks list
> Other concessioner services in specific parks.
> All national parks list
> Summer Activities Calendar list.

Source : nps.gov/feefreeparks

Labels: National park, National Parks and Monuments, United States

written by Kalyan @ 12:22 PM, ,

Diversity Visa online Lottery 2010 ends December 1 2008

The diversity lottery 2010 makes available 50,000 permanent resident (or GreenCard) visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The 60-day application period started on October 2' 2008 and ends on noon December 1 2008. Approximately up to 10 million online applications are expected from six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.

Countries excluded from DV-2010 lottery visas are -- Natives of the following Asian countries are not eligible for this year’s diversity program: China (mainland-born), India, Pakistan, South Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam. Hong Kong S.A.R and Taiwan do qualify and are listed above. Macau S.A.R. also qualifies and is listed below (Europe).

Once the applicants get a lottery visa then at the visa interview a proof of high school education and two years of work experience in the past five years are required for person to qualify and get a GC through DV program.

In DV-2009 lottery Bangladesh got 6,023 PR visas through DV lottery from Asia geographic region followed by Nepal 1,891 and with Iran taking 1,689 visas.

Make sure you access only http://www.travel.state.gov for DV-2010 online applications. As there has been instances of con artists creating fake websites as written on travel.state.gov website.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1322.html

Diversity Visa Program via kwout

Labels: GreenCard, Immigration, lottery, United States, visas

written by Kalyan @ 7:54 PM, ,

H1-B visas is the worse thing ever happened to US businesses

Channel insider collected all job seekers comments and posted the details of the current job market crisis. Employers are paying low salaries for IT jobs is the central point of all the comments it received.

Outsourcing is a hit or miss - One comment about H1-B is quite interesting and It is true to some extent I feel "The worse thing that ever happened to U.S. businesses is the advent of the H1B visas and international outsourcing." Employers want all technologies in a person but pays 30 to 40% lower than market rates , 12 to 17$ per hour , make existing employee work overtime with out additional pay, $30k to $50K for a experienced web developer.

If this is the case then we can imagine the productivity of the work done by low rate charged employees. Historically US productivity is superior and only future will tell us how this model of employers going for cheap low pay rates will work out or not.

Labels: Employment, H-1B visa, Immigration, Labour economics, Overtime, Salary, United States, US, Wage

written by Kalyan @ 11:37 PM, ,

20000 EB Nurse Visas Per Year - HR 5924 Bill Status

To reduce nursing shortage in US, HR 5924 bill would provide 20,000 EB(employment-based) visas per year for three years for nurses. HR 5924 is introduced on April 29, 2008 and the key points that are part of the legislation -- Lifting retrogression for Schedule A workers, 20,000 visa quota, Review Schedule A I-140 cases within 30 days of receipt, A fee of $1500 from Schedule A workers will be used in US school to develop local talent and short the supply. The full bill text is available at this lcoation. Great discussions and updates on this Nurse relief visa legislation at Hammond's Law.

Other bills pending for approvals -- H.R. 5882 (Reduces Green Card Waitimes by acquiring unused past visa numbers), H.R. 6020 (Immigration benefits for immigrant soldiers and their families), HR 5950 (Medical care for immigration detainees).

Labels: Immigration, Immigration to the United States, Nurse, Nursing shortage, Permanent residence, United States, US, Visa

written by Kalyan @ 12:22 PM, ,

2008 October Visa Bulletin EB2, EB3 dates moved back

The suspense is over of what will be the cut off dates for EB2 and EB3 category in October'2008 Visa Bulletin. The October month is when the new fiscal year begins for visa number allotments. The allotments at start of year is always cheering to the numerous immigrants waiting for Greencard approvals.

The Mumbai consulate released the cut-off dates today --

http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/cut_off_dates.html

Cut Off Dates - U.S. Consulate General Mumbai, India via kwout

Many predictions were that EB2 will slow down and EB3 changes significantly from unavailable to a much advanced date. Mumbai cut-off dates are available now and its back to square one. For EB2 dates are retrogressed to 1 April 2003 where as for EB3 it is 1 July 2001. Some pleasing news for EB3 as it changed from "Unavailable".

