Die Hard 4.0 – Bruce is Gonna RoCk YoU

A Bill Gates Product That Would Never Crash

IBM PC-DOS was one of three major operating systems that dominated the personal computer market from about 1981 to 1995. While it is a well-known fact that Bill Gates Microsoft developed this product for IBM in exchange for a one time fee and later on marketed it’s improved version as MS-DOS, what is not known is the intriguing story behind it.

Some, perhaps most, of the IBM decisions about the PC were definitely made on nontechnical grounds. Before deciding on MS-DOS, IBM arranged a meeting with Gary Kildall of Digital Research to consider CP/M. On the day of the meeting, so the story runs, the weather was so good that Gary decided to fly his private plane instead. The IBM managers, perhaps annoyed at being stood up, soon cut a deal with Microsoft instead.

Bill Gates who had bought the rights to Seattle Computer Product’s QDOS, decided to clean it up a little and sold it to IBM as PC-DOS and later spruced it up a little more to sell it as MS-DOS. The rest, as they say, is history. IBM was happy, Intel was happy, and Microsoft was very, very happy. Digital Research was not happy and Seattle Computer Products became successively unhappier over the years as they realized they had pretty much given away the rights to the best-selling computer program ever. They did retain the right to sell MS-DOS if they sold the hardware at the same time, and this was why you used to see copies of MS-DOS available from Seattle Computer Products, improbably bundled with alarmingly useless Intel boards and chips, to fulfill the letter of their contract with Microsoft.

Don’t feel too sorry for Seattle Computer Products, their QDOS was itself extensively based on Gary Kildall’s CP/M and he’d rather be flying. Bill Gates later bought a super-fast Porsche 959 with his cut of the profits. This car cost three-quarters of a million dollars, but problems arose with U.S. Customs on import. The Porsche 959 cannot be driven in the U.S.A. because it has not passed the government-mandated crash-worthiness tests. The car lies unused in a warehouse in Oakland to this day—one Gates product that will definitely never crash.

Tags: ibm, pc, microsoft, bill gates, dos, porsche, seattle

DP Money Watch – Amco India, Grab it Before it Spurts

Amco India Ltd, manufactures PVC Leather Cloth, PVC Films/Sheeting and Aluminium Foils at its 4 units located at Noida UP(2 units), Bhiwadi Rajasthan and Baddi HP. PVC Leather Cloth caters to the needs of furnishing units, sport shoes, belts, wallets, purses and many other articles requiring PVC leather cloth. PVC Films and Sheeting are used for shower curtains, side door panels, insulation tapes, rain wear, stationary and Aluminium Foil finds diverse use in food packaging, cigarette box foil, label foil, laminates, packaging for pharma products, cable wrap, fins for heat exchangers and many more.

The Company has an equity capital of Rs. 4.1 crores and book value of Rs. 52. It’s Share is available at Rs. 21. Thus the market capitalization of the company is barely Rs. 8 crores . Amco plans to double its capacities from present 4.8 million meters of PVC Leather cloth to 9.6 million meters, PVC FILMS and Sheeting to 9000 tonnes from present 4800 tonnes and aluminium foils to 4800 tonnes from existing 2400 tonnes. With expansion, the top line is expected to increase to almost Rs. 300 crore from Rs. 100 crore for FY07. The Financial summary of the company is given below :

