What is the online solution for all E-commerce needs? Which package has the growing E-commerce community of over 2,31,000 storeowners been using? Which on-line packet provides over 5,900 add-ons that are available free of cost? No prizes for guessing, as it has to be osCommerce. OsCommerce, a PHP-based E-commerce package with in-built contributions for a lot of modules, has been the talk of the online merchant community lately. The good news is Intercom Online for the past three years has been part of this community that has witnessed a remarkable growth.

OsCommerce is a fascinating platform that is so easily available and offers a host of interesting online selling features. For instance, through this package, storeowners can start, manage and maintain online stores with hardly any efforts. Moreover, there are no extra costs or fees or any such limitations. One can imagine the excitement of owning such online stores on the part of those who are actively involved with online transactions.

As for the add-ons, the new version of osCommerce has basic level and Alfa levels. The basic level is on OOPS while the Alpha version is on MVC. IO has been using it in all kinds of websites- from very small ones to fully customized sites where platforms are provided for buyers and sellers. IO has also used new components in osCommerce like autosuggest module for the search functionality and Ajax-driven functionality for product attribute management apart from Ajax Checkout. A few of IO's milestones that were powered by osCommerce include projects like totswapshop.com, all-rite.com, exquisiteparty.com, magsn.com, medialiteracytoolbox.com, tencell.com and more.

The India Soft 2010 Meet turned out to be an event that brought not only some very tangible results but also a lot of learning. While the ALW made a great impression upon European and American delegates, the Indian participants also shared their process and strategies with the team, and recognized the focus of ALW in open source technologies. Moreover, our team brought back lessons of balancing professional and personal life and of working smarter. Our team now awaits agreement signing and client visits. To top it all, ALW could establish a brand for open source technologies. Hearty wishes to the entire team.

Holi, the Indian festival of Colours, had a slight twist this year. Instead of playing colours with water, IO team displayed a sense of responsibility and chose to celebrate what is termed as Tilak Holi. Instead of the D-day i.e March 1, IO team celebrated it on February 28. The candid Tilaks adorned the foreheads of all members who were accompanied with family. The celebrations continued for quite sometime with fun, laughter and exchange of good wishes. However, the finale of the colourful festival happened on the day of Rangpanchami, which was on the fifth day of Holi. Everyone parted after exchanging warmest wishes of health, prosperity and business achievements. As usual, the two events warmed hearts and brought IO family closer.

There were quite a few recruitments last month. IO heartily welcomes Saurav Demta (Business Analyst), Neetu Goyal (Senior PHP Developer) and Anumita Dutta (Business Development Manager).

IO family greets these members a very happy birthday and a great year ahead.

3rd March - Jagnnath Prasad

24th March - Anumita Dutta

Here's a platform to let your hearts out. This time Scribbles brings messages from two IO members

"I am a software developer and glad to be a part of this promising organization. I have learnt a lot here and still learning. I feel like working for a family here. I have worked on many projects and have always put my best for the organization. Our seniors and team members are extremely supportive. I always look upto their useful and knowledgeable guidance. For IO, I just wish to say that this place is an ocean of knowledge and we are using its few drops only." --- Chetan

"Our company provides a platform where an individual has to use his interpersonal skills to achieve professional as well as personal goals. This gives us a cent per cent job satisfaction." --- Mayank

Known as a philanthropist, teacher and writer, Mrs. Sudha Murthy, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation, has to her credit many achievements. Her speeches have been as inspiring as her husband's. During one of her such speeches, she had outlined some six important points that make a person happy and successful. They are:

1. Be very ambitious and work very very hard at this age. ?

2. Have compassion and give back to society what you get from it. ?

3. Philanthropy is different from charity in that it is- a) In doing favours to society without expecting anything back and b) In doing favours without any preference to particular communities, religion etc. Who needs most should get first. ?

4. Too much money must not be kept, as it will otherwise ruin the family and children. Dont spend too much, as the more you spend, the more you will find to buy. Either give it to your alma mater, your parents, guru or to philanthropy. ?

5. Staying in a small growing company is better than joining a very large company as you might never be able to reach top positions in a very big company and responsibilities will be slower in coming to you. ?

6. Never do anything that is against your value system or that undermines your integrity. ??

Dear friends and partners,

As we near the end of this colourful month of Holi, lets have a look at a few of our milestones. While writing this piece and pondering over the many activities that took place at ALW and IO, I feel all the more geared up to work 'smart'. It is amazing how things get connected to each other. Only last month we all had vowed to pay more attention to the quality of our work than the number of working hours. I am truly impressed with the fact that despite that we cut down our work hours, our efficiency has not been affected. I find my team even more vibrant and committed towards deadlines and work quality.

