Monday, January 31, 2005

why this blog is actually different

I want it to be and so far I have been able to succeed in keeping it different from other blogs.I have demystified a lot of knowledge and helped to create opportunities for all the readers of this blog.

The fact is however I am not creating the opportunities but it is you my readers who see what I am doing are taking whatever interests you/your company/friends and passing it on for all to see and use it to the best of their abilities.

Todays links are extremely valuable to anybody so drool my readers and yes the links will not be found anywhere else-first and yes a word of caution-avoid getting lost in a web of links and write what you want to know or find on paper beforehand.It helps.

http://www.deepwebresearch.info
http://www.llrx.com/features/deepweb2005.htm

Give no credit for finding these websites-it does not matter,what Ireally want my readers to do is make the best use of their time,money and resources.Just doing that is enough.Enjoy.

Connotea.org and Medlogs

There is an equivalent for http://connotea.org and yes I enjoyed www.medlogs.com too-thats the example of a website making a real difference to what all of us have-Life-the most precious gift of all.I pray to you surfers do not ever think of even taking your life-if only there is life can any problem be solved or converted into an opportunity.

There always penty of fish in the ocean and plenty of studs in the farm so do not ever attempt the thought.If only there is life will something be done.And yes the people to whom you owe will collect the debt from the people you love and methods are not going to be pleasant so be very careful about debts.

Enjoy life to the fullest and be debt free and no problem however big it maybe is greater than life itself!.

Personal Tech

I have claimed my blog on Blogstreet India and Technorati.I hope I get many more visitors because of the exercise.Blog visitors-I do not need comments if they are not constructive in nature.I hate criticism and if you think you can do beter than me have your own blog and get me interested in it!.If I like it I will write about here too.

I am gung ho about http://ptech.wsj.com - I just saw it and really love the website.Too bad I cannot afford to subscribe to WSJ but I may be able to someday.


Saturday, January 29, 2005

Build Traffic to your blog

How does one grab - attention of the people who make a difference?

  1. Define the type of people who make a difference to life first-they should improve their own quality of life and carry the whole country with them by being effective brand ambassadors.Eg Ross mayfield is a brand ambassador for Estonia and US www.socialtext.com .
  2. These people need to have names and should be able to pull crowds by endorsing you and being your advocates who will stick for you,give a whack when needed and most importantly mentor you,your blog and help you grow your own business and make you reach a specific goal. Eg David Beckham for football should write on say your football blog!
  3. Have an opinion on the latest event that happens and make sure you blog regularly on different topics to retain the interest of the visitors to your blog.Write about the good,the bad & the ugly in your industry - it will surely get you numbers!.
  4. Build trust with your existing visitors and get them to be your advocates!.If they write something on your blog be sure to acknowledge their concerns and take remedial action if they have a complaint or graciously acknowledge their contribution and above all try to be consistent.
  5. Have faith in the Almighty and leave the rest to Him - accept His commands as it is only He who makes things happen ! Belief is the only thing that takes one forward and what you believe in is what only you know and many times even we do not know what to believe in these days-just hope and pray for the best and do whatever you can to help out other people.
Keep the faith good stuff always finds a way of getting noticed so persevere and you will be rewarded!.Submit to all search engines,blog search engines,write your blog address on your visiting card,publicize your blog on your company website,introduce wiki into your blog,use stumble upon like a tool,write about your blog in Social networks like,ryze,orkut,linkedin,etc.

If doing all this does not get traffic to your blog then refer to point no 5.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

leapfrog to development

Wireless is the way forward!Easing the pain of development is a goal the good people have set for themselves and providing a future for children is absolutely vital.We should make the best use of IT and all other technologies to create a sustainable future.