Scrip Code : 530133 Company Name : Amco India Ltd

Type UnAudited UnAudited UnAudited Audited UnAudited Date Begin 01 Oct 06 01 Jul 06 01 Apr 06 01 Jan 06 01 Oct 05 Date End 31 Dec 06 30 Sep 06 30 Jun 06 31 Mar 06 31 Dec 05 Description Value(Rs. million) Gross Sales 262.94 243.99 243.36 250.5 264.05 Excise Duty -32.23 -30.11 -27.91 -30.04 -33.58 Net Sales 230.71 213.88 215.45 220.46 230.47 Other Income 2.87 0.29 0.21 1.2 0.45 Total Income 233.58 214.17 215.67 221.66 230.93 Expenditure -219.27 -202.93 -200.2 -208.85 -217.22 Operating Profit 14.31 11.25 15.47 12.81 13.71 Interest -5.44 -5.13 -4.82 -4.68 -4.9 Gross Profit 8.87 6.12 10.65 8.12 8.8 Depreciation -3.52 -3.22 -3.12 -2.79 -2.78 Profit before Tax 5.36 2.9 7.54 5.33 6.02 Tax -1.8 -1.27 -2.48 -4.47 -1 Profit after Tax 3.56 1.63 5.06 0.87 5.02 Net Profit 3.56 1.63 5.06 0.87 5.02 Equity Capital 41.1 41.1 41.1 41.1 41.1 Reserves - - 163.51 - - EPS 0.86 0.4 1.23 0.21 1.22 Nos. of Shares – Non Promoters 1537669 1537669 1539269 1539269 1539269 Percent of Shares – Non Promoters 37.41 37.41 37.45 37.45 37.45 Result Type Q Q Q Q Q

For FY-07 the expected EPS is Rs. 3.6 and thus the share is available at P/E of just about 6. However for FY-08 EPS could jump to Rs. 7. And beyond one year the company may declare a Bonus Issue as the book value is expected to be close to Rs. 55.

Investment is recommended at present levels(CMP Rs. 21) and a hold for atleast one year for the scrip to attain its true potential.

This report has been prepared solely for information purposes and the information contained herein may not be deemed to be an investment advice. Such information is impersonal and not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person. The information contained herein is not a complete analysis of every material fact representing any company, industry or security. The views expressed may change. While the information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, no responsibility (or liability) is accepted for the accuracy of its contents. Investors are advised to satisfy themselves before making any investments and should consult with and rely upon their own advisors whether and how to use such information in making any investment decision.

Tags: amco, pvc, leather, films, sheeting, foils, stocks, equity

DP Travel: Our Tips For The First Time Traveller

DelhiPlanet is back after a mind-blowing trip across Europe and if you wanna know what we did then keep checking us out. With DP Travel you’ll be travelling across the length and breadth of Europe from the comfort of whereever you are.

First Time Air Travel, especially International Travel is something that most people look forward to and many experience it at some point in their life in one form or another. As much as one may deny it, travelling for the first time to an alien country is always a little scary. One doesn’t know the procedures followed at the airport, the security measures(especially after 9/11) and there is always a fear that something may go wrong. Keeping this in mind, we bring to you 7 Tips, that would prove to be very useful to you if you are a first time traveller travelling to a foreign land from any Indian Metro.

1. The First Checkpoint at an Indian Airport is the Airport Entrance, where a guard checks your ticket and passport(a security measure exsistent at very few airports around the world). It’s quite amusing to see that in a city like Delhi one cannot enter the airport at either the arrival or departure terminals without a passport. This is in stark contrast to airports around the world where the arrival terminal is almost like a mall, where you can even go for a casual visit.
2. Next you need to get the baggage you wish to check in x-rayed and if you’re not carrying something illegal then the guys at the counter would tie the bag with a plastic band. This band indicates that you’re baggage is safe for check in. Again this is something that happens in very few countries of the world.
3. Now, you need to find and goto the counter of the airline that you’re flying. For Example: If you are flying KLM, goto the KLM counter and checkin your baggage. If you are lucky the attendant would ask you the kind of seat that you like(window/aisle) and would then give you a boarding pass for the flight. Keep this boarding pass safely with you as you would need it till you board the aircraft. Also first time travellers need to give a copy of their visa and an employment/college certificate at the airline counter.(very irrational and once again this happens only in India)
4. Next you would need to fill out an immigration form that would be handed to you with the boarding pass. This is quite a simple form that can be filled out using your passport and boarding pass and has to be submitted at the immigration counter.
5. Now you need to head towards the immigration counter and upon being called you need to present your passport and filled immigration form. The officer at the desk would check the validity of your visa and passport and if everything is fine, he would stamp the visa with the date of your departure. Once you are through this point it means that you have officially left the country.
6. The next stop is the much dreaded security check. Post 9/11, the american and british airport authorities have really gone overboard with this procedure sometimes even resorting to Strip Search, which is quite pathetic. It is strongly recommended that one should read the guidelines of the airport from which you are flying as they vary from one place to another. At Most places it’s better not to carry any form of liquids,gels,knives, pins or any other pointed metallic objects in your hand luggage, it’s advisible to place such items in the luggage that you check in. During the security check your hand baggage and everything in your pockets and your belt would be x-rayed and you may or may not be physically checked by the officer. Many people who do not read the rules and regulations of the airport are forced to surrender items that they buy, so make sure you have read all the rules.
7. Once past the security check you would find yourself in the departure lounge, here you can do whatever you wish to kill time. Seat yourself close to the gate mentioned in the boarding pass and carefully listen to all the announcements being made. At the time mentioned on the boarding pass you would be asked to board the aircraft. Pick up all your belongings and head towards the gate with your passport and boarding pass in hand. The Airline officials would check your boarding pass and once inside the aircraft the cabin crew would take good care of you.