Unless the legislation to acquire all unused past Green card numbers is passed, the wait to become numbers current is a day dream.

Here is the link you can find October's 2008 visa bulletin from USCIS

Labels: eb-2, eb-3, Fiscal year, H-1B visa, Immigration, Mumbai, United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, Visa

written by Kalyan @ 12:51 PM, ,

Bill to reduce Greencard wait times due this week

Current Green card approvals are taking anywhere between 6 to 10 years causing trouble to immigrants and employers to retain the immigrant talent in US.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) authored bill to reduce wait times for green cards which is due this week. The proposal is to re-use previously allotted unused green cards.

This legislation helps US to retain the talent and remove bureaucratic obstacles.

Cesar Conda writes citing the reports from National Venture Capital Association that

in 2006, 73% of new electrical engineering Ph.D.s in the U.S. were granted to international students, according to the National Science Foundation, while in 2005, foreign nationals received 55 percent of electrical engineering master’s degrees and 42 percent of computer science master’s degrees.

Labels: Doctor of Philosophy, Electrical engineering, GreenCard, Immigration, Jim Sensenbrenner, National Science Foundation, National Venture Capital Association, United States, US, Zoe Lofgren

written by Kalyan @ 2:12 AM, ,

Doing MBA Free from Ivy League business schools tips

Devin Griffin got accepted into Wharton business school with two year tuition of 80,000 per year for his MBA paid. Business Week writes a letter to the admission committee by Devin made that possible to consider him for the school's scholarship.

Business schools are an expensive affair with students taking loans and pushing themselves into serious debts of $100,000 and more in the economy where jobs are uncertain after an MBA.

Tips to get free MBA:

1) Students who start their own business and have shown excellent community outreach programs.
2) Some schools automatically select students for scholarships.
3) Think ahead (2 or 3 years) before you start your MBA.
4) Apply for scholarships in the first round of MBA applications.
5) Target scholarships that aim for only Women, country based, and diversity.
6) Demonstrate leadership and highlight the cause.
7) Write out Fellowship that you are seeking.
8) Go to business school where your grades and GMAT score is above average that other students. And
9) Do part time MBA where your employer sponsors Tuition reimbursements. (Remember this type of free MBA comes with a price that a) Some corporations require that employee stay one-year with them after completion of MBA or pay back the tuition. b) May not be getting the full tuition reimbursement and have to pay taxes.

Any other tips you know of to do MBA for free and avoid huge debts ?

Labels: Business school, BusinessWeek, free, GMAT, Kellogg School of Management, MBA, tips, United States, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

written by Kalyan @ 10:58 AM, ,

Barack Obama favors H2-B visas and reflects on H1-B gaming by employers

FAIRFAX, VA - FEBRUARY 02: U.S. Sen. Barack O...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife As elections approach, Illinois Senator Barack Obama who is US, Democratic presidential nominee in a campaign event in Pennsylvania talked about streamlining specialized skills related jobs and their visas -- H2-B.

H2-B visas are required for highly specialized skills where local US business is not able to recruit the local talent citing "nuclear physicist" example from India.

Obama was unhappy that (H1-B) visas system is misused by the companies by wrongfully hiring software engineers for low wages and effecting the US labor markets and wages.

With US unemployment rate reaching 6.1% , the jobs have become a talking point in US 2008 elections and naturally the focus is shifted of how the jobs should not be wrongfully moved to overseas. The immigration is deciding factor in elections as how well both McCain Republicans and Obama Democrats talk about their immigration policies in coming weeks.