That we all are treading the right path became all the more clear during my visit to Jaipur while attending the India Soft 2010 meet. While meeting with other delegates, all I could remember were the words of Narayan Murthy that we all had pondered over in the last newsletter. While interacting with entrepreneurs from various countries, I felt inspired to emulate them. They made me realize how vital a role our personal life plays in ensuring our professional successes. How many million times have I heard people say: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The words came alive as I evaluated how many times I would have chosen to ignore such a thoughtful maxim. I felt a renewed energy to make 'play' an integral, and not just important, part of my life. I urge you all to join me in this.

And about the work part of it, we all are going into the PHM domain with newer technologies like Alfresco, Sugar CRM. The work on i-Phone application wizard has been going on pretty fast and for good.

Hoping to hear more good news of smart work and smart play. God bless.

Sincerely,

Vivek Singhal, CEO

Use Electricity Wisely- An AnyLinuxWork.com and Intercom Online initiative

What a pleasant morning! I step out on my bike. I ride it for a few minutes enjoying fresh air, and loving the cooing of birds. And there right on that old electricity pole hangs something that will soon ruin my day. I see a small and conspicuously ugly kiosk that has an old worn out electric wire passing right from the pole. The Government of India calls it 'power theft'.

So I see it. And I pass by it in disgust, cursing the guts of such irresponsible and ruthless people. I wish at the moment, and this despite my abhorrence against all news channels in general and India TV in particular, that some news reporter would record my opinion on power theft with the kiosk at the backdrop and telecast it on a morning news bulletin.

It particularly is so disturbing because last night we had a power cut that prevented me from earning some extra bucks from the assignments that I do from my home at night. It is all because of that kiosk owner who doesn't have to pay any penny for the electricity that he is so accustomed to stealing from the pole that connects the electric wire to my colony. To top it all, I am the one who is paying the bill. And yet I am the one who is inflicted with power cuts. I certainly don't deserve it!

And so I am headed for a bad workday. Today I find the parking lot extremely messy. The gatekeeper is a total nincompoop. The radio on that fast food shop is surely louder than usual. I sense the lift is taking eternity to take me to my second-floor office. My only respite is the breath of air-conditioned air that welcomes me as I step in. Thank God for small mercies. But wait, I would prefer the entire apartment to be equally cool.

I switch on each small thing in my cabin that can be categorized under 'electricity' in a bid to pacify my fury . In a few minutes, my boss calls me in . So I dash right out of my cabin to enter his, only to find an 'under-lit' and 'under-electrified' ambience.

Oh ofcourse, I almost forgot to tell you that I have happily forgotten to switch off the lights, fan, AC, the artificial aquarium, the electric Christmas tree on the desk and the table light before leaving my cabin. And why? I am not 'billed' for this power so it is really not 'my' power. I am not the one who is stealing this electricity. I am entitled to this facility by my office and hence it is my right. So it is nobody's business as to whether I wish to switch all this on or switch all this off. Isn't it?

Back to my meeting. The boss looks particularly upset today. Reason? Last night while returning from office, he got late due to heavy traffic in front of a famous mall. He read in the newspaper this morning that it was mainly because of a group of young girls who had parked their vehicles on the road resulting in a jam. Before the traffic crane would lift those illegally parked vehicles, the girls had apparently stridden away. Nobody had noted down their vehicle numbers ofcourse.

I feel my coffee getting colder. But the story of my boss does have a lot of heat. Interestingly, he continues, that there was an electricity board vehicle lined up in the jam, which was supposed to reach the board office in time to fix a certain gap, which was instrumental in power supply in the city. Since the vehicle got delayed, the situation got worse resulting in power failure last night.

Story over. I am finding it extremely hard to concentrate in the proceedings of the meeting. Am I still thinking of the kiosk owner? Oh no. For a change I am thinking of my own mistake. I don't need to tell you that I am practically the culprit behind the power cut that happened in the city. My friends and I were the ones who had illegally parked our vehicles on the road!

I come back to my cabin. The next minute I find myself switching off the fan, the electric aquarium, the tree and the table light- things that I do not need and can easily do without.

We all have a tendency of not taking responsibility for things that do not affect us directly. We think it is always someone else's fault when things go wrong. This is particularly true in the way we use electricity in our offices or public places. Since we waste electricity at these places, there is an overall shortage resulting in power cuts. Villages, that don't use even half of the power that the cities need, are the first ones to bear the brunt of our mistakes. They certainly don't deserve it. Lets switch off such darkness of character within and switch on a powerful responsibility. Lets use electricity wisely.

The birthday of IO's Chairman Mahesh Singhal (February 24) became really special as some 10 visually impaired kids joined in the celebration at the premises. The event marked fun, laughter and sharing of beautiful experiences. The entire IO team became all the more inspired by the energy of these young boys who enjoyed each moment of the occasion to the fullest. As they were leaving, our team members bid them good wishes for their future.