That’s it 7 steps and you’re not a first time flier anymore. Be Safe and Have A Nice Flight !!!

Ghoom Barabar Ghoom

DP Money Watch – Adhunik Metalliks To Emerge As An Integrated Steel Manufacturer

Adhunik Metalliks has recently been allotted Iron Ore Mines at Kulum in Orissa, about 120 kms from its plant in Rourkela.The Iron Ore from these mines has a rich ferrous content, reserves of which are adequate to feed the company’s requirement for the next 30 years or so. This will insulate the company from fluctuating Iron Ore prices. The Company has also got significant coal reserves, 220 kms from its plant site which can meet its captive coal requirements for the next 30 years. On forward integration, the company has recently acquired Unistar Galvanising and Fabrication Ltd. The company is into transmission tower manufacturing with a galvanised substation and galvanised telecom towers. In short it’s a major steel infrastructure player with orders from NTPC, Power Grid, BHEL and others. This makes Adhunik a fully integrated manufacturer in the steel sector.

With an equity capital of Rs. 91 crores, CMP of Rs. 58, and an expected EPS for FY07 of Rs. 8 per share, the share is available at P/E of just about 7. However for FY-08 its top line is expected to be in the vicinity of Rs. 1600 crores, an increase of 100 % over its FY07 revenues of Rs. 800 crores and an expected EPS of close to Rs. 20.

Buy is recommended with atleast one year HOLD

This report has been prepared solely for information purposes and the information contained herein may not be deemed to be an investment advice. Such information is impersonal and not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person. The information contained herein is not a complete analysis of every material fact representing any company, industry or security. The views expressed may change. While the information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, no responsibility (or liability) is accepted for the accuracy of its contents. Investors are advised to satisfy themselves before making any investments and should consult with and rely upon their own advisors whether and how to use such information in making any investment decision.

Tags: money,stocks,equity,steel,iron,ore, manufacturer,power

Exam Answers You Wouldn’t Dare To Give

Remember your good old school and college days, looking back you would always feel that those were amazing days. Those were times filled with constant learning, fun,enjoyment and opportunities to make lots of friends. Everything used to be great except for examination time. Although the system of education in Delhi and other places in India has improved considerably with better ways of learning and a modern examination system, “exam time” is still a period where your freedom seems to be curbed.

Speaking of Exams, before starting with an exam one always hopes to find a certain number of questions that one can easily answer. But there are situations when one is forced to tackle questions, the solution to which is not known. Different people tend to adopt different approaches in such situations, some tend to leave the questions unanswered while some tend to repeat whatever little they know over and over again in a frantic attempt to get a few marks. Finally there are a few extremely creative and daring guys who either turn the question around or give really wacky answers.

Here are few that we came across,

So a few of these guys didn’t know the answers but they seem to be extremely creative people and not to forget very daring.

Tags: exam,answers,wacky,dare,school,college

DP Travel: How To Plan a Backpacking Trip Across Europe, Part II

In continuation to the first part of our series(check here), DP Travel tells you, how you can easily plan an amazing adventure and vacation across the beautiful lands of Europe.