Labels: Barack Obama, Barack Obama presidential campaign 2008, H1-B, H2-B, Immigration, Pennsylvania, Politics, Presidential nominee, Society and Culture, United States, US

written by Kalyan @ 8:38 PM, ,

Harvard Business Publishing interviews Life Hacker Gina Trapani

Lifehacker.com is popular productivity blog and Scott Berkun from Harvard asks grilling questions of how MBAs can benefit from Lifehacker's productivity tips. As Gina puts it MBA teaches structured learning with problem-solving and case studies and gives less importance to manage one's own time in an effective way.

The advice I like is how to choose from multiple productivity systems ? Choose one system that best fits you and stick to it.

Question #4 about working in teams is the best answer I feel Gina gave :

I think there can be a huge amount of value in cross-pollinating people's work styles. A few years back I did a fair amount of pair programming, and while it was at times frustrating and awkward, I learned a lot from seeing how someone else does things and thinks.
The key is finding and working with the people who help you and don't slow you down. My racquetball coach always told me to "play up" -- meaning, always try to play against an opponent who's better. No matter how bad getting beaten by that person feels, it still raises your game. I think that's true at work as well.

Labels: Case study, Colleges and Universities, Education, Harvard University, Lifehacker.com, Massachusetts, Master of Business Administration, MBA, United States

written by Kalyan @ 1:49 AM, ,

Free credit reports from class-action lawsuit against Trans union

You are eligible to participate in the class-cation suit and get benefits If you had a credit card, a loan account, or a line of credit in the US any time from January 1, 1987 to May 28, 2008. The lawsuit is filed on Trans Union with charges that it sold lists containing consumer information to third parties for marketing purposes.

Settlement benefits include 1)Six months/nine months of free credit monitoring and 2) Cash payout. Make sure you register by September 24, 2008 to get this benefits. Details available at: Listclassaction

Labels: Credit, Credit card, Credit history, Credit score, Deals, Equifax, TransUnion, United States, US

written by Kalyan @ 1:24 AM, ,

2008 MBA applicants number highest in five years

GMAC in its latest survey reported that 2008 MBA applications are highest in the last five years. Specially in full-time programs where 77% of the survied people said they saw application levels increase compared to 2007's 64%. Part-time and executive MBA has applications rise but not at the same level as full-time MBAs.

The 2008 Application Trends Survey includes responses from 521 graduate management programs at 273 educational institutions in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world. About two-thirds of the respondents are U.S.-based.

Here is GMAT trends from GMAC survey :

http://www.gmac.com/gmac/ResearchandTrends/Tools/GMATTrendsTotalTestsTaken.htm

GMAT® Trends: Total Tests Taken via kwout

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is administered by GMAC and is used
by approximately 4,000 graduate management programs at some 1,800 business schools around the world to screen MBA applicants.

Labels: Applications, GMAC, GMAT, MBA, United States

written by Kalyan @ 12:06 PM, ,

USCIS pays $30,000 for EAD Delayed processing

From 1997, Chowdhury was met with numerous delays in processing interim EAD (Employment Authorization Documents). USCIS explained the delays in EAD to negative information obtained during the background check that delayed the EAD approvals.

Murthy.com reports :

Since the government could not properly account of the delays, the court found no substantially justified reason for its delay in processing the EAD application and awarded $30,025.80 in attorney's fees to the plaintiff.

The main problem with delayed EAD is for employee not able to work as employers follow strict visa rules in employing a person on payroll.

This year we applied for two year EAD renewal and my spouse's EAD is renewed for 2 years and my EAD is not yet received. And recently the system got improved very well that EADs are receive in a month's time.

Labels: Employment, Immigration, United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States Secretary of Homeland Security, USCIS

written by Kalyan @ 2:33 AM, ,

Judge favors US graduate student visa extension

A U.S. district court judge, Faith Hochberg in New Jersey rules in favor of new US grads extension of student visas. With limited 85,000 H1-B visas out of which only 20,000 H1-B's are allocated for students which forces other new grads go out of status and eventually forces them to leave the US. H1-B's have become a lottery where odds are very less these days to get an H1-B visas in the lottery.

Homeland Security extended 12 months to 29 months for students visas to convert to H1-B as they can stay in US and work during that period and until they get H1-B visa.