The WEF agenda is focusing on the 2 largest democracies India and US and the role of China too is being defined.The World Social Forum too is playing its part how effective it is another question however it is definitely better than WEF as all the diplomats at WEF do is talk,drink and implement very little.The Tsunami wave and the destruction it brought has changed everything for a moment-now it is business as usual with the rich people of the world.No Petroleum rich country is doing anything concrete to help the lot of the poor-the very least that these rich company executives can do is give oil at subsidized rates to the least developed countries and stop bowing to the demands of the dictators.

Live video blogs of the WEF meeting are available at www.alwayson-network.com and a great article on using wireless technology to leapfrog and become deveoped for the very poor countries is available at

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1105917010481&call_pageid=970599119419

Now to go further than what this article says - 2 great people have made a big difference to the lives of people in developing and poor countries.Read more about the work they do and see what you can do without wasting time or resources - yours or anybody else's.Check out http://wire.less.dk for more details.

It takes time,effort and intelligence to find the links and write the summaries,articles and info which is present in this blog.No doubt I have surfed a lot and actually read many of the articles visited most of the links and presented my ideas about what is possible and how I am doing that-you (my readers) should be more creative and see how you will take it ahead from this point-who knows what difference individuals can make-I am finding out for certain and am truly happy to note that I am making a difference to a few-may this number increase by leaps and bounds!.

Let us all leapfrog and become more technologically developed-the net is the best medium and cannot be suppressed-even if people try to suppress your voice on the web-the wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) cures all even if you have been abused on the net the other users of wikipedia actually edit the same and put the right thing up maybe even better than what you had thought-putting up your issue is what matters-using your own resources and ingenuity is what makes any difference-living up to your commitments however small they be takes you forward and your creativity is your best asset-so think for yourselves and find solutions to existing problems-there is always scope for improvement.

Blogging is the key to development and reaching out to the people who make a difference is important-and finally be the Change you want to see.Even today self-help is the best help and the best solutions are the simplest and evolve in time-what you need to ask yourself is - am I doing the right thing ?

I believe I am doing it by making this effort to enlighten my readers and posting my views and the links and one has to call a spade a spade and reject criticism as criticism of any initiative is like Cyanide and Cyanide is poison that kills.Initiative is like water-it spreads and gives life wherever it flows and all benefit.I am leaving of here for the day.

http://mindexplorer.blogspot.com is another blog which I find interesting and I hope you find it too!

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

how to get more sales

The best way in my opinion to get more sales is to draw attention to your product/service and/or both to get more clients.People should know you exist,your company exists and you are there to back what you say or others say about your company.For this you need to connect,connect and connect with:
  1. Buyers and suppliers
  2. Potential Clients and suppliers
  3. People who make a positive difference to you business-bloggers and other people who wield influence like captains of industry,IT,Business,government officials,Chambers of commerce officials and their secretaries too and be on your best behavior always - you never know who will actually help out.
Learn the lingo read the press releases of a company,their plans for growth,their annual reports,study the stock prices,meet their stock brokers,stock holders and get a common persons opinion about the company.One never knows what one will learn!

See customer testimonials what they recommend and ask for references as references do work-they do make a difference to the growth of companies.This is a thankless process but nevertheless do it and speak to all the right people I am sure someone will really help out and will help you do your best and you never know.

An easy way to reach the decision makers is by using a service like that of say
www.jigsaw.com

Know the decision makers and be the change yo want to be,it works and when you smell blood you always get inspired to get more of the same!

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Robotics in India-It is happening here and is hot!

Robotics in India.

The technology is advancing and many initiatives are happening in the top academic institutions of India like the IIT's,IISc,Engineering Colleges and Government research centers.Even wikis are being extensively used for the field-doubt me!

Check for yourself-search the Wikipedia websites and be surprised by the results.The best website for Robotics in India which is accessible to the public (too much info is not in the public domain in India) in my humble opinion is www.roboticsindia.com

If you all come across better sites do let me know!

Diabetes & Stumble Upon!

