7 Mistakes

My blog is one year old today....and even me.
I am no longer a kid. I have matured.

I have learned more this year about websites, blogs and the INTERNET than I ever thought I would want to learn. Lots of what I have learned, I have learned through my mistakes. Some of what I have learned, I have learned from other people's mistakes. Got opportunities to contribute to some technical blogs as well. For this post, I got some help from few of my favorite bloggers. So, as I start my second year of blogging, here I present few common stupid mistakes Bloggers make in their First Year:

1 – Apologizing for not writing:- Either create a posting schedule and stick with it, or decide to write when you feel like it and do that. But don’t go into the land of wishy-washy and spend the first paragraph of each post apologizing for not writing in days. No one cares all that much. Because most of the blogs have only one reader, "The writer itself". Just write. An apology says, “I’ve already messed up bad.” Your readers rely on you to entertain them in some way. Don’t let them down!

2 – Checking your stats hourly:- Here is the deal. Stats are a good barometer for some things. Especially if you have a clear-thinking mind. Or if you are approaching your blog experimentally and viewing your stats with a marketer's mindset. But if you are mindlessly checking stats all the time, looking at the counter, then it's time to step away from the computer. Go play with your pet in the garden. If you want people to read your blog you have to be out there participating and contributing to your own blog regularly.

3 – Looking for rescue:- Desperation shows. I read something about Google page ranking, and learnt that the rank of your page goes high if you have got links of other web pages on it. If you are working too hard to get links and recognition, its in vain. Bloggers don’t rescue. They are way too busy. Bloggers are a motivated remarkable bunch of people trying to help and entertain their readers! If you get linked, it’s probably because you have written something good. And then, you have to keep continue writing good.

4 – Comparing yourself to six-figure bloggers:- “One of my biggest mistakes in blogging has been quitting and changing.” Throughout the year there's been a swing in my mood about changing the name of my blog from "Nitishonomics" or "Integratoronomics", trying to copy "Swaminomics" of TOI. Finally, I had to settle with this one, that too copied.

5 – Over-thinking your posts:- Over-thinking a post has got to be like burning the cookies. They still have a sweet taste, but it sure is tough to chew on. Some of the best posts I have written have been completed in one flow without wasting much time.

6 – Under-thinking your posts:- But I am also a big fan of editing and taking extra minutes to re-write. (I spend hours on posts when I am passionate about them. But that’s my personal approach to blogging. And I love doing it!). Though it contradicts with the upper one, but try avoiding both of them.

7 – Last but not the least :- I came to know of this one from one of my best friends, that before you start composing, try reading the minds of your readers(in case, there are any), frame posts that might generate a substantial amount of interest in them. My last post on corruption proved to be complete failure, it was so boring, even one of my analyst could not read it in one go.

So, I guess I am committing the same mistake again, that is the current post is also getting lengthy as usual. Hence let me wind up saying that if you are a blogger, feel free to share your own mistakes! (And if you’re not a blogger, well, you can still share some of your mistakes, too.)...Thank you!

Under the Table

Hello everyone.....

We Indians, feel proud of being an Indian and so do I. I am happy and feel proud for the history we own, the present and the future as well. The pace of development has been extraordinary, better than any other country. But sometimes I feel sad about something, though its not being committed publicly but its slowly eating away the country. Corruption!!!

Being a native of India, it is very well known to us. We know that there are some rules other than the rules. Do not try to act differently as if you are a revolutionist, do what others do. We know that rules and regulations look good in rule books and public boards, they are not meant to be followed. What we need to follow is not decided by us but by the government officials we face in the process. Since India is a democratic country, almost every department is public. Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. Hence you can not avoid them. I myself, have had many experiences when I have tasted the flavor of the Indian Procedural System.

The most disquieting aspect of the widespread corruption in India is the fact that it is not anymore confined to politicians or the government machinery alone. It is prevalent amongst almost every section of the society at every level. Today, if one would say that any particular Indian is honest to the core, it could only be a case of exception rather than a rule.

The study of world phenomenon on corruption has repeatedly branded India as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Unfortunately, this view has not disturbed most of the Indians at all and they do not seem to care as to what others think of them; so long as the existing systems and practices would allow them to make money and get things done in one way or the other.

