God's Wonder or Man's Magic

God's Wonder or Man's Magic
Originally uploaded by arjunghosh

Well the title says all - thats what I thought first when I it. Well I should not call it a "it" :0 I felt so humbled when I stood there. I felt the power of "LOVE" of a man for his women. I felt proud to be part of human race and and also an Indian. Even though this monument of love was made by a dynasty which started from Invaders but made this land their home.

A wall-painted animation by BLU

Wow!! this is just super cool...probably the best video on www.youtube.com right now

Biman Bangladesh Funny Announcement

The is the most hilarious videos I saw in recent time. Well you have to know bengali language. SO all you bongs enjoy. And non-bongs, do ask your bong friends to convert :)

Joe the Plumber Speaks - Obama McCain Debate - Interview

Another video of Joe the Plumber taking on Obama....

Joe the Plumber - Obama McCain Debate - Ahhh Joe Famous Now

A Common man took on Obama....

Delhi Tweetup - meet for Delhi's twitterati/bloggers/microbloggers

This was on my wish list for long time - a Delhi TweetUp.
In fact I had been pestering @twilightfairy for long for this and that too where else - on Twitter.


And recently she granted my wish :)


I was introduced to this new "micro-blogging" fairly recently (a few months) due to some work related twitter integration I had to do. Initially was skeptical about twitter, thinking about it as *just another mashup* to integrate via Twitter API.
Well then I realized - I like this new social and new media Tool! It became an alternative to my blogging urges and much easier. In fact twitter is the reason that that I have doing less blogging now. Well its micro-blogging.
Also another reason as the instant audience you had for your post or as we say in twitterville - "tweets". As twitter is like a perpetual chat, I met lot of like minded people and had many many interesting conversation, ranging from music, movies, bikes, girls to technology,gadgets,books,etc.
I made for the first time online friends actually. Never did it with other social networking sites like Orkut or Facebook. There, it was mostly real-world friends. And now these Twittervile friends of mine connected with me at other places online like my facebook, my lastfm, my books, my pictures, etc.

So I definitely wanted to meet all these interesting people from Twitterville. And everyone shares the same notion as me, can come to the Delhi TweetUp tomorrow. If no friends to meet, then just to know about this wonderful social tool called Twitter and make new friends!! :)

Date : 20th September, 2008 (Saturday), 5pm - 8pm

Venue : Incube Business Centre
18, Nehru Place,
New Delhi, 110019 , # +91-11-3061 4401

You can register here, and on facebook too.

Twitter has become a dude. Gone through a Make Over

Twitter, that loved (sometimes hated) kid on the social networking block, seems growing up into a cool handsome dude. It has gone through a major re-design. Lot more AJAxiness, new UI reflecting better usability. It seems people at Twitter HQ are now putting close attention to details, beside the Scotch!! :)

Well the changes to twitter are mostly "cosmetic". The top tabs have gone




and they are now re-aligned to the right panel, which I think is a intelligent decision. This will give them more "real estate" to expand on future features.


Also, I feel that Twitter has now space on the lower right panel for Advertisement, which should start the revenue stream for Twitter (Even if they don't need it after their last round of investments).


I beleive twitter can have very useful focused advertisements, like for a particular twitter channel/group. This will not even intrude on the overall experience of using the twitter, if place in the empty right hand side "real estate". Intentionally or un-intentionally, this is a better way forward for twitter.

You can read about the whole list of changes at the official twitter blog.

But still have some request of mine also for @twitter: Firstly, want the "re-tweet" facility which most twitter client like Twhirl has. Secondly, want the search for twitter integrated into the dashboard itself. The guys at @twitter don't even have to create a new feature - just link up the existing site and make it part of the Twitter dashboard.

Twitter has been doing a lot well - much less @failwhale (though i miss it!!), less data errors, etc. It just need to go that much more. Otherwise, others like Yammer, which is essentially "Twitter for Business" will move first on new idea, which I feel essentially Twitter should have implemented. Incidentally, Yammer won the top prize at TechCrunch50 and thats lost opportunity for Twitter. So this re-design is going to help Twitter, but they have to do more.

Overseas Aaja Nachle Bombay Rockers Aaja Nach lay

This song rocks!!!

TV News about LPU Lovely Professional University I

Chk out the name "Lovely"....LOLz

The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes

Very moving...