I finally helped to create a network for diabetics on the web and yes I am sure all crazy websurfers and people who suffer from Diabetes will benefit from the same!

http://diabeties.stumbleupon.com

I hope people keep using this and giving out good information on diabetes on the website.My best wishes to all Stumblers and the founders who created this novel concept of Stumbling Upon!

See www.stumbleupon.com for more details.

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Helping the Tsunami victims

I too helped the Tsunami victims in whatever ways I could possibly think off.A little background first.The Tsunami wave left destruction wherever it went and many people have died and are dying even as I type this post out.I am trying to make a difference to the same by giving up all cynicism and giving concrete suggestions about what should be done,backing it up with cash,popularizing the solutions I can think about and talking/emailing my friends about the same and asking them to do whatever they can and requesting my blog readers to do whatever you can.

Please do it-whatever possible and spread hope-the world has seen too much of despair!This is how I am helping the Tsunami victims:
  1. Talking about compassion among my friends and in the biz commnity in general about helping the less fortunate people from all over the world.
  2. Giving whatever little hard cash I am able to give.
  3. Talking about auctions for charity (ebay,Baazee,AuctionSniper,AuctionDrop,developer.ebay.com,pulse.ebay.com whatever however etc.).
  4. Writing about the same in my blog.Some people must be reading this blog-I hope so as I have talked about the same to my friends.
  5. Using Wikipedia to create awareness about the plight of Tsunami victims
  6. Talking about the Tsunami in various public forums
  7. Reading Slashdot.org stories about how to help victims of Tsunami
  8. Stumbling Upon various websites that I feel will help create an impact on people regarding the Tsunami for this you need to see www.stumbleupon.com
  9. Popularizing the cause in Social Networks like Ryze LinkedIn,Tribe etc.
  10. Using Social bookmarks like http://del.icio.us, www.furl.net, www.spurl.net, www.dudecheckthisout.com, www.simpy.com

Even school kids from almost all countries are doing a really very commendable job in collecting money,items and food for Tsunami victims and my heart goes out to these valiant children who are doing whatever they can in the best way they know off.All praises are due to you children - keep up the great work!.

We will not get chances again and again to help children and victims for children grow and the victims migrate or are simply not found!

Finally I end here with an appeal-do whatever you can for the victims of the Tsunami wave-we are their only hope and let us live upto the expectations of the victims!



Thursday, January 06, 2005

we live in a post Tsunami world-revised entry

I am changing a large part of this post as I had taken a lot of content from another blogger and had not acknowledged the same-I really am to blame for the same!Sorry Political Lunacy blogger.I want you to know that I actually want this blog to be a reflection of my thoughts too and I did agree with many thoughts you have and hence I pasted the article-however as I really surf a lot it is next to impossible to acknowledge many things I do and I am trying to be original in trying to present ideas about what needs to be done in my opinion.I am a great advocate of charity and believe charity given will really change the world for many people-the form of charity can be in any form - I just give to the poor whatever I can spare out of my meager earnings in the hope that it will help me out sometime later-does not matter when!Who knows who cares and for what and what works are questions I am asked quite often and I just give the answer that the empowerment is the only way forward-give whatever you can empower a single person who will make a difference to the world we will live and carry on ahead in life.

A very large part of our planet is hurting badly today and are having a very unhappy new year. My comments are made with the greatest respect to those directly impacted by these disasters.