The Programmers Guild, a strong advocate against the H1-B visa program filed this suit. The wage depression argument is over ruled by the judge indicating lack of proper evidence. Programmers Guild from time to time filed many discrimination complaints against H-1B employers.

This is good news for all student graduates with F1 visas now that they can get more breathing time until they convert their F1 visas to H1-B.

Labels: F1, H-1B visa, Immigration, New Jersey, Programmers Guild, United States, US

written by Kalyan @ 2:09 AM, ,

The Best Places for Toddlers in Chicago

Image via Wikipedia Vacation or holidays are for building a life-time of memories for our children. As a kid I still remember those long train rides and spending all that happy first times of setting the foot in the cold waters or building sand castles. These are true vacations that lasts life long. Planning a vacation with toddler is tricky as they've grown enough to have their own ideas and wants for the places or play activities they want to enjoy.

First thing I guess learnt as a parent is change expectations of what a vacation is. Not getting get uptight when the schedule doesn't work, as most of times the schedules go awfully bad. Morning start time shifts to afternoons easily though how much planning we do. When everything is in place then type of place is difficult to choose.

First thing is to search for local unique area attractions. I live in Chicago and I've found these helpful websites to decide on the type of vacation and all places based on location -- suburbs or in the city.

The most important and useful first website is to check out ChicagoKids, a friendly searchable database of places to go in Chicago and its vicinities for children.

Chicago Kids - Fun places and events for Chicago kids and families. Find fun stuff to do for the whole family! via kwout

This is useful information and scrubbing this to our needs takes a bit of time.

Zoo :

For zoos, Brookfield and Lincoln Park are both rated top. I've been to both of them with my toddler, I like Brookfield better as it is bigger in size and have more attractions compared to downtown located Lincoln Zoo park. Brookfield zoo has both parking fee and admission fee with different options -- General Admission, Dolphin show, train ride, Stingray bay. It is all day event and as early you get in there it is better as afternoon sun takes toll on you and your toddlers energy levels. Best time for Brookfield zoo is in summer. Lincoln zoo in contrast is famous for its zoo lights in winter time. Proper winter clothing for toddler is the stringent requirement for harshest Chicago winters. Only parking fee is required and no admission fee is charged at Lincoln Zoo.

Museums :

The best time for museum visits is in winter. A children's museum at Navy Pier in winter is a good hang out though the parking at Navy Pier for a evening would cost anyway around $25.

The Museum of Science and Industry (http://www.msichicago.org/) is another favorite. Is it right for Toddlers ? It depends on the likes of your toddler. They have interactive touchy-feely stuff. Cool stuff about cars, trains, submarines, the human body, etc.

Field Museum -- It is for kids who love the exhibits of mammals & birds from around the world. Check out the dinosaur exhibit

Planetarium :

Adler Planetarium may be for bigger kids for educational purposes and if your toddler is quite and can sit for few hours then this can be added to the list.

Others : Millennium Park is good for summers with the Chicago view bean and fountain where kids can get their feet wet in hot summers. The Shedd Aqarium is a great destination if your toddler is into Nemo or fish as my one does. Nearby Wisconsin Dells are popular with kids with their indoor and outdoor water parks built around Lake Delton suited for all the seasons. On way to Dells there are quite a few attractions -- Lamb's Farm is in Libertyville, Baraboo area -- circus museum. Sears tower deck, the largest building for your toddler to get introduced to heights.

Sources :
->My own experiences - 1)Brookfield Zoo Chicago Toddler attraction , 2) Lincoln park zoo lights in winter of 2007

->Chicago-for-Toddlers

Do you think of any other places that I missed in this post ? Please share with others via comments your and your's toddler's Chicago places & experiences

Labels: Adler Planetarium, Chicago, Lake Delton, Lake Michigan, Lincoln Park, Millennium Park, Museum of Science And Industry, Navy Pier, Toddlers, United States, Wisconsin Dells Wisconsin

written by Kalyan @ 3:17 PM, ,

Chiranjeevi -- Tirupathi video, prajarajyam party flag unveiled on August 26

Chiranjeevi unveiled the party name, flag and ideologies in front of a huge 9,00,000 plus crowd in Avilala, Tirupathi. Sticking to his August 17 announcement, the party name -- Prajarajyam -- reflected that the party is for the people. He donned the dais single highhandedly with his near 2 hrs emotional, well prepared political party speech and gave utmost importance to Handicapped and Seniors citizens by not allowing any VIP section for the meeting.

