Thursday, April 08, 2004

What appear as individual grains of sand on a beach in the image obtained with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are actually myriads of stars embedded deep in the heart of the nearby galaxy NGC 300. The Hubble telescope's exquisite resolution enables it to see the stars as individual points of light, despite the fact that the galaxy is 6.5 million light-years away. This color composite was created from images taken by Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys in July and September 2002. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) 8:13:05 PM    comment []

THIS IS A PATHETIC JOKE: Infosys Plans U.S. Investment Of $20 Million By JOANNA SLATER Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL April 9, 2004 BOMBAY -- Infosys Technologies Ltd., one of India's top software companies, will invest $20 million in a U.S. consulting arm to help it compete for contracts against larger multinational rivals. The move to expand in the U.S. could help blunt criticism from politicians about the shift of U.S. technology jobs to nations such as India. "In our own small way, we are showing our commitment to the U.S. economy," said Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys chief operating officer. Infosys said the new subsidiary, based in Fremont, Calif., would hire 75 employees in the first year and ramp up to 500 within three years. It also said it had hired four U.S. consultants to build the venture, led by Stephen Pratt, formerly a partner at Deloitte Consulting. WHEN U.S. JOBS GO ABROAD Work In Progress: Regular roundup of the best of the Web on trade, jobs and outsourcing. Amid a "jobless recovery" and presidential-year politics, outsourcing is drawing strong reactions. See complete coverage. "This is a wake-up call to our industry: we will offer clients more competitively priced projects [and] practical ways to increase competitiveness," said Mr. Pratt, CEO of Infosys Consulting Inc. The Infosys move is part of a concerted effort by India's leading technology companies to expand beyond software development into value-added services. That is taking them closer to the turf of information-technology powerhouses such as Accenture Ltd., Electronic Data Systems Corp., and International Business Machines Corp., which provide their clients with everything from consulting to software to hardware. At the same time, those multinationals are racing to replicate the cost advantages enjoyed by Indian firms by beefing up their staff in a number of locations inside India. Revenue for the year to March at Bangalore-based Infosys crossed $1 billion. Its clients include DaimlerChrysler AG, Monsanto Co. and Apple Computer Inc. Just 4.5% of its sales currently come from consulting. Infosys has more than 21,000 employees, almost all of whom are in India. In December of last year, it acquired an Australian software firm for $23 million, its first overseas purchase. 8:09:44 PM    comment []

Clifford Chance Puts Brakes on Equity Promotions A Roundup of Legal News April 9, 2004 Clifford Chance may have found a way to grow partner payments: promote fewer partners. This year, the world's largest firm elevated just 18 persons to equity status. Last year, it lifted 31 ... The blogs have been buzzing on word that two reporters were ordered Wednesday to erase their tape recordings of a speech by Antonin Scalia. A deputy federal marshal made the command, apparently based on the justice's request that his speech at a Mississippi high school not be recorded. The incident had UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh questioning possible Fourth Amendment violations, while another commentator chewed on the irony of Scalia's complaint that "People just don't revere [the Constitution] like they used to" ... A Nascar sponsorship is helping one Maryland firm reach out to potential clients. Jenkins, Jenkins and Jenkins has put its name on cars in the Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck series. Frank Jenkins declares the strategy a success, observing, "Any time you are involved in a legal situation it's pretty unsettling. People want a friend there. They see we are involved in stock car racing as a sponsor and feel we have something in common" ... Personal injury firms are paying top dollar to keep their names high in Web search results. The search term that draws the highest bidders: mesothelioma. Some firms have paid more than $90 a click to direct mesothelioma searchers to their sites ... Stories of legal typos prompted Los Angeles attorney Lane Quigley to recall this memorable goof: In the 1970s, the newly minted lawyer dictated a declaration including the word "penalty." But that's not what the typist heard. The document emerged from the steno pool with this assurance: "I declare under plenty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct." -- Lori Patel 8:02:45 PM    comment []