1. Submit Your Visa Application: Once you have collected all the required documents and filled up the visa application form, submit it at the embassy or the appropriate VFS center. Do Remember to carry 2-3 photocopies of the first page of your passport in addition to all the other required documents. There would be a visa fee that you would have to pay to get every visa, and this fee would not be refunded even if you are denied a visa. If you are not a frequent traveller then you would most likely be called for a visa interview at the embassy.
2. The Visa Interview: As you would most probably apply for a visit/tourist visa, most questions in the interview would revolve around your reason for the visit. Commonly asked questions are, “What is the purpose of your visit“, “For how long are you going“, “How many people are going along with you and how do you know them“, “What is your current profession” and a few more. Do remember to take along bookings of places where you plan to stay, your travel itinerary, a letter from your company/college and proof that you have enough money to fund your trip.
3. Start the Bookings: Congratulations, by now you would have most probably got all the visas that you were seeking. Half your job is done, now comes the part of making all the bookings and planning how you would be commuting from one place to another during the trip. Once you get the visa try to book your return ticket as soon as possible cause the sooner you book it, the cheaper it is. As far as commuting on the trip is concerned it all depends on your plan. If you plan to visit a lot of countries especially the west european one’s then you could buy the eurorail pass. This pass would allow you to board any euro rail train, and the whole of europe is quite well connected by these trains. If you plan to visit only a few countries that are quite far apart from one another, then you can think about taking internal flights as europe has quite a few low cost carriers that offer cheap tickets, like ryanair and vueling.
4. Decide What You Want To Carry Along: Well the date is now coming closer and the excitement is increasing, but try to keep yourself in control and start thinking about the things that you’ll need on the trip. Make a list and start working on it. Your list should include stuff like clothes, medicines, toiletries, prinouts of important papers and any other stuff you think you might need. Travel light and if possible, try to make sure that your backpack should not weigh more than 15 kilograms. Do remember to check the baggage limit of the airline that you would be travelling on. As far as possible try to get a direct flight to your destination even if you have to pay a little more. The golden rule while going on a euro trip or any other adventure is Stay Alert and Protect your belongings . You would always be carrying your passport while on the trip, so try to carry some clothes which have hidden pockets.
5. Improve your knowledge about the places of visit: It’s always advisible to read a bit about the places that you would be travelling to, the proverb “Ignorance is Bliss” is a strict no-no on this trip. The best place to learn something about the place that you are going to travel to is Wikitravel. Wikitravel contains information regarding the hot-spots of the city, how to get there, places to stay, places to eat and general guidelines. If you are a frequent flier and think that you know it all, then think again, you might be in for a rude shock. For Ex: Don’t even dream of carrying a camera to the red-light district in amsterdam, you’ll never get to see it again if you do.
6. Get Your Forex: Euro is the most commonly accepted currency in most european countries except for a few eastern european countries and a few others. So either you can carry euros from your place of departure or carry dollars and get them converted at the airport. It’s always better to carry some euros with you and split your forex into Cash, Traveller’s Cheques and Travel Cards, the last 2 being more safer. Forex is easily available with the banks and the travel agents.
7. General Guidelines: We don’t wanna sound like a nagging mother but these general tips if followed would go long way in making your Euro Trip enjoyable and memorable. So Be Alert, Take care of your belongings, Always carry your passport and some money, Never Leave your bag unattended anywhere, Always carry the important documents with you and never buy anything from unauthorised dealers, Play Safe and Be Safe.

Well that’s all about planning a Euro Trip. Very soon we’ll be back with some exciting travelogues that would transport you to the amazing lands of Europe.

DP Travel: How To Plan a Backpacking Trip Across Europe, Part I

A New Month, A New Day and yes, yet another new start for DelhiPlanet. Welcome to the first post of DP Travel, the one stop shop for all your travel information needs. Beginning today DelhiPlanet is going to bring to you experiences from across the world. The party spots, the exotic locations, the beaches, how to get there, how to plan your trip and much more.

Life is a Journey, Go out and Explore.