The flag of the party is 3/4 the white and 1/4th green with rising sun on white part. Prajarajyam initial ideologies is of democratic and secular party with more emphasis on backward classes, farmers, workers, women and youth. The goal of the party is to make state of Andhra Pradesh a happy - Santhoshandhra and Anandandhra.

He repeatedly assured the crowd that he is one of them and he has seen both poor and rich lives. He recollected the Mogalthur days where he slept half stomach because of poverty. His farming days and tough college times to learn acting in Madras with Rs 125/-. On acting side he said he acted in many roles from a outcast to riksha puller to cobbler and in the process learn many real life time situations. These excerpts from the dais reflected the recent criticism that he is getting as the newcomer to politics arena.

To sum up Chiru spoke honestly from his heart rather than the monolithic political speaking. I give him perfect 10 and only caution for him is not to be more of a defensive person for each criticism he gets on his way to assembly. What do you guys think of this mega speech ? Leave your comments

Good Luck Megastar !!

August 26 Chiru Tirupthi youtube video :

NENU SAITHAM PRAJA RAJYA KU SEVAKUDU NI SEVA CHESTHAANU video

http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/27sli2.htm

rediff.com slide show: Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam starts with a bang via kwout

Labels: Andhra Pradesh, chiranjeevi, Hyderabad India, India, lip, Mogalthur, New Delhi, Prajarajyam, South India, Tirupathi, United States, videos

written by Kalyan @ 12:35 PM, ,

Free BankOfAmerica weekend Museum Admissions in 2008/2009

Bank Of America is giving away free admissions for its card holders to many museums all over US. This year there are many states included in the promotion like Illinois (Chicago museums) and Michigan. The difference in this promotion is that only on first weekend and just card holders are admitted free. Earlier promotions allowed one free guest with the card holder. As per promotion looks like the cards can be anything credit cards or debit cards.

The savings are around $20 per person. It is better than searching for coupons to get such deals.

Free first weekend BOA museum admissions with dates :

http://promotions.bankofamerica.com/museums/

Museums on Us 2008 via kwout

Free Chicago museum admissions :

1) Art Institute of Chicago
2) Chicago history museum
3) Museum of contemporary art

Museums on Us 2008 via kwout

Labels: Bank of America, Credit card, Debit card, free, KPMG, Museum, United States, US, Visa

written by Kalyan @ 1:06 PM, ,

Olympics 2008 soccer schedule match start times

Image via WikipediaOlympics 2008 soccer schedule match start times

Soccer may not be a favorite Olympics sport but a coveted gold medal contest draws huge viewers. The famous -- Ronaldinho is playing for Brazil's Olympic soccer team. For US which has tough time struggling for goals - Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley will decide if they can lead the US team. US woman's soccer team will miss the leading goal scorer Abby Wambach as she broke her left leg against Brazil three week earlier.

For Argentina -- still forward player Lionel Messi's inclusion in the team is in doubt as European clubs waiting to win an appeal against FIFA.

