Yellow pages
Cybernet Informatics (India) has launched yellow pages on the internet in association with Ad Net. The company claims that this is the only website in India which offers its franchisees the possibility of hosting their advertisements and updating the site from their respective cities itself. The company will also launch India's first all-India telephone directory on the internet for which necessary permission is being obtained from the government. The company has already started work for hosting India's first super shopping mall which is being participated on a common platform by 97 other countries.
http://www.indiayellowpages.comComputing history
Computer Chronicles is an informative website on the history of computers. A descriptive time line takes you through the evolution of computing, from the invention of the abacus in China to the present-day personal computer. The time line, which is broken down into five eras, covers major milestones and includes photographs of historical computes and famous inventors. Besides browsing the timeline, you may be interested in visiting the `quotes' sections. Here, you'll find quotes made during the evolution of the computer industry - some of which have proved to be less insightful than others.
http://despina.advanced.org/22522/
Online tracking, analysis
Chennai-based Intercept Consulting has launched `WebSight' - an online service to help understand and analyse a website's audience, and therefore its potential. `WebSight' will seek to answer the advertisers and content sites' long unanswered questions on Web marketing, with definitive information on viewership profile and quality. The size, quality and growth of the viewership of a website form the basis of its potential. `WebSight' will provide continuous updates on the popularity enjoyed by individual pages, site referral analysis - in terms of where the viewers come from and where they go from the site, and the average and maximum time spent on the site, besides the regular information like number of click throughs.
Further, the service tracks all measures from the viewer's end and not the server's end - enabling standardisation irrespective of server type used.
http://www.websight.com
Preparing for the Y2K bug
On the whole, Indian IT industry's defining organisations like Nasscom, MAIT and DoE seem to be frontrunners in the cause of fixing the Y2K problem in India. Atleast the Web surf reveals that. However, as documents on these sites say that the Y2K problem in India is bad, more sites could have been expected. Seems like we will have to wait another millennium for that.Anticipating another millennium disaster in the Year 3000, one enterprising individual has set up a Year 3000 problem resource site at www.y2k.com. It just humours the Y2K problem, so don't fall for it.
Nasscom
This site is intended to be a complete resource on Y2K in India. The FAQ answers most Y2K-related questions in simple language. The page also provides some scenarios that express the need for Y2K compliance. After learning about the Y2K problem, the ensuing question may be "will it strike my organisation?" and part 2 of the FAQ section addresses this question. It explains Y2K compliance from the perspective of a business process, and explores the need for everyone in the business chain to be compliant.
Nothing especially Indian in it. The other sub-sections give a general overview about the Y2K problem, the need to create awareness, and how to go about fixing your own software and hardware Y2K problems. Nasscom has a facilitated a Y2K certification panel that `offers independent assistance to user organisations in order to review their information systems and certify them for Y2K compliance.' The `certification panel' section lists out the names, numbers and addresses of their Y2K certification partners in different cities. The oddly named `SIG-Y2K' section documents Nasscom's efforts in solving the Y2K problem.
http://www.y2kindia.com
DoE
The Department of Electronics' Y2K resource site is similar to Nasscom's website. It has a definition of the Y2K problem, how to solve it, the list of Y2K consultants, and the key people involved. The Y2K problem has meant good business for the Indian software developers, who create bug fixes for organisations, both in India and abroad. A handy and interesting document on this website titled `initiatives and opportunities in India' points out the opportunities that the Y2K problem has created for the Indian software industry.
http://www.doe.ernet.in/ y2k/
MAIT
This site has a handy download that tests your PC for Y2K compliance. This download may be found on any other Y2K resource site, but its presence on MAIT's site shows their dedication towards complete Y2K compliance in India.
http://www.mait.com/
Government
This site is supposed to be government's contribution to India's Y2K information base. Attempts to access the site for three days at a stretch failed. A case of Y2K non-compliance? Try your luck, the website might just load.
http://www.y2k.gov.in
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.