Questions that really come to mind are what are the true reasons for the disasters of such a magnitude-some I can literally say are:
  1. Our pointless disregard for life itself-human or non human (plants and animals)-the wars that are being fought supremacy of one community over the other are a sad reflection of this fact.
  2. The large scale destruction of the already built infrastructure by many countries in these wars so that victors can come in and build a state of the art infrastructure become mad the rulers again and the cycl gets repeated over and over again-it reminds me that such gimmicks though very well known do not work everytime-the Tsunami is a proof of the ruining of the infrastructure by developing countries because guess what -we too screw up and when we do it we do it really well! We ruin our own resources so that something just happens and attention is drawn because of the scale the destruction it brings!After that and among all that it is always business as usual-no one really cares and life just goes on till the next disaster (Allah forbid it happens ever again-Aameen).One cannot help think of Afghanistan here and pitying the Taliban rulers who wanted the developed world to help their country get out of the mess they were in already and blew up the Bamiyan statues of Buddha and the developed countries did come-that took an event like 9/11 which should have never happened in a sane world but then hey for the developed world it is the business of neglect as usual and life just goes on and repeats again and again,...., why is what I ask-could not things have been handled in a better way?was all the destruction absolutely necessary?
  3. Where and when is the solution to Iraq-is so called puppet democracy any answer at all?
  4. What happens to the perpetrators of the oil for food scam now that it is well known it was a sham?
  5. What happens to Saddam Hussein now that he is caught ?

Here's an idea.Wow great-now that we know the people from developed countries really and truly care aboout being original We really need to start talking about a post-tsunami world. Who has not heard of such talk before and what has come out of it ever-just more hot air is an answer I will give and am justified too in giving it."There is an opportunity to present a positive global vision which can challenge the vision of a "post-9/11 world". Maybe this can and will change the discourse as they say.Nothing ever really changes.I still actually see very little access and cribbing is found every both among the haves and have nots-I have just seen many among the rich getting richer and more powerful and yes more scared about what will happen next?Surely these people must be thinking of the unthinkable only_what else? Why a positive global vision at all when negativity is only what the developing countries have seen?

Many developing countries have signed and ratified GATT,WTO,UNCTAD and any number of countries and yet just how many markets of developed countries are being opened to developing countries?Same conclusions comes from G7,G8,UNSecurity council meetings and what not and what not-the so called tough questions are asked and answers are sought and everything is got but no concrete action is taken and the guilty are just supported and ultimately forgiven because given the scale of destruction the crimes look truly insignificant and there are always more important things to do in life for the rich-I do not even want to elaborate.

A post-tsunami world is a world where people count first and the environment too benefits.People act keeping the environment in mind.The oil rich countries act to make oil more affordable to the poorer nations so that they actually stop exploiting their own country's natural resources.This bold move by oil exporting countries will give some hope the world's most poor and will solve many problems!Surely they are not mine says the rich person-I am rich because I do not act to solve these problems and if I am not respected who will be or should be? Is false prestige the only cause to live for in this earth?Yaaawn-I want something new....

Bureaucrats worldwide will take the environment more seriously and act-after all some bureaucrats and decision makers too would have been among the holiday makers!As if their colleagues give a damn-come on folks it is back to work or the lack of it as usual-what is over is over and will never happen again and the show has to go on-the shop has to be opened tomorrow and I need my daily treat too!

What is needed and what will work.

  1. A world of co-operation and development.
  2. A world that gives what's needed to meet basic human needs in whatever kind of disasters people face.
  3. A world that can and will respond while transcending religious, racial and other differences.
  4. A world that builds infrastructure, not bombs it.
  5. A world where we try and solve big problems, like hunger.
  6. A world we catch a glimpse of when we see the outpouring of support from every corner of the planet.
  7. A post-tsunami world we can work towards making better in whatever way we can where there is no compulsion for us to so!
  8. A world where trade is done with more people who actually do good for the masses and make the difference in an individuals life!

This is not the first rallying cry for the post-tsunami world nor will it be the last - The richest countries have got to pay their fair share.Just WHO are the rich people in rich countries are many misers from the heart - some could be but many are not-many want to see their money utilized well and their tribe will become more active and will increase thanks to the growth of the internet and blogs and even the poor will contribute towards the spreading of ideas.The good in people will be seen more now and the best people will contribute in multiple ways only they can think and do-it is happening already!.

This is a global campaign being run for our own future a future we may not live to see-our future generations may not live to see if we do not act now.What future ensure survival first.I do not see anything truly change-who cribs and cries is a wimp and cry and crib and you do it alone-who wants any improvement in anything at all.

Let us act to forgive those who wronged us and let us try to start remedying the mistakes we made one person at a time!

Let's start talking about it.2005 marks the start of the post-tsunami world. I hope that it's better than 2004. Sometimes it feels like things can't get worse. They can and will if we do not act.It is already worse than our wildest imaginations-the society has been ruined-sex-surveys are being done openly among teenage girls and boys in university and the reults are being shared with pride among perverts and such experiments are being allowed to happen-who gives a damn anyway!

Who gives a damn?

The earthquake and tsumami have brought to the world, a picture of the dire poverty faced by so many on our planet; poverty that most of us may never see or talk about worse still is not do anything about in spite of knowing such poverty actually exists!

Let us begin by actually showing how amazing things can be accomplished when lots of people work together focussed on common goals.World changing is not easy and yet people trying to save the world by blogging about the same.What is easy - living with the fact that I am responsible for this state of affairs in which almost every improvement in a process,procedure,existing product,service and even clicking of a button on the internet is patented and millions are made out of frivolous lawsuits which should never have even been thought to entertained at all.Well North America is a continent of many lawyers who just argue about every silly thing in the world including Human rights which are systematically abused everyday,every min and every sec in the world and who is even trying to do really do something about it and with what results-did some thoughts about Abu Ghraib or Guitmo sneak in here at all and oh yes who can forget anything at all!

What is the use anyway-because we use knowledge better and have a greater impact on what happens we just up angering more and more people but people too get angry,fret and fume and we the perpetrators of such heinous crimes are bought to book and finger pointing is done for all too look at and give the dog a bad name and then kill the dog-I remembered a country called Iraq exists and it was more peaceful once upon a time-not very long ago!

Not unlike 9/11, an international outpouring of goodwill flows from the hearts of just about everyone.Death was tragic and always will remain tragic-it will always hurt and will teach too in the process-let us learn to live and let live and make the world a better place!People around the world are reacting and pitching in in so many ways.Would I be writing this on my blog - and yet I am doing the same!.The rich persons may die but the legacy always lives on and on and on and the praactices seldom change-violence begets violence and the cycle just goes on and on and on-do it and get damned-do not do it and get damned and by the way I prefer the latter to the former!Anyway who cares-what i happening and what will happen will stretch for so long that it will take a mad despot only to set things right and we will see a lot worse before things get better anyway and the question is better for whom?

While borne of tragedy, the goodwill is a very positive and hopeful sign. What goodwill-I have never seen real goodwill do any real good to the truly deserving people-the poor-all that is done benefits the rich person and here too there is seldom conviction as the state always steps in and we see many dramas being played again and again and yet again-Saddam is still alive-so is Osama and so are the rich drug peddlers of North America,Africa and many in Asia too and in retreats like the famed tax-free havens.

It is the most important sign in quite some time-Yaawn

How will this goodwill translate politically in each of our countries in ways that seriously challenge the priorities of the "post-9/11 world"?Many politicians and bureaucrats do read blogs and surf the net and the word does spread around!.Do good and more people talk about what you have done and what its impact will be on the rest of the world!.Does it not make a person feel smug in the heart if you know your ideas have been used to make a difference in the world!.

Who gives a damn anyway-it is an opportunists world today and we create the opportunity when there is none existing-after all we need to buy the tech,the knowhow,the software,hardware,the works,best practices,the rulebooks,even the legacy systems right and yes

The post-tsunami world could be the needed counterbalance to the echo chamber which glorifies killing and destruction.While the big picture is looking pretty grim at the beginning of the post-tsunami world, with no serious alternatives on the horizen, life goes on and so do the day to day issues which need to be addressed wherever we live. The public good, the safety net, the vote, reforms, etc. Call it what you will. All the things we volunteer our time to defend and sometimes even expand. All the things that make us "civilized". And so, for you activists out there, a special happy new year greeting - may your energy in 2005 be equal or greater to what it was in 2004. Thanks for all your hard work whatever it was you've been doing.We can fill in the blanks as we go along as to what we mean by a "post-tsunami world" and even decide to call it something else. But it's worth talking about. Test it out on a some people you know. I did. It had a positive resonance.All we gotta say when we hear "post-9/11 world" is something like "excuse me, haven't you heard, it's now a post-tsunami world." Maybe one day we'll be able to say that bushco are actually changing - it is for the best-atleast I am trying and doing whatever I can to make people change their opinions.All hot air-stupid talk-aimed at confusing everybody and damning everything and it is full of cynicism and guess what being a half chemical engineer (I am a polymer engineering graduate by the way fyi) cynicism comes from Cyanide and Cyanide kills-I somewhere heard the saying Kill them all and the almighty will decide!

Some of the links I love are:

www.wikipedia.org
www.jotspot.com
www.socialtext.com
www.venturewiki.com
http://freshnews.org
http://slashdot.org
www.tjacobi.com
www.trendwatching.com
http://del.icio.us
www.furl.net
www.primidi.com
www.watchthatpage.com
www.corante.com

I would love to know how my blog readers use these links and would love to learn from you all my audience.Keep in mind I believe I can do much more by not becoming a programmer as many of you read my opinions will agree that not everyone wants to do everything-some among my readers the people who benefited from my blog or opinions may want to program for me free of cost-who knows that day will come!.

There is hope yet and we should never get depressed-surely somebody will help us out-only we should believe our problem will be solved I believe in that - I did not have a job earlier I have one now,I did not know how to blog earlier I do now,I did not know how to use wiki - I do know now,I did not know decision makers in the world-I do know now and my readers are or will become the decision makers!.

I will find an angel investor - a person who will guide me and actually help me set up my own business and return to society - I did not believe earlier NOW I DO.And again I do not believe - that is the harsh truth-if I ever get anything - anything at all except criticism I will let you my readers know and yes - I used to hear this old song in Urdu sung by a great singer whose words go like this and I will translate it too at the end of this post-

Mera Sunder Sapna Beeth Gaya...........

My beautiful dream has vanished..............


A last link that will come out of this post is a link told to me by a person who really is changing the way the world sees events and is doing a really hard task and I will end this post over by giving the great link away.

www.witness.org

I still believe that I will succeed as I have actually acknowledged and admitted a mistake which I refrain from in future - but who will give the hard answers to the questions raised!
And for all the cribbing and finger pointing search my name on the net and read whatever comments have been made about me-weigh the same and reach your own conclusions-if there is more good than bad in it and if peoples lives have actually not been impacted and improved for the better as a result continue these negative comments and I know whatever initiative I have in me will actually die online after all people want scapegoats and I am well on my way becoming one.

If you want to help be positive and constructive or else never ever do such things-I am a person with an attitude and a very stupid sense of kustice-life has not really been fair to me or me to life-I have stopped caring but I am trying to make a differnce and here sometimes I may end up angering somebody really clamouring for attention and publicity-you want it get it.If you cannot be as creative do not give left handed compliments like a baby crying for attention-I would rather see my ideas used and not criticised-and that is the truth written from the heart and it is not written for publicity.

Anyway I am going to remove this post later-I thought I did a good thing by asking hard questions some of my own and some of another great blogger I had read about and I did try to to give solutions and a framework for the same - something a majority of the people can use.

Finally will end here say my day was made thanks to stinging criticism and left handed compliments agreeing I made improvements but wanting credits and honorable mention-the best mentions are most valuable when you see what you want happen and smile even if you are never acknowledged for it.If you actually try to measure my contribution to developing the world and changing the environment I am sure you will .... agree that I have learnt a lot and disseminated a lot and helped a lot by giving out and freeing knowledge.

I look to provide solutions to about what should be done and do ask my share of questions for which I am often dismissed I hope this time I raised the right questions and look forward to real answers.