Match Date/Time	Teams playing	Match Starts in
August-2008-6 5:00 AM EST	Women's Preliminary round Group E match 1 (Argentina vs Canada)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-6 5:00 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group G match 1 (Japan vs New Zealand)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-6 5:00 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group F match 1 (Germany vs Brazil)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-6 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group F match 2 (Norwayth South Koreaea vs Nigeria)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-6 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group G match 2 (Norway vs USA)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-6 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group E match 2 (China vs Swedan)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-7 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group D match 1 (Honduras vs Italy)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-7 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group B match 1 (Japan vs USA)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-7 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group C match 1 (Brazil vs Belgium)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-7 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group A match 1 (Australia vs SRB)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-7 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group A match 2 (Ctte D''Ivoire vs Argentina)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-7 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group C match 2 (China vs New Zealand)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-7 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group B match 2 (Netherlands vs Nigeria)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-7 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group D match 2 (South Korea vs Cameroon)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-9 5:00 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group E match 3 (Swedan vs Argentina)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-9 5:00 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group G match 3 (USA vs Japan)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-9 5:00 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group F match 3 (Nigeria vs Germany)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-9 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group F match 4 (Brazil vs Norwayth South Koreaea)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-9 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group G match 4 (New Zealand vs Norway)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-9 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group E match 4 (Canada vs China)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-10 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group D match 3 (Cameroon vs Honduras)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-10 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group B match 3 (Nigeria vs Japan)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-10 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group C match 3 (New Zealand vs Brazil)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-10 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group A match 3 (Argentina vs Australia)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-10 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group A match 4 (SRB vs Ctte D''Ivoire)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-10 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group C match 4 (Belgium vs China)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-10 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group B match 4 (USA vs Netherlands)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-10 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group D match 4 (Italy vs South Korea)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-12 5:00 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group F match 5 (North Korea vs Germany)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-12 5:00 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group F match 6 (Nigeria vs Brazil)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-12 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group G match 5 (Norway vs Japan)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-12 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group G match 6 (USA vs New Zealand)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-12 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group E match 5 (China vs Argentina)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-12 7:45 AM ET	Women's Preliminary round Group E match 6 (Swedan vs Canada)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-13 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group D match 5 (South Korea vs Honduras)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-13 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group D match 6 (Cameroon vs Italy)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-13 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group B match 5 (Netherlands vs Japan)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-13 5:00 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group B match 6 (Nigeria vs USA)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-13 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group C match 5 (China vs Brazil)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-13 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group C match 6 (New Zealand vs Belgium)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-13 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group A match 5 (Ctte D''Ivoire vs Australia)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-13 7:45 AM ET	Men's Preliminary round Group A match 6 (Argentina vs SRB)	Match Starts in --
August-2008-15 6:00 AM ET	Women's Quarterfinal match 1	Match Starts in --
August-2008-15 6:00 AM ET	Women's Quarterfinal match 2	Match Starts in --
August-2008-15 9:00 AM ET	Women's Quarterfinal match 3	Match Starts in --
August-2008-15 9:00 AM ET	Women's Quarterfinal match 4	Match Starts in --
August-2008-16 6:00 AM ET	Men's Quarterfinal match 2	Match Starts in --
August-2008-16 6:00 AM ET	Men's Quarterfinal match 1	Match Starts in --
August-2008-16 9:00 AM ET	Men's Quarterfinal match 3	Match Starts in --
August-2008-16 9:00 AM ET	Men's Quarterfinal match 4	Match Starts in --
August-2008-18 6:00 AM ET	Women's Semifinal match 1	Match Starts in --
August-2008-18 9:00 AM ET	Women's Semifinal match 2	Match Starts in --
August-2008-19 6:00 AM ET	Men's Semifinal match 1	Match Starts in --
August-2008-19 9:00 AM ET	Men's Semifinal match 2	Match Starts in --
August-2008-21 6:00 AM ET	Women's Bronze medal match	Match Starts in --
August-2008-21 9:00 AM ET	Women's Gold medal match	Match Starts in --
August-2008-22 7:00 AM ET	Men's Bronze medal match	Match Starts in --
August-2008-23 12:00 AM ET	Men's Gold medal match	Match Starts in --

Labels: Abby Wambach, Association football, Canada, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Lionel Messi, United States, United States men's national soccer team

written by Kalyan @ 3:55 PM, ,

2008 state sales tax free holidays dates

Back in 1980 Ohio and Michigan started the trend of offering tax holidays for automobile purchases. All automobiles were purchased state tax free during those tax holidays. New York extended the tradition to clothes and back-to-school supplies. In 1997 for the first time introduced sales tax holiday which were followed by dozens of states in later years. South Carolina surprised everyone in 2006 by suspending the state tax, for the two days following Thanksgiving 2006 which included almost everything from purchases of cars , computers and even airplanes.

