The way to Facebook employees’ hearts is through ‘dogfooding’

Nikita Prakash, 24, joined Facebook a year ago. As a part of the ad integrity team her job is to ensure that ads on Facebook comply with company policy. But apart from the work she is paid for, Nikita spends hours on Facebook, voluntarily testing it. She has filed 150 bugs in the past six months - almost a bug a day. "There is no bigger thrill than knowing that your work affects the end user," she says. Nikita is doing what in tech parlance is known as 'dogfooding' or the act of getting employees to use/test the products the company builds. It comes from the colloquial 'eating your own dogfood'.

Globally, most technology companies 'dogfood' their own products - for instance when they need to work the bugs out of their creations. But Facebook is doing more than just that. It is also using dogfooding as a tool to engage and retain its employees, most of whom tend to be in their early twenties and impatient. Dogfooding provides instant gratification, makes youngsters a part of the decision-making process: both factors critical to retaining the young and restless workforce.

"Dogfooding is one of the best outlets that we can provide for young, enterprising intelligent minds. It binds them to the product and the company very strongly," says James Mitchell, head of the Hyderabad office, Facebook. "In the entire Facebook ecosystem dogfooding is a medium to let your voice be heard and for it to matter," he adds.

Facebook using 'dogfooding' to retain and engage employeesAt Facebook, 'dogfooding' gained prominence as it shifted towards 'mobile first'. It needed all employees to use the mobile apps and provide feedback. Facebook has 5,299 employees globally and a little over a 100 in India. Of its 1.15 billion global users, India accounts for 82 million.

What works to Facebook's advantage is that its 20-somethings are already in the groove. "They love the Facebook platform and are active users. Dogfooding is up their alley," says Shweta Shukla, head of HR. Shomir Dutt, a product specialist at its Hyderabad office explains the three parts of dogfooding. "There is general dogfooding like testing the hashtag that Facebook introduced; another form is where employees get together and try and hack a product for a couple of hours, and finally, there is market-specific dogfooding - these are products that are released for the India market."

One suggestion that resulted in a change while dogfooding was localising the registration for India users: DDMMYY format for India while for the rest of the world, it is MMDDYY. "Collective wisdom is very powerful," says Shukla. The way Facebook designs its employee roles is that classically, an employee will spend 50% to 60% of the time doing things that are predictable. The remaining 30% to 40% is not defined: employee involvement in dogfooding can well constitute part of this.

"Plus, Facebook has offices around the world and dogfooding keeps us all connected and more importantly, involved," says Mitchell.

Globally, the company puts in a lot of effort around soliciting input from the different offices and teams. This cascades down making dogfooders responsible and feel invested in the company, he adds.

Microsoft needs to work like a startup again

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has said that the computer giant had to reinvent itself to avoid being "old and tired" as his company struggles to keep up in the mobile devices sector.

"We're finding ourselves having to start up again," Ballmer said at a conference in Rome where he announced Italy had become the first country in which Microsoft phones were outselling iPhones.

"Unless you're constantly inventing something new, you're old and tired. Today we're having to remake ourselves," Ballmer told his audience.

Referring to the success of Microsoft against rival Apple's iPhone in Italy, he quipped: "I don't know how long it's going to last."

Ballmer was a classmate and friend of Bill Gates from their days at Harvard University in the 1970s.

He took over from Gates in 2000 but earlier this year said he will step down by August 2014.

When Ballmer took over, Microsoft was the undisputed tech sector leader, and the world's largest company in market value. But in recent years it has struggled as consumers began to move from desktop and laptop PCs to mobile devices.

Microsoft discloses data requests from Indian government

India made 321 user data requests between January to June this year to software giant Microsoft (including Skype), which disclosed subscriber/transactional data for nearly 80% of those requests.For entire 2012 calendar year, Microsoft including Skype had received 471 user data requests from India.Microsoft's second law enforcement request report details the number of requests for data it received from law enforcement agencies globally and how it responded to them.They also cover requests for data relating to all of Microsoft's online and cloud services.The latest report reveals that India made 278 requests (excluding Skype) for user data affecting 413 accounts between January-June 2013.The firm revealed only subscriber/transactional data for 80.6% of these requests, while in 16.2% cases no data was found. It rejected 3.2% of the requests made by India.For Skype -- which allows users to make voice calls over the internet -- India made 43 user data requests affecting 102 accounts during the first six months of this calendar year.Microsoft said it provided only subscriber/transactional data for 79.1% of these requests. The company rejected 18.6% of the total requests made while no data was found for 2.3% of Skype-related requests.Globally, Microsoft (including Skype) received 37,196 requests from law enforcement agencies impacting 66,539 accounts in January-June 2013 compared to 75,378 requests and 137,424 potential accounts in the whole of 2012.