As the practice of corruption is a dishonest act, one has to think that most of the Indians are dishonest, which could be different only in degree between the individuals. As the reason for the dishonesty is greediness and the desire to get things done at any cost one can think that most of the country men are greedy and do not anymore think that the means should justify the ends. This is not a flattering statement and many readers would desire that it would not be so and such statement could have been avoided. But, the fact is that most of the Indians are involved in corrupt practices in one way or the other, either due to greed or due to so called compulsion. In any case, the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of not getting involved in corrupt dealings is conspicuous by its absence amongst the most.

Earlier it was a bit difficult to adapt with it, but later on I learnt that its better to keep quite and go as per their way. There has been a fixed way or getting everything done for years in a government office. People have a different rule book, and try to follow it as it proves to be the best. I mean, I challenge you try going against the system and try getting the desired thing within time.

It will be much easy to get the desired thing done, if you know that Indian hands and mind work only when injected with a sufficient amount of fuel and that too “Under the table”. The cost depending on the intensity or the requirement of particular thing. For example, you are caught on a road by a traffic policemen, multiply your crimes by a 100 rupee note and pay him. Every man has his price. He won't even warn you and leave you free. And these policemen are so shameless, that if you are good at bargaining, you can bring down a cost of 300 rupees to 30 rupees. They won't hesitate, in accepting that too.

If not Olympics, India is at least top-rated in some list, and its the corruption list. As per the recently released list by Transparency International, India was ranked 84th in the list of 180 countries. We project ourselves as one of foremost competitor for very coveted positions, like being permanent member of UN Security Council or nuclear deals with various developed countries. But we fail in amending our morals and basics, taking the country down to a cesspool where there is nothing other then failure.

The most disquieting aspect of the widespread corruption in India is the fact that it is not anymore confined to politicians or the government machinery alone. It is prevalent amongst almost every section of the society at every level. The introduction of RTI, i.e. Right to Information Act has provided a very significant boost to common people to ask for their rights and question the government officials, in case there is any sort of delay in the process.
Now the big question arises, that is how do get rid of it. The answer is simple, enjoy your rights and follow your duties and I guarantee you that India, a true Indian imagines of, is not a far sight. Do not be a part of such an act because if not you, somebody else is there who has to suffer finally. Be proud to be an Indian and act like a true Indian.

Remember, "respect is not demanded, its commanded."

OMG omegle...

I have been in this net world for nearly a year. I am a chat addict and so are my friends. I chat with my friends practically everyday except on Sundays and national holidays when their father is at home and hence they can not come online.

I never thought chat to be a waste of time because whenever I chat with my friends I transform to a world where I m happy and I have reasons to laugh with my friends. It doesn't mean that I am not happy in my real life, but remembering the past incidents, school ones or those at college can make you smile, though you might not have liked them at that time, when they actually occurred.

So, it was very boring on Sundays and national holidays, hence I thought to look for an alternative to kill the boredom. Then came the savior, one of my friend suggested me, "omegle". Let me introduce you to this omegle thing. Actually, its a website, sorry not website, its a search engine, where you can look for people of opposite sex, but the search mechanism is not trustworthy at all. You may start looking for a hot girl and probably you might end up with a jigolo or say a lesbian.

The search goes like this:
Step 1: Type www.omegle.com in your address bar. Best part, you don't need any identity to login.
Note: You should be good at typing. Be fast and accurate as well, or you may be thrown out of chat at any point of time. Keep the chat interesting since, nobody is going to wait for you to respond, there are always 5 to 7 thousands of people online.
Step 2: Need not worry of the first message because you are equally lucky in both the cases, you writing first or you receiving the first message.
If lucky enough, you might get a good friend to chat.

And hence you begin, with the journey. If you are new to chat, you will face some problem. Even for me, this was going to be the first instance, when I was going to chat with a person whom I don't know. As I started it, I saw something very unusual, and it was ASL. I looked towards my friend, the one who had suggested me omegle and asked what is ASL? He replied, learn by yourself. I asked the person who had messaged me what is the meaning of ASL, he wrote LOL and a smiley of a laughing person came.

Now I was dealing with two alien words. I asked again please tell me what are these two words, and then he told ASL stands for age, sex, location and LOL stands for laugh out loud.

I was happy to add two foreign words in my dictionary. The conversation went on as follows....
Unknown: F 32 Canada.
Me: M 21 India.
Unknown: ROFL
Me: what's ROFL
Unknown: fk off, u nerd!!