Typically August is the month of back to school shopping when most state sales tax holidays are announced.Who benefits ? Past sales tax holidays showed no benefits that economy will gain during these events. With inflation touching the roof this will benefit the consumers a little bit With rising fuel and food costs budgets.

Before you jump on this deal keep in mind that most states leave it to individual towns and counties to decide whether they will waive local taxes in addition to the state sales tax.

http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/sales_holiday.html

Sales Tax Holidays via kwout

Here is the link for state tax holidays.

Labels: Accounting, Business, Deals, New York, Sales and Use Tax, Tax, Tax holiday, Tax Negotiation and Representation, United States

written by Kalyan @ 10:58 PM, ,

"Cloud Computing" buzz -- what is it ?

Diagram of cloud computing architecture.

Image via WikipediaSummary:

"The cloud" aka "The internet" -- computing is a way to access all your data and even applications from any where via Internet. Google Docs is one of the examples of storing, sharing and retrieving documents by anyone form anywhere with any internet accessible PC. The biggest trend is the separation of hardware from software. Cloud Computing is promising trend that changes the way IS manages technology in next five years. All the IT operations can be run from a third party data centers relieving IT from some of the maintainability/support issues.

Analysis:

Cloud computing will be a big part in future of technology. Instead of storing our information on one computer or device, we store them in the clouds – over the internet and are thus accessible via our work computers, home computers and personal devices.

The growing requirement these days is accessibility of documents or applications in a centralized location. Two or three PCs at home and another PC at work, it is difficult to manage and work on same documents from multiple locations. SaaS -- Software as a Service is next big thing I feel that will avoid document versions clutter by making documents available at centralized location. Adobe made its photoshop software -- "Photoshop Express" available free for all online users. No-installation-required version is easy to access and user will get the same photo editing experience as in an desktop installed version.

Amazon has done a great job in commercializing the idea of cloud computing, and of bringing infrastructure as a service to start ups. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service that provides re sizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers.

Does cloud computing makes money for the companies ? May be not for every company that's in cloud computing. Google was able to cash by getting as many people as possible looking at advertising alongside search and other various software offerings.

I think the market is not yet ready for prime time. Free web based apps still lacks some powerful features to replace desktop version. Security is one major area of concern I feel that limits what can be done in "cloud computing".

Source:

What Does Cloud Computing Mean for You?

Labels: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Cloud computing, Clouds, Google, Google Docs, Software as a service, United States, World Wide Web

written by Kalyan @ 5:32 PM, ,

Toys R Us $5 off $25 July 18 & 19

Image via WikipediaToys R Us has new coupon for the weekend Friday and Saturday of July 18 and 19.

Make sure you have printer ready to print : Here is the coupon link

http://www5.toysrus.com/our/tru/prom/200807185off25cpns/Eml/923256.cfm

Untitled via kwout

Its summer time and if you are searching for some other baby sales ..here are some of them from Amazon.

Diaper Promotion, July 1 - September 30. Shop Your Registry and Get Six Months of Free Diapers.

Phillips Avent Promotion, July 1 – July 31. Get $40 to Spend Later with Your Purchase of Philips-Avent.

Top Brands Promotion, July 1 – July 31. 20% Off Top Brands in Baby plus FREE Super Saver Shipping* and Prime Delivery.

Bugaboo Promotion, July 1 – July 31. Save up to 20% on Select Bugaboo Cameleons Sold by Right Start.

Fisher Price Zen Collection, ongoing. Save 15% on the Fisher Price Zen Collection.