On that note let’s start with the inaugral post, where we are gonna tell you everything you need to know about planning A Backpacking Trip Across Europe. Just like Scotty,Cooper, Jenny and Jamie in the movie Eurotrip(shown above, ofcourse you need to much more careful than they were.)

1. Discuss the Idea: Europe may be the second smallest continent on the planet but it is one of the most fascinating lands in the world. Add to that, it’s remarkable infrastructure and unity and you have a perfect place to vacation and enjoy yourself. After all, which other continent do you know of that allows you to travel to more than 10 countries on a single visa and a single currency. A Euro Trip thus becomes a must have experience. So the first step in planning a euro trip, is to discuss this idea with your closest friends. Form a group of 2-4 adventurous,outdoor, travel loving people and start saving up for this once in a lifetime experience.
2. Decide when to visit: The next step is talk about the period of the year when you along with all the people of your group, would be able to spare time for this adventure cum vacation. The best time of the year to visit europe is between May-September. At this time the weather in most places of europe is pleasant and there are a lot of events that one can attend. The events range from pulsating sporting action(Wimbledon, F1 racing) to beer fests(Oktoberfest) and concerts to wild parties (in places like Ibiza). If you’re a delhiite then june is the best time, as it’s hot to be in delhi around that period.
3. Finalize the Countries and Cities: Now comes the most important part of the planning process, deciding on the list of places and cities that you would like to visit. The whole of Europe is quite huge with more than 40 countries and most likely you won’t be able to cover all of them if you’re on leave from work or a short term break. Don’t try to do too many places as then you would only be travelling most of the time. If you are a first time visitor to europe then you might just want to see the schengen states and a few eastern european countries.
4. Work out the Visas that you need to Get: If you’ve reached till here then the chances are that you are quite keen and serious on this trip. So now get ready to apply for the all important visas that could make or break your plan. For Travelling purposes you can think of europe as being divided into 2 parts, Schengen and Non Schengen. The Schengen countries are those which are a part of the Schengen Agreement, for these countries you get a Special Visa using which you can goto any of the schengen states. Currently there are 15 west european countries under schengen with more to be added soon. For the non-schengen states on the other hand, you need to have a separate visa for each place. For Ex: If you wish to travel to germany,netherlands,spain and france just one visa of any of these places is sufficient as they are all schengen states. However if you wish to travel to turkey,bulgaria and poland, then you need to get 3 visas, one for each place. Checkout the schengen office for more information on this.
5. Decide the exact dates and the Travel Itinerary: Next you need to decide on the exact dates of your travel and a detailed travel itinerary. Not only would you need to book your air tickets based on this info, you’ll also need it to get your visa. If you’re taking a break from work, then leave around a weekend so that you can get those 2 days for your journey. Your Travel Itinerary should contain information regarding the country and city that you would be visiting and the number of days at each place.
6. Work out your Budget: A Backpacking trip is actually a budget trip, and since europe is a popular backpacking destination so there aren’t too many problems that you would face with regards to accomodation and transport. So it’s important to work out a suitable budget for the trip and the fun starts when you really have to stay within that budget. A budget trip would involve you staying in a hostel, using public transport at all times and a lot of walking. Although planning and going on a Euro Trip is slightly expensive but it’s the best way to learn the value of money.
7. Start Collecting the Documents required to get your Visa: Now starts the hectic process of applying and getting your visa. This is supposed to be the scrariest and most confusing part, but it’s quite easy if you follow a methodological approach. Start collecting information on the documents needed for a visa of the country you wish to go to. Once all of them are in place, submit your application at the visa application center. If you are in Delhi and need to apply for the visa of a schengen state then goto the VFS site of that country. For Ex: VFS Netherlands if you’re going to Amsterdam,Utrecht or Rotterdam. Similarly there is VFS Belgium if you’re going to brussels, VFS Germany for Munich,Berlin,Frankfurt and so on. Your visa application form needs to be submitted at the appropriate center along with all the required documents. If there exists no VFS branch for the country of your interest then look up the information on that country’s consulate in India.

Well that’s all for Part 1, stay tuned for Part 2. That’s where your plan would become a reality and no one would dare say Scotty Doesn’t Know.

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