"While we see requests from a large number of countries, when you look at the overall number, the requests are fairly concentrated with over 73% of requests coming from five countries, the US, Turkey, Germany, the UK, and France," it said.For Skype, the requests were similarly concentrated the US, the UK, France and Germany, accounting for over 70 per cent of requests, Microsoft added.The report comes close on the heels of technology firms coming under pressure following revelations of a secret US Government programme which scoops up data from internet firms.Technology firms, including Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter and Google, have been releasing information on government data requests in the belief that it would help in reassuring their customers.

Facebook, Google top earners from online ads

Google and Facebook are reportedly the top leaders to cash in the online advertising, leaving the rest of the digital advertising firms with no growth. 

Market analysts indicate that in 2012, online advertising in the US grew 15.5%, to $36.6 billion, and the two big Silicon Valley giants grab much of that growing pile of cash. 

An analyst with data tracker Pivotal Research, Brian Wieser said that excluding Facebook and Google, who take up most of the share, there is almost no growth, New York Post reports. 

Pivotal indicates that out of the $19 billion spent on search, the largest areas of online advertising, Google has an estimated 95% share. 

The report said that while spending in the digital space has grown exponentially, one-time stalwarts AOL and Yahoo! have been left on the sidelines. 

According to Pivotal data, keeping aside Google and Facebook, display and traffic acquisition costs (TAC), web advertising stands at just $12.4 billion, constituting an annual growth rate of just 1%, the report added.

Govt should control social networking sites

Voicing concern over the use of social networking sites for spread of propaganda and disturbing communal harmony, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today asked the Centre to take steps to control such sites.

Citing a recent case where some persons tried to create communal tension in Gurgaon and Rewari districts on the issue of transportation of cows, he said the situation was brought under control by district authorities though immediate and decisive response and the matter is being enquired into by the Divisional Commissioner.

"It has often been seen that social networking sites such as Facebook, MMS, Twitter etc become a media in spreading propaganda through video clippings and messages of incidents with communal overtones - instigating hatred among various communities leading to flaring up of the communal situation.

"However, in the present legal framework, control of such social networking sites is required to be done by Central Government," he said speaking at the National Integration Council meeting.

Noting that the conference was an apt occasion to remember patriotic leaders who laid the foundations of the country on firm principles of unity in diversity, freedom of religion and secularism, he regretted that some forces want to destabilize "present achievements and our future dreams through communalism and extremist violence".

"Today, we need to send a clear message to everyone that the States and the Centre are unitedly committed to decisively defeat communalism in all its manifestations," he said.

Seeking parity in the policing of the NCR region, Hooda urged Prime Minister to sanction a special package of Rs 500 crore for Haryana Police to enhance its capability and technical competence to bring it on par with Delhi Police.

He stressed that the entire region would benefit from the same quality of confidence derived from better security.

Smartphones can identify you by your touch

Move over, passwords. US-based scientists have developed a new software that can enable your touchscreen smartphone to identify you simply by the unique way you tap and swipe on the device.

The software, Silent-Sense , developed by Cheng Bo and his colleagues at the Illinois Institute of Technology, has demonstrated 99% accuracy in tests.

It uses the phone's built-in sensors to record the unique patterns of pressure, duration , fingertip size and position of each user when interacting with their phone or tablet, Bo said.

Machine learning algorithms then turn this information into a signature that identifies the user — and will lock out anyone whose usage patterns do not match, New Scientist reported.

The system's accuracy can be further enhanced by enabling the smartphone's accelerometer and gyroscope to measure how much the screen moves when you are jabbing at it.

They can also pick up on your unique gait as you walk while using the screen.

In tests, a group of 100 users were told to use the smartphone's touchscreen as they would normally.

SilentSense was able to identify the smartphone's owner with 99% accuracy after no more than 10 taps. Even with an average of 2.3 touches, the software was able to verify the user 98% cent of the time.

