New year and a surprise
A happy and prosperous new year to
1)all the followers of this blog(not a single soul)
2)those who came here by a missed keystroke or a link that should have been not clicked(Anyway, I caught you guys.)
3)ones who searched in Google for something useful and it baited you to come here instead(Who is this idiot who writes here? I want to punch him on the face)
4)and to all those who are never going to read this.
And coming to the surprise of this year,I was busy thinking how to wish you all in my post when i came across this news. And started checking the page ranks of those numerous indian websites,blogs and craps just for fun and at last looked up my blog’s PR(believe me) to see how “0” is actually displayed there. But wait, I see a different number. Is it negative? No. Then what? Hey, It’s a ‘2’. Yet I admit , ‘2’ is not considered a page rank at all.
Already conspiracy theorists has submitted facts that this blog is a crap and it may have been a bug in Google’s Page rank and attributed to the fact that it is hosted in wordpress.com which has a PR of 9.Whatever it is, it’s still there and it may have gone when you read this so I have taken a screen shot to those who don’t trust me and it will be sent to those who send an email to me with subject “I know you are telling the truth.”
Long live my blog!!!!
P.S: Check your own page ranks here and have a egoistic joy or dismay secretly.
Commuting in our cities
Any Indian city news paper or magazine have/had a series like this? It’s a brilliant write up and left me wondering when downright crap such as TOI or DC or HT or even The Hindu will do something like this in their city columns rather than the useless junk they are filling it now with?. I would love a similar series for any Indian city. Just imagine how good a similar series can be written for our cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Bangalore(!!) ?
Although our public transport infrastructure is pathetic it’s better that residents of the city learn how their fellow people commute. It’s high time we make people aware about existing public transport networks in each city. Many people don’t have any clue about public transport modes and all they know is their own bike/car. I have seen people residing in Chennai for quite a period wondering when i say that suburban trains can take you around 15km in about 30mins in peak hours for which they are spending around 1-1.5 hrs now in their bike/car. I agree that all people can’t use public transport due to lack of network or their own convenience. But people who live in areas which are covered by public transport can at least give it a try. You will know that it’s not that much bad. For example, It’s good to hear that Velachery – Chennai Beach MRTS service via IT corridor has picked up some good reception and i believe its the best mode to commute if you live along its network.
On a side note, all Indian news papers’ websites looks crap. Just check NyTimes.com and TimesofIndia.com. Publishers, plese try to give us a site which is at least half good as nytimes.com and which will give us a feeling to read your content.
A Random post
It’s really not an easy thing to write a post in an almost discontinued blog. Even though I have plenty of free time every weekend, taking time to update my once beloved blog never flashed across my mind even once. May be I lost my love for blogging.
Life is hitting me pretty hard these times and I’m trying to fight it back. Even though I don’t share the same passion for work when i started, once identified synonymous for me in my workplace, I’m still trying to make it up. Yesterday, leaving all my work behind, I had a sudden urge to leave office at 6PM (which is pretty rare) and go for a place where I can really enjoy to the core. First choice came out of my mind is a book store. Also it’s been days since I read a book and I was off to Landmark in Nungambakkam without any second thoughts and informing nobody. It was really a break needed for me and I was literally feeling like a kid taken to a toy store when I entered the book store. I went on a small spree picking up books as I went. And have to drop off some books later as I felt that I’m really excited and I’m really not going to read all the books at a stretch. Picked up some random titles and some books my sister was looking for. Later went for a good restaurant and enjoyed a nice dinner. I was puzzled at that night on me acting so weird, leaving all my work and taking a sudden plunge. But it really recharged me and I’m feeling very good from the next day. I thought I have nearly lost part of my interests due to my life pattern but once I was pushed to the edge, I just left every other thing for a while to take care of me!!! I’m still wondering I did that!!! Life is sometimes very strange indeed!!!
சுஜாதா மறைவு
என் முதல் தமிழ் பதிவு, சுஜாதாவின் மறைவுக்காக…
சுஜாதா, எல்லோராலும் மிகவும் மதிக்கப்பட்ட திறமையான எழுத்தாளர். அவரால் தான் நான் ஆனந்த விகடன் , குமுதம் போன்ற தமிழ் வார இதழ்களைப் படிக்கத் துவங்கினேன். அதற்கு பிறகு தான் தமிழ் நாவல்கள் மற்றும் கட்டுரைகள் ஆகியவற்றின் மீது ஆர்வம் வந்தது. சொல்லப்போனால் அவரிடம் Steve Jobs போல ஒரு “Reality Distortion Field” இருந்தது என்றால் அது மிகை அல்ல.
அவரின் எழுத்துகள் மூலம் என்றும் இவ்வுலகில் அவர் வாழ்ந்திருப்பார்…
Goodbye, சுஜாதா… 😦
Humanity!!
Spammers have humanity too! Touched by it.Really.
Let’s help those poor souls.Start.Spam us.
GoldQuest
I was made to write this post as I was approached by at least ten people last month alone for joining this “GoldQuest” or “Questnet” or “Referral Marketing” or whatever it is.
Heard about this “Gold quest” from a not so familiar friend three months before and first thing I did was to search in web about that company. I have listed out some points which stopped me from investing in this. I invested in a mutual fund rather.