I tried to reply back but by then, I was getting a message, that the other person had already left. I tried another, history repeated itself within 5 minutes. I was a fresher without any knowledge at that time. But since then, I have noticed a similarity in everyone's message, the ASL of course, and they all ask for sex chat after a few seconds.

Now this was a shock to me as I had heard chatting to be a source of new friends. I was trying to cope with this situation by closing their messages and as I looked towards my friend he was laughing which puzzled me more.I finally left that omegle.com and never opened it again. I am happy chatting with my old school mates, and it feels good, when I chat with them.

There have been incidents which are not worth mentioning here. Actually, people don't understand, to how far can it get worse by giving away email ids just for sake of a fake promise. Who knows he will ever return on the same id or not. Crime knows no bounds, hacking, sending emails to VVIPs, any such sort of activity can get one in serious trouble. Though its very rare, but why take chances, when you got friends like "Integrator"......lolz(newer version of LOL).

Now when, we think twice before making friends in college and keep on judging them on various occasions, we come to a conclusion, that hardly two or three of them are trustworthy. So how one even think of trusting a person about whom you know nothing more than his "ASL". Is it true that we ourselves are fake, and are a firm believer of "tit for tat" thing. "Tit for tat" here refers to, if he is fake, so am I. Absurd! Isn't it. Lets look forward to keep everything genuine, and not hurt anyone or play with any body's emotions. Be proud of what you are. Thank you.

The Latest Addiction: Farmville

Now is an era, where people prefer to give away healthy gifts rather than chocolates and bouquets. So yesterday I received one too, and it was one of my favorite fruit, apple. But, to my surprise, it wasn't "an apple", or say "two apples" or three but it was an apple tree. Something more startling is that, it was sent to me, from a place 250 kms from here. Don't be surprised, this tree was sent to me on Facebook, amid pool of friends and through one of the most used application "Farmville". To accept the gift, I had to visit his farm and i was awestruck to see a big farm with a tractor, sheep, a cow, berries, house, mill etc on his farm. There are other friends too who are busy applying their managerial abilities and are well settled with their own private restaurants. Yet again, its a virtual thing I am talking about, "Cafe World". But lets talk of Farmville for now.

The game seems to have mesmerized people from all walks of life. There has been an astronomical increase in the number of Farmville users. Every night for the last two weeks, my flank mate, has set his alarm for 3:30 a.m., when he will wake up, roll over and harvest his blueberries. "I keep my laptop next to my bed," he explained to me. "The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is harvest, then I harvest again at 10 in the morning, then again in mid-afternoon, then in the evening, and then again right before going to bed."
Though I have an account on facebook, yet I don't love Farmville, the reason being that you are bombarded with numerous of invitations to join, be a neighbor or demands to give someone a tree. One person formed the group I Hate Farmville and its good to see that their are, though small number, people who hate it.

Do you send messages to your facebook friends asking them to help you out with fertilizers or by sending a cow? Bizarre! Yes, but true. Welcome to the world of FarmVille. I am very unlucky because most of my friends are into Farmville and hence every time I open my account and I can see my homepage clogged with updates about raspberries, fertilizer requests and cattle status updates!

I don’t find it worth spending 2 hours a day as a waste of time. People anyway spend lots of time tweeting or on facebook, so what is the problem if they spend some time growing raspberries and gifting cattle. Both tweeting and growing cattle are equally unproductive in my opinion. Now, if you believe that the whole social networking thing is a waste of time, it’s up to you alone to decide whether Farmville is a waste of time or not.

So, what is the whole point of Farmville? What is it that makes Farmville so interesting that so many people use it? They play this game for the only reason that they make virtual money to decorate their farm in an absurd attempt to make it bigger than their neighbours’ farms. The whole point here is that people like to do things in a virtual world that they can never do in the real world. That’s why games like Counter Strike; World of Warcraft etc are so popular, where you can do whatever you want unrestricted. This feeling of living a life that can be better, more fun or even better organized than their real life fuels this urge to come back again and again to these virtual worlds. Farmville is nothing but a unique way to while away your time in today’s networked world with the added satisfaction of watching your crops and cattle grow. Finally, a farm in Farmville reminds me of the old Onida tagline ‘neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride.’