The software stops checking the smartphone user's identity when apps and mobile games are being used. However, to maintain security, it automatically switches on whenever more sensitive applications, such as email or SMS, are accessed, the reaserchers said.

Gmail preferred by terrorists: Ex-NSA chief

Former CIA and NSA chief Micheal Hayden has said Gmail is the most preferred email service for communication among terrorist outfits.

According to a Washington Post report, while defending the alleged snooping programmes sanctioned by the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA), Hayden said that Gmail is used by terrorists worldwide.

Hayden also suggested that the origins of internet in the US partially justifies the NSA's conduct as much of the web traffic goes through American servers and the government takes a picture of it for intelligence purposes.

The response of the former NSA chief may not go down too well with the tech companies who maintain the NSA's snooping is costing them their customers abroad. Earlier this year, a report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) predicted US cloud service providers would lose out on $21.5 to $35 billion over the next three years due to recent revelations.

Hayden was quoted as saying that US could be fairly charged with the militarization of the World Wide Web as the NSA's Tactical Access Operations (TAO) is mandated with hacking foreign targets to steal data and monitor communications. It also develops programmes that can damage foreign computers and networks using cyberattacks.

The US government's surveillance programmes have been severely criticized after whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the methods and the extent to which the alleged snooping is done on citizens.

The US government is known to intercept citizens' web and phone data and the tech giants, including Yahoo, Google and Microsoft among others, have been continuously petitioning the government to allow release of NSA data requests publicly.

Bill Gates stays atop Forbes list of America's richest

Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates is still America's richest man, taking the top spot in the Forbes 400 list for the 20th straight year with a net worth of 72 billion dollars. 

Investor Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., remains in second place with 58.5 billion dollars, while Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison stays third with 41 billion dollars. 

Brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries Inc., stay tied for fourth with 36 billion dollars each. 

Forbes says America's super rich continued to increase their wealth over the past year, with the 400 people on the list posting a combined net worth of 2 trillion dollars, up from 1.7 trillion dollars a year ago. That marks their highest combined value ever. Forbes attributed the growth to strong stock and real estate markets.

Audience watches a film in totality, critics in parts: Ajay Devgn

The jury is still out on the fate of Ajay Devgn's latest offering 'Satyagraha' but the actor looks far from perturbed as he enters his Juhu office. A cigarette break is on top of his mind and after a quick smoke, Ajay sat down with Mirror for a candid conversation. 

The Prakash Jha film detailing the fictionalised life of an Anna Hazare like figure opened to a split verdict from the critics but the actor says that he is rather indifferent to the opinion of that lot. His Himmatwala was savaged by the critics and the latest one was met by accusations of sticking to the Jha formula, a mix of contemporary politics, romance and intrigue. 

The question about this observation is met with a smile before the actor denies allegations of Satyagraha being formulaic.

"Bilkul nahi (Not at all)...Me and Prakash collaborate once in some threefour years. His stories are different and engaging and he has learnt that very well," he says.

The actor accuses the critics and analysts of losing touch with the audience with their minute disection.

"You ask people within the industry, they will say things like the first half was good, the second half wasn't. The audience always watches the film in totality. Critics are trying to sound intelligent by saying first half, second half. Kyu beech mei samosa aa gaya?" said the actor. 

Jha is one of Ajay's favourite collaborators, other names in the list being Sajid Khan and Rohit Shetty. But did Himmatwala's failure affect his relationship with Sajid?

"Sometimes things go right, sometimes they go wrong. You do 10 films, out of that one doesn't work so you move ahead and learn from your mistakes. Yes, Sajid and I did have a chat about Himmatwala to figure what went wrong, and we have our own take on it, but it stays between us," explained Ajay. 

And what about the rumours about cracks in his camaraderie with Rohit, thanks to his super hit collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan, Chennai Express?

"When Rohit started Chennai Express, I was the first one to know and told him to go ahead and make it. I am making Singham 2 with him and he is like family to me. And, honestly, Rohit and I don't even bother about all this gossip," said the actor. 

But there is one collaborator Ajay Devgn can always count on: wife Kajol. When asked about rumours of her making a comeback in his next home production, Ajay said, "Yes, it is true. We have planned something very nice."