1) Google search for “Questnet” throws an alarming number of sites that cautions against this company.
2) Modify the search with “Questnet Scam” and it fetches many more pages which cries foul against Questnet.
3) There are quite a large number of people who support “Questnet” in forums and blog posts but I am highly suspicious on the legitimacy of those people under different names as they sound so similar in their writings. I suspect that only a few people posts replies under different names in forums and blogs which attacks “Questnet”. It certainly raises suspicions.
4) The group’s MD and his associate have been issued a red alert notice by Interpol and have been arrested by Indonesian police.
5) It’s banned in some countries like Iran, Sri Lanka, Nepal etc… GoldQuest officials have been arrested in Chennai too in past. Search “Questnet” or “Goldquest” with “The Hindu” in Google for more details.
6) Moreover, I decided to dig details about their website and the result was shocking. They boast of that they use Internet as their business tool in this connected world and yet they have registered their domain as a discreet user!!!!
Do a “WhoIS” lookup for any traditional business company’s website and you will be provided with the registrar’s details and contact information. But what about Quest.net? Check this screenshot of WhoIS lookup on Quest.net(Click to enlarge)
P.S:-
1) Personally, Questnet don’t have a solid business model at all as it doesn’t rely on its products but on concentrating on the quick money people will get.
2) Questnet is completely legal in India as of now and I decided not to invest based only on their business practices.
3) I’m very grateful to those friends who understood my stand and never compelled or even asked me to join this.
Disclaimer:- These are all my personal views and it’s not meant to disgrace any person or a company and also I don’t guarantee that all information I mentioned or read are factual neither it’s endorsed or supported by my employer or any organization.
Is BSNL Dataone billing system flawed?
I am using BSNL Dataone for around three months now and had no problem for first two months with their bills(as it was well within the usage limit). Last month i crossed my usage limit and i was charged for it.I had a suspicion on BSNL’s billing system and installed a Data monitoring tool to monitor usage in my end. After 21 days of usage in this month the usage data shown by BSNL usage site and my usage tool differs. There is a difference of around 10MB (higher in BSNL end). 10 MB may not be a big difference but considering my small usage this month(around 360 MB currently) its somewhat disturbing.May be , the installed tool’s data may be wrong.So I have removed it now and installed another tool to check the usage.Have to wait for some days to check the data it churns out.
After Googling ,it seems that many have experienced the same problem. This guy has data and logs in his side to prove his point and had complained to BSNL on several occasions on this.But no reactions still.
P.S:-
1.I don’t hate BSNL. In fact, Dataone’s speeds are surprisingly good and its the best ISP in my place.
2. Datafox is a great addon for Firefox.It retrieves data usage records from BSNL site directly and displays it as a appealing progress bar in Firefox’s status bar.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Apple. Are you here?
No. I’m not writing this post praying for earlier launch of Apple iPhone,i’m writing this because of the age old iPods. I recently searched in Google for “Apple store India” and this is where the first result took me to.After some more digging i found out that Apple Store-India page is down for a long time .
You have to look at that Apple store page. Its awful and in much contrast to Apple’s brand name. Information saying “Sorry for Inconvenience” is in English and Chinese(or may be any other) . Chinese? Yes. Apple, Wake up!!! (Eventhough it is Apple-Asia Pacific site the page is of India’s store ).
I also found that there are no exclusive Apple stores at all in India.(even in Metros).All it has is some resellers and dealers. India may not be an attractive market as like U.S or U.K but it has enough potential buyers conisdering its population(it may exceed some present markets of Apple). iPod is a global brand name and Apple need not spend a great effort on marketing it. All we need is a trusty place to buy ,a service to support and a little marketing(I have never seen an Apple ad in TV or magazine in India. Anyone?). Such stores will also benifit existing iPod owners(like me) who are in need for a support.
The only thing i could foresee to fail for Apple is if it decides to launch an India customised iTunes store.(Is it the reason?)
Steve, Here lies a vast market to tap. You can’t ignore India for long .
Hoping this news to be true.
P.S:- Can anyone tell how I can send my iPod to Apple to replace battery or for any repairs if needed?
Got Stumbled!!! and the Story thereafter…
Tried StumbleUpon today.A cool website where one can find random sites of their interest by a single click.I thought for many days that StumbleUpon is a bookmarking service.Blame my ignorance!!StumbleUpon Toolbar helped me to overcome my boredom more than once.Cool!!
But my interest with StumbleUpon faded right next day.It all started with their sign-up process.When i signed-up with SU they asked for my email id and username to be used and on submitting the form it took me to Mozilla website to install SU toolbar.Then it asked for my interests and it automatically signed me in with the given user name.And after some quick surfing i signed out.All is well till then.Got bored next day too and clicked Start Stumbling.. in Firefox Toolbar.It asks for my Username and Password.I think,Hey!Its normal.Just enter ur credentials.I give my user id and the cursor is now in password field.Password?Will it be that?or this?.I keep on guessing what may be the password i gave during sign-up.Gosh!After five minutes it hit my mind that they never asked me a password at all when signing up!!!!!!.Got frustrated and clicked Forgot Password which asked my Email address and then got the new password.What the hell??I use Forget Password option for a never forgotten(or never asked) password.I’m confused whether i had missed anything during sign-up or is it a problem with StumbleUpon?
Speak Out! 