Labels: Amazon.com, Fisher-Price, Mattel, Toys "R" Us, United States, Wal-Mart

written by Kalyan @ 12:26 PM, ,

Four years prison for bribing USCIS officals to Get Green Card

A United States Permanent Resident Card (green card)

Image via WikipediaWorcester's Snowhill resident Mohammad Ijaz bribed USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service officials) for six green cards besides participating in a sate tax evasion scam. The result he landed in prison with four year term and three years of probation.

He gave bribes in amounts $900,000 to get U.S. Green Cards for six people and for taxes to Comptroller to assess the sales in the stores to $18 million.

Ijaz is one of 11 men arrested as part of a September nationwide sweep in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties.

Labels: Immigration, Society and Culture, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States nationality law, USCIS

written by Kalyan @ 11:13 AM, ,

More H1-Bs becoming illegal immigrants

SAN YSIDRO, CA - JANUARY 8: Pedestrians wait in line to enter the United States at the border in Tijuana Mexico from the United States January 8, 2007 in San Ysidro, California. Beginning on January 23rd, United States passengers traveling by air will be required to show a passport when traveling to Mexico or the Caribbean. Congress is also pushing to require passports when traveling by land or sea to from the United States to Mexico or Canada by early 2008. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeSays who ? The report from John Miano titled -- The H1B Visa Sham -- discussed the mismatch between number of H1-B visas approved for the fiscal year and the number of jobs created in that industry (both computers and engineering).

As opposed to popular belief John's argument is that there is no direct relationship between H1-Bs and their job creation. Is this measurable ? I doubt it as you cannot just count numbers from the same industry. It is possible that as a result of H1-Bs the jobs are created in related industries if not in the computer industry. This is difficult to quantify.

H1-Bs approvals are 16000 where as jobs lost is 76000 -- This to some extent may account for H1-Bs converting to permanent residents and the conversion is not accounted for. Probably H1-Bs are filling the jobs of once H1-bs but now legal residents.

large percentage of those who legally enter United States on H-1B visas go into the illegal alien pool -- No wonder we hear daily the companies scams and their arrests news. Recently Nilesh Dasondi of Cygate Software & Consulting Inc illegally sponsored visas for six people and they came to US and never worked on H1-Bs.

John's report may be very well true but statistics presented may tell us a different story that a person obtaining H1-B in California usually doesn't work in California but may go to some other city which I think was happening for the unaccounted numbers.

Overall the report puts the focus on numbers mismatch with the reality. correct measures (or system) are required to track this H1-B non-immigrants.

Labels: California, Employment, H-1B visa, Immigration, John Miano, microsoft, RAND, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, United States

written by Kalyan @ 8:04 AM, ,

H1-B visa caps led to High-tech Jobs unfilled

This article in Gazette highlights the problems that Maryland employers facing as a result of 85000 H1-B visa cap. Getting H1-B in US is a lottery system now with so many applicants fiercely competing for meager 65,000 H1-B visas.

Students in US are some what better off in the sense that they can work on F1 visa for 29 months and apply for 20,000 H1-B visas available.

Chamber of commerce's lobbying was not working to increase the cap back to 195,000 quota of 2003.

Is H1-B effecting the salaries and jobs taken away from US workers ?

Globalization and the American IT Worker(pdf).

A number of studies have found that the H-1Bs are paid on average 15% to 33% less than comparable U.S. IT workers.Given the similarity in salary savings between offshoring and labor importation, and the fact that having the work done on-site is far more productive, it is much more cost-effective from a CEO’s point of view to hire H-1Bs than to offshore the work

Labels: H-1B visa, Immigration, Recreation, Society and Culture, Travel, United States, US, Visa

written by Kalyan @ 11:29 AM, ,

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I'm Kalyan from Chicago, Illinois, United States. I write articles about Cricket matches and their reviews, Money saving Deals and tips, Immigration info related to Green Card or EAD or AP or H1-B, Road to MBA degree and afterwards. I'm writing in hope and passion that one person will be better because he or she benefits from these posts.

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