'Andaz Apna Apna' sequel with Ranbir, Shahid Kapoor

Rajkumar Santoshi has been planning to make a sequel to his 1994 cult classic 'Andaz Apna Apna' for quite some time now. However, to get Aamir Khan and Salman Khan--who immortalised the characters of Amar and Prem in the rib-tickling comedy--on board is proving to be a major challenge. And now it seems Santoshi might just replace the two. 

With his Shahid Kapoor-Ileana D'Cruz starrer, Phata Poster Nihkla Hero, almost ready for release, Santoshi is eager to put the sequel on floors. Mirror has learnt that instead of waiting for the two Khans, the director has decided to revamp the film with a contemporary storyline and a younger cast. 

He has bounced off the idea to Shahid, who has already impressed him with his comic turn in Phata Poster. For the parallel lead, Santoshi is keen on roping in Ranbir Kapoor, with whom he has previously worked in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. 

A source close to the production said: "Although Rajji ideally wants to do the film with Aamir and Salman, he is keeping his options open. Since it has almost become an impossible task to get combination dates from the two, Rajji might go ahead with Ranbir and Shahid - who are both young and commercially viable." 

However, no official announcement has been made yet. When contacted, Santoshi said, "It's very early for me to take the call on the actors. I am still in the process of putting together the script, so wouldn't like to comment on the casting of Andaz Apna Apna 2."

Google wants you to click “Incredible India”

Google and the Ministry of Tourism want you to shoot the images that show the life, culture and places within India, and share them on a Google+ page. The company and the ministry have joined hands to launch a photo contest, which invites people from across the world, and especially in India, to share their best clicks that reflect the essence of India. 

The contest will run for the next few weeks and winners will be declared at the Delhi Photo Festival, which is slated to start from September 27. Sources told TOI that the contest would be formally announced in the coming days. 

While there is no cash reward for winning entries, sources said that the winners would be offered a week-long trip to any location of their choice within India by the tourism ministry. It will be an all-expenses paid trip.

The official Google page for the contest is already online and accessible. To participate, contestants will have to share their images on their page at Google+, a social networking site, and tag their posts with #IncredibleIndia hashtag. Once tagged, the images will appear on a special web page created by Google for the contest. 

Tourism ministry will select 10 photos that have received the highest number +1 votes on the social media site. After that it will pick three top photos from the list and declare them winners. 

Google will not play any role in deciding the winners.

Social media behaviour can cost you your job

When an interior designer tried to connect to potential customers via LinkedIn for his after work hours business, he got a termination letter from his original job in return. 

Bradford Pedley was fired by Canberra design firm peckvonhartel, hours after hearing about the LinkedIn email, which pledged to expand his fledgling business 'to a full-time design practice', the Sydney Morning Herald reports. 

Fair Work Commission adjourned the case saying it was well within the rights of the firm to fire him thereby highlighting the consequences which social media can have to an individual's professional life. 

Canberra firm's special counsel on workplace relations, Michael Byrnes, said that Pedley's sacking 'illustrates the potential pitfalls of an employee pursuing out-of-work activities that are incompatible with his or her duties to an employer'. 

Byrnes added that although LinkedIn content was generally 'less scandal-prone' than Facebook or Twitter, the blending of the personal and professional on LinkedIn makes it just as dangerous adding that on Twitter and Facebook, one can generally make a clear demarcation between their private and professional sphere. 

Lawyer Carita Kazakoff, at labour law firm Slater and Gordon said that many users of Twitter, Facebook or Instagram often had the type of conversation one might have in the pub with their mates and counseled employees to maximise the privacy settings on social media sites and apps and delete any inappropriate behaviour, the report added.

'Illegal' online investment schemes under Sebi scanner

A large number of 'guaranteed-return' schemes, being promoted through emails, websites, blogs and social media platforms, have come under regulatory scanner for luring gullible investors to unauthorised investment products promising huge returns. 

Those under the scanner include entities offering "double your money" schemes in 2-6 years, sure-shot "inside information" investment tips, astrological stock market predictions, attractive portfolio management services, and "partnerships" in future's big business ideas. 

These include traditional businesses like retail, real estate and bullion, as also new-age business ideas like carbon credits and renewable energy, while guaranteed returns are being promised after eventual listing of such ventures. 

Certain traditional-looking investment schemes are also being promoted through Internet by entities suspected to be linked to those already having faced regulatory action by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), sources said. 