Giraffe gathers troops, leads great escape from circus

Fifteen camels, several llamas and a potbellied pig broke out of a circus near Amsterdam on Monday. The ringleader? A giraffe who bolted, too. ROFLchk out: http://tinyurl.com/3jsuzx

read more | digg story

Would You Rather Pay with Money or Pay with Time?

An a very interesting and thoughtful post on changing nature of social network. It brings in focus the choice that social networks have to make in coming days if they have to monetize their service. Also it talks about the choice people who use social network has to make as the title says...

read more | digg story

Don’t believe everything you see about Windows 7

OMG....Mike Arrington is challenged by Long Zheng.....screen shots on techcrunch turns out to be fake design!!!

read more | digg story

BlogCampDelhi - Live post Part II

Well this is the second part of the "live" post at BlogCampDelhi a.k.a @blogcampdelhi. We had some session by Mohit Maheshwari of TonicTag who talked on monetising and AdSense. It was a interesting talk on various channels and methodologies to monetise blogs. Though it seems some like @labnol did not agree AdSense should have been talked at BlogCampDelhi. Then we had a quick note by Sorabh Jerath on services which help blogger to promote their blogs. Next a very interesting talk on micro-blogging with focus on Twitter by @baxiabhishek. Had a very interesting conversation on various things like "tracking" where I gave @ceetee as an example where his girl friend tracks his. He is going to kill me!!! Last was by @mayankgupta on SEO tricks. He was one the lucid and clear speakers here.
You can watch the pics at http://abhijitchatterje.spaces.live.com/

"Live" tweets at @BlogCampDelhi

Well am also doing a live tweetring on BlogCampDelhi at @BlogCampDelhi . Follow to get updated news on the BlogCampDelhi here...

BlogCampDelhi - Live post Part I

Well first was a little late to land up here...well had a late night. And I start the notebook, connect to blogcampdelhi wi-fi n/w....open the firefox....and wolla NO INTERNET!!!....well good thing was, meet up with my twitter buddies @baxiabhishek and @amitgupta. It seems that Microsoft has very very secure n/w here and though @abhishekkant tried a lot but could not have a public connection up. So am now using @baxiabhishek notebook on which there is Internet connection. Well you see being MS employee has some advantages :).
Anyways, am impressed with the MS office. This is definitely much better environment than the last Camp I have been too...
Well I was just in time for a session by @abhishekkant on Corporate Blogging. His main example was of course MS as he works there but he pointed out lot of interesting views about corporate blogging and its challenges. Like the issue like IP, legal, etc. Nice talk and Abhishek is a good speaker. That is one thing I sometimes find lagging. Bloggers are of course good writer, but very few are good speaker and over and above a good presenter.
Next had a quick note by a guy on blogging terminology. But he could not finish as lunch time was there and his talk unfortunately also got lost.
Lunch was a quick affair with McDonald's veg burgers and coke. Had time to chat up with @amitgupta and @baxiabhishek. Interesting thing was I knew them for long but only on Twitter!!! Good to meet them in real life...
Next had a session on Photo Blogging by @amitgupta where he gave a very lucid explanation on why Blogs are better place to showcase your pictures than say a service like Flickr or Picassa. Main point was that these service are photo-sharing services primarily and not for photo blogs. I added my two bit to the discussion on why professional photographer or journalist shy away from these services due to copyright issue and prefer there own photo-blogs.
Right now a session by Mohit Maheshwari of TonicTags on monetising blogs via various channels.

Twitter is Down again as of 20th May, 2008 13:38 IST !!!

Twitter seems to be down again. Well Twitter seems to be an excellent online app with good fan following but if this continuously happens, twitter will lose people.

BlogCamp at Delhi on May 24th, 2008

We have had BarCamps, TwitterCamps, MoboCamps at Delhi where all seem to have Blogging section as part of the Camp. But it seem this is the first time a Camp has been secifically organized for and about Blogging. It seem Amit, Abhishek, Ajay , who are old hand in the world of blogging, are one of the planners. So am sure its going to be good and fun. According to the claim on Prashant, this is the first time an exclusive Blog Camp is being held. So let see.

The Site:-
http://barcamp.pbwiki.com/BlogCampDelhi

When:-
24th May 2008 (Saturday)

Where:-
Microsoft Corp
5th Floor, Eros Towers
Nehru Place, New Delhi

Schedule for the Day(As mentioned on the Wiki. Please check on the wiki site for latest info):-
Log On - 9.30 am
Lunch Break - 1.30 pm (45 min)
Log Off - 5.30 pm

Funny comparison Ad on Notebook between Mac Air and ThinkPad

This is a really funