Logging into Blogger after ages thanks to Viral fever which has kept me occupied for a couple of weeks now. This one strangely is a kind of prayer coming from me out of the blue, maybe it's the viral fever that's doing this to me.
Give me knowledge to
set me free
Give me the passion to
fulfill my duties
Give me love to
light up other's lives
Give me the power
to wipe out suffering
Give me humour to make
others laugh
Give me the maturity to
laugh at myself
Give me character to
stand through tough times
Give me the courage to
stand by my principles
Give me success that
is not hollow
Give me the heart to
lose with grace
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The role of the media
There are two reports of hooliganism around the 60th Republic day of India
Violence in a Mangalore pub against women by a group called Ram Sena
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090081377&ch=633686650503048750
Violence in Nashik by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) against North Indians in a school celebration
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090081498&ch=633686661721816250
While the big question remains as to whether our politicians will give up their fear for votes and take a stand on such religious outfits, who take law in their hands and do moral policing in the name of religion and tradition, I have another question which was triggered by a response from one of the Mangalore police officers to the media.
How does the media come to know of these things and arrive at the scene prompt with their video cameras and shoot all these incidents unattacked? While the media is focussed on creating scoops out of such incidents and publicisng this, why can't they be more responsible and inform the police or government whenever they get tip offs on such incidents?
Violence in a Mangalore pub against women by a group called Ram Sena
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090081377&ch=633686650503048750
Violence in Nashik by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) against North Indians in a school celebration
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090081498&ch=633686661721816250
While the big question remains as to whether our politicians will give up their fear for votes and take a stand on such religious outfits, who take law in their hands and do moral policing in the name of religion and tradition, I have another question which was triggered by a response from one of the Mangalore police officers to the media.
How does the media come to know of these things and arrive at the scene prompt with their video cameras and shoot all these incidents unattacked? While the media is focussed on creating scoops out of such incidents and publicisng this, why can't they be more responsible and inform the police or government whenever they get tip offs on such incidents?
Friday, January 23, 2009
Rain Rain don't go away
It has been raining for the past few days here. Rain always reminds of a few fond memories. Some happy moments that I have got embedded in my mind and associated with rain maybe in the subconcious mind.
My attempts as a child to make a paper boat float on the water collected on the road outside, futile attempts I should say but all the same fulfilling and unforgettable.
A cold rainy day in Bangalore in the 1980's spent visting all the parks that Bangalore is famous for, amazed at the beauty of the vast greenery around.
A joyous ride on a rickshaw along the marina beach on a windy day, protected by a plastic sheet hanging from the top but yet fully drenched, returning to home early because of a cyclone warning. What a wonderful feeling it is, as a child, to return early from school, that too unexpectedly.
Rain also reminds me of one particular place, a city that I have visited quite often, Belfast. Belfast greets me with rain almost everytime.
I have seen several people associate rain with something negative but I simply adore rain.That's why I feel Belfast welcomes me with rain. I know that on the contrary few other people would have dismissed it saying that the city cries whenever they happen to visit.
I have heard some people call the rain as the collective tears of all the gods above. Well it could be true in one way because Gods if they did exist must be definitely be unable to bear what man has done to the earth that they created. However even if rain was a god sent thing, I would call rain as showers of blessings from God to prevent the earth they created from being destroyed by mankind.
Rain is poetic. The sound of water lashing on the floor, the smell of wet sand floating in the air, buildings and trees soaked in water. buses floating on roads like big boats, the happy faces of children relieved at the prospect of not having to go to school, the sight of a rainbow stretched across the sky in all its splendour. These are unquestionably beautiful sights to see.
I hate the nusery rhyme "Rain Rain go away". I am sure it must have been written by someone with a very negative mindset. It is unfortunate that the song is so popular and is thought to all young children. Rain beyond doubt is something that should be enjoyed. Imagine how nice it would be to get drenched completely in rain. Unmindful the of the duties to be carried the next day, the attendance to school or office, the meeting that cannot be missed, unmindful of falling ill. I have always wanted to do it but have never done it so far. Maybe I will do it sometime soon.
My attempts as a child to make a paper boat float on the water collected on the road outside, futile attempts I should say but all the same fulfilling and unforgettable.
A cold rainy day in Bangalore in the 1980's spent visting all the parks that Bangalore is famous for, amazed at the beauty of the vast greenery around.
A joyous ride on a rickshaw along the marina beach on a windy day, protected by a plastic sheet hanging from the top but yet fully drenched, returning to home early because of a cyclone warning. What a wonderful feeling it is, as a child, to return early from school, that too unexpectedly.
Rain also reminds me of one particular place, a city that I have visited quite often, Belfast. Belfast greets me with rain almost everytime.
I have seen several people associate rain with something negative but I simply adore rain.That's why I feel Belfast welcomes me with rain. I know that on the contrary few other people would have dismissed it saying that the city cries whenever they happen to visit.
I have heard some people call the rain as the collective tears of all the gods above. Well it could be true in one way because Gods if they did exist must be definitely be unable to bear what man has done to the earth that they created. However even if rain was a god sent thing, I would call rain as showers of blessings from God to prevent the earth they created from being destroyed by mankind.
Rain is poetic. The sound of water lashing on the floor, the smell of wet sand floating in the air, buildings and trees soaked in water. buses floating on roads like big boats, the happy faces of children relieved at the prospect of not having to go to school, the sight of a rainbow stretched across the sky in all its splendour. These are unquestionably beautiful sights to see.
I hate the nusery rhyme "Rain Rain go away". I am sure it must have been written by someone with a very negative mindset. It is unfortunate that the song is so popular and is thought to all young children. Rain beyond doubt is something that should be enjoyed. Imagine how nice it would be to get drenched completely in rain. Unmindful the of the duties to be carried the next day, the attendance to school or office, the meeting that cannot be missed, unmindful of falling ill. I have always wanted to do it but have never done it so far. Maybe I will do it sometime soon.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Adsense and Pointclick - The difference in deployment
You must have noticed that I have added AdSense to my blog recently. This is how adsense works. For every click made by a reader on the ads displayed, AdSense pays the person owning the blog a percentage of the amount that it gets from the partner companies.
AdSense reminds me of a website called "pointclick.com". I am not sure if you have heard about it. It was one of those dot-com companies that came up when the internet was booming around year 2000 and crashed immediately in the dot-com crash. The concept was quite simple. You just had to register yourself in the website and after that for every click on the ads displayed in the website users would get 1 cent. The balance would be accumulated and the user had an option of either taking cash or spending the money on partner sites. If spent on purchasing products from partner sites like amazon each click would be worth 2 cents.
The idea is very similar to AdSense. However AdSense is a lot more well thought out. Ads are displayed based on the content and are made relevant to the blog or website hosting AdSense. They also have a lot of parameters to measure the effectiveness of ads performance which include CTR - Click through rate, eCPM - Effective cost per mille. Apart from this adsense also keeps track of the IP address from which the click is made and detects possible fraud as in repeated clicks, patterns etc.
Pointclick was very naive and had none of these. While the starting was good and they had 200 business partners and a lot of users and clicks they were not able to sustain it because they did not have a proper execution plan to back themselves. They did not take into account the fact that people can only click on the links endlessly by opening multiple browser windows and just make money without spending anything on the partner sites. In the end the partners were not getting enough business out of it , users were making endless clicks and had increasing dues which pointclick could not pay and finally the company had to close down.
Here is a news article from September 1999, the time when pointclick.com was started
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/203031
This articles quotes the president of the company as saying "Our goal is simple -- we want to help companies increase online sales. That is why we offer cash incentives to those who purchase products in the PointClick Network"
It is a similar idea which AdSense has used now and deployed successfully. It is not enough if you have a good idea. You need to back it up with a proper execution plan when you deploy it.
AdSense reminds me of a website called "pointclick.com". I am not sure if you have heard about it. It was one of those dot-com companies that came up when the internet was booming around year 2000 and crashed immediately in the dot-com crash. The concept was quite simple. You just had to register yourself in the website and after that for every click on the ads displayed in the website users would get 1 cent. The balance would be accumulated and the user had an option of either taking cash or spending the money on partner sites. If spent on purchasing products from partner sites like amazon each click would be worth 2 cents.
The idea is very similar to AdSense. However AdSense is a lot more well thought out. Ads are displayed based on the content and are made relevant to the blog or website hosting AdSense. They also have a lot of parameters to measure the effectiveness of ads performance which include CTR - Click through rate, eCPM - Effective cost per mille. Apart from this adsense also keeps track of the IP address from which the click is made and detects possible fraud as in repeated clicks, patterns etc.
Pointclick was very naive and had none of these. While the starting was good and they had 200 business partners and a lot of users and clicks they were not able to sustain it because they did not have a proper execution plan to back themselves. They did not take into account the fact that people can only click on the links endlessly by opening multiple browser windows and just make money without spending anything on the partner sites. In the end the partners were not getting enough business out of it , users were making endless clicks and had increasing dues which pointclick could not pay and finally the company had to close down.
Here is a news article from September 1999, the time when pointclick.com was started
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/203031
This articles quotes the president of the company as saying "Our goal is simple -- we want to help companies increase online sales. That is why we offer cash incentives to those who purchase products in the PointClick Network"
It is a similar idea which AdSense has used now and deployed successfully. It is not enough if you have a good idea. You need to back it up with a proper execution plan when you deploy it.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Martin Luther King - I have a dream
Today is Martin Luther King day.
I had the fortune of listening to Dr.King's famous speech "I have a dream today", courtesy youtube. This is definitely one of the landmark speeches in the history of mankind. This speech is credited to have prompted the 1964 civil rights act. You must listen to the way it is delivered and the choice of words. It is simply amazing. Dr.King for sure had a sense of his place in history.
You can watch the video, which contains the full speech, here:
I have a Dream speech
America has come a long way from the time a black woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested for refusing to move out of a seat in the section reserved for whites, in a Montgomery bus. That was the event in 1955 which triggered Dr.King's civil rights crusade.
Nearly 54 years later an African American is less than 24 hours away from taking oath as President of America. King's dream has atleast been realised partially. America has come to a stage where people are not judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character and is about to take a great step towards the promised land, which King claimed to have seen in his last speech before assassination.
I had the fortune of listening to Dr.King's famous speech "I have a dream today", courtesy youtube. This is definitely one of the landmark speeches in the history of mankind. This speech is credited to have prompted the 1964 civil rights act. You must listen to the way it is delivered and the choice of words. It is simply amazing. Dr.King for sure had a sense of his place in history.
You can watch the video, which contains the full speech, here:
I have a Dream speech
America has come a long way from the time a black woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested for refusing to move out of a seat in the section reserved for whites, in a Montgomery bus. That was the event in 1955 which triggered Dr.King's civil rights crusade.
Nearly 54 years later an African American is less than 24 hours away from taking oath as President of America. King's dream has atleast been realised partially. America has come to a stage where people are not judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character and is about to take a great step towards the promised land, which King claimed to have seen in his last speech before assassination.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Indian IT's moment of truth
News about the Satyam fiasco is all over the place. Ramalinga Raju has given the media the much needed scoop after 26/11. Almost every news item and debate is around Satyam. At the same time Ramalinga Raju is cooling his heels in a jail, supposedly after refusing VIP treatment but using his political clout to keep away from the law.
While the Satyam fiasco has come as a rude schock and raised questions on corporate governance in India and the credibility of Indian IT companies, I think it is good one way. It has given a chance to revisit the laws and put in measures to enforce regulation and compliance. After all while it is great to remind oneself of all the feathers in his cap and keep flying high, one also does need some thorns once in a while to prick and bring back to reality.
While the Satyam fiasco has come as a rude schock and raised questions on corporate governance in India and the credibility of Indian IT companies, I think it is good one way. It has given a chance to revisit the laws and put in measures to enforce regulation and compliance. After all while it is great to remind oneself of all the feathers in his cap and keep flying high, one also does need some thorns once in a while to prick and bring back to reality.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Life - A Poem
I woke up with this poem half formed in my mind today.
In my dreams ..
I am free like a bird
and soar higher and higher
I walk up great stages
and receive awards
I deliver big speeches
and get applauded
When I wake up ..
I am full of hope
and waiting for the new day
I am raring to go
and realise my dreams
I take up my tasks with
passion and perfection
I go to Sleep ..
Thinking of the day by gone
and the dreams far away
Brought to earth sometimes
by the absurd world
Dented or Polished but
my hopes still alive
This is my Life ..
I am like the waves that
keep coming to the beach
In pursuit of dreams that
one day I will reach
Sometimes high and sometimes low
relentless at heart all the same though
In my dreams ..
I am free like a bird
and soar higher and higher
I walk up great stages
and receive awards
I deliver big speeches
and get applauded
When I wake up ..
I am full of hope
and waiting for the new day
I am raring to go
and realise my dreams
I take up my tasks with
passion and perfection
I go to Sleep ..
Thinking of the day by gone
and the dreams far away
Brought to earth sometimes
by the absurd world
Dented or Polished but
my hopes still alive
This is my Life ..
I am like the waves that
keep coming to the beach
In pursuit of dreams that
one day I will reach
Sometimes high and sometimes low
relentless at heart all the same though
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