Some of the barred entities, including a large player engaged in a long-running regulatory battle, are suspected to have taken to the credit cooperative society route to garner money from the gullible investors with promise to double their money in a few years, they added. 

To avoid regulatory glare, the operators of these schemes, possibly being run through front entities, are not using the traditional modes to promote their business and are mostly using closed member groups on websites, blogs and social networking media platforms. 

However, Sebi has received numerous complaints about such schemes and has begun looking into the matter through its own technical systems to track the Internet and social media platforms, as also through use of its newly granted powers. 

SMSes and emails are also being used in a big way to promote such fraudulent schemes and products, but many of these messages and mails have found their way to the regulatory and enforcement agencies. 

While the unauthorised credit cooperative schemes, having a size of Rs 100 crore or more, can be probed under Sebi's Collective Investment Scheme regulations, the entities promising unrealistic returns and offering "sure-shot" investment tips can face action under the Prevention of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Regulations.

Ragging horror on tech campuses

Ragging has started showing its ugly face in tech campuses here, within days of the new academic session. Two complaints were registered on Thursday and Friday, one at the Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu) and the other at one of the state's leading private tech colleges. 

On Thursday, a first-year student of the metallurgy department at Besu complained that he was dragged inside a hostel occupied by senior boys, severely beaten up and abused. The boy is from Bihar and stays in a room in hostel No. 9, a hostel that's exclusively meant for first-year boys, to protect them from being ragged by seniors. 

According to his complaint, the incident happened around 5.30pm as the boy was returning to his hostel after getting some reference material photocopied. As he was walking past hostel No. 7, he was allegedly stopped by five senior boys who then gagged and dragged him inside. 

As the boy came out of the hostel in a completely dishevelled state, the security guards discovered him and asked him what had happened. After he told them that he was ragged and beaten up by seniors, the security guards took the boy to the anti-ragging cell comprising faculty members and administrative staff of Besu, and a complaint was registered based on the victim's statement. 

The victim was then taken back into the hostel, where he identified the culprits. The members of the anti-ragging cell informed vice-chancellor A K Ray, who was out of station. But Ray ordered an investigation to be launched immediately a report be given to him on Monday.

"I have just returned and am appalled at the complaint. I have sought the report on Monday and will decide on the punishment immediately. Besu is a zero-tolerance campus when it comes to ragging and I promise strict action," said Ray on Sunday. 

The victim, said varsity sources, has been assured of safety and is on campus. The authorities, however, are not sure whether the perpetrators of the crime are still on campus, since they are from the city and are likely to have gone back home over the weekend. 

On Friday, a similar complaint reached Save, an anti-ragging NGO, from a first-year student of BBA at a private tech college. The student was part of a group of 18. This group, according to the complaint, was accosted by their seniors on the college grounds, abused in filthy language, ordered them to take off their belts and were given certain "codes" to be followed on campus. 

The first-years were allegedly asked to introduce themselves and every time a student did that, he/she was greeted with jeers and foul language. The complainant has sought the intervention of the NGO.

"We have lodged an anonymous complaint because the victims are scared. We have informed the college authorities and have also sent a copy of the complaint to the national anti-ragging helpline," said Kushal Banerjee, spokesperson for Save.

Google 'kills' perk that gave users Gmail, Gtalk

Internet search titan Google's much-talked about perk -- '20% time' for employees - has effectively ceased to exist. According to news website Quartz, the famous perk which allowed Google employees to work on personal projects one day a week, is no longer available. This is according to former Google employees Quartz spoke to.

The '20% time' perk has resulted in the development of several popular products, such as Gmail, Google Talk, Google News and Adsense, among others. Google began shutting down the '20% time' scheme by requiring its employees to seek permission before working on personal projects, the report says. This has now been followed by the company's top management asking supervisors to discourage managers from approving any 20% project.

Also, as per the company's new productivity metric, it is assumed that the employees are working on their primary responsibility 100% of the time.

As per Quartz, "The end of 20% time at Google fits with other moves made by CEO Larry Page since he took over in January 2011. Six months after he took the reins, Page announced that Google would adopt a more wood behind fewer arrows strategy that would put more of Google's resources and employees behind a smaller number of projects."

Google Labs, one of the places known for experimentation at the company, has also been shut down since Page took the helm. The company presently works on experimental projects at the Google X lab, which has resulted in products like Google Glass, driverless cars and Moto X phone.

Hacker who exposed Facebook bug to get reward from unexpected source

A man who hacked into Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook page to expose a software bug is getting donations from hackers around the world after the company declined to pay him under a program that normally rewards people who report flaws.Khalil Shreateh discovered and reported the flaw but was initially dismissed by the company's security team. He then posted a message on the billionaire's wall to prove the bug's existence.

Now, Marc Maiffret, chief technology officer of cybersecurity firm BeyondTrust, is trying to mobilize fellow hackers to raise a $10,000 reward for Shreateh after Facebook refused to compensate him.Maiffret, a high school dropout and self-taught hacker, said on Tuesday he has raised about $9,000 so far, including the $2,000 he initially contributed.He and other hackers say Facebook unfairly denied Shreateh, a Palestinian, a payment under its "Bug Bounty" program. It doles out at least $500 to individuals who bring software bugs to the company's attention.

"He is sitting there in Palestine doing this research on a five-year-old laptop that looks like it is half broken," Maiffret said. "It's something that might help him out in a big way."

Shreateh uncovered the flaw on the company's website that allows members to post messages on the wall of any other user, including Zuckerberg's. He tried to submit the bug for review but the website's security team did not accept his report.He then posted a message to Zuckerberg himself on the chief executive officer's private account, saying he was having trouble getting his team's attention."Sorry for breaking your privacy," Shreateh said in the post.The bug was quickly fixed and Facebook issued an apology on Monday for having been "too hasty and dismissive" with Shreateh's report. But it has not paid him a bounty.

"We will not change our practice of refusing to pay rewards to researchers who have tested vulnerabilities against real users," chief security officer Joe Sullivan said in a blogpost.He said Facebook has paid out more than $1 million under that program to researchers who followed its rules.

Hackers' latest tactic to attack US news sites

Hackers promoting the Syrian Electronic Army simultaneously targeted websites belonging to CNN, Time and The Washington Post on Thursday by breaching Outbrain, a firm which publishes content recommendations on those sites. 

That resulted in some WashingtonPost.com and Time.com customers being redirected to the website of the Syrian Electronic Army when they clicked on the content from Outbrain, said Outbrain vice president Lisa LaCour. The CNN International site briefly displayed a headline that said "Hacked by SEA," she said. 

The Syrian Electronic Army is an online group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has been linked to several high profile attacks. They include one on the Associated Press' Twitter feed in which a bogus message was sent out about explosions at the White House.  

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Rupee free fall: RBI limits overseas direct investments by Indians

India imposed restrictions on foreign exchange outflows on Wednesday in its latest attempt to prop up the rupee, as a spike in inflation heaped more pressure on policymakers to curb a crippling external deficit. 

Finance minister P Chidambaram also reiterated his pledged to narrow the current account deficit — the main source of the rupee's weakness — to 3.8 per cent of gross domestic product this fiscal year and said the currency would not be allowed to slide into "free fall". 

The Reserve Bank of India's latest steps to support the currency, which has plumbed record lows against the dollar, included cutting the amount of overseas direct investments allowed by Indians, as well as lowering the limits on remittances overseas and banning the use of such remittances for overseas property purchases.

Journey of Indian rupee since independence

The Indian rupee, which was at par with the American currency at the time of independence in 1947, hit a record low of 61.80 against the dollar recently. This means the Indian currency has depreciated by almost 62 times against the greenback in the past 66 years. The currency has witnessed a large volatility in the past two years. This volatility became acute in the past three months affecting major macro-economic data, including growth, inflation, trade and investment. 

Managing volatility in the currency markets has become a big challenge for the economic policy markers in the country. The central bank as well as the government has taken a series of measures to curb the volatility in the markets.

World's first Twitter Hotel opens in Spain

Spain's Melia brand of hotels has unveiled their new Sol Wave House in Majorca as the first 'Twitter Hotel' of the world that merges the real and virtual worlds to create a total new experience. Social Wave House connects everyone in the hotel to their own social community, where they can meet, interact, have fun, compete, experience, flirt, tweet, and much more, ABC News reports. There's a dedicated Twitter concierge and a Twitter Party Suite that includes concierge assistance during the stay of visitors. Guests can communicate with the check-in desk and hotel staff using SocialWave hashtag. Guests can order room service, a drink by the pool, or any other request using the hashtag. The hotel's Twitter account, @SolWaveHouse, has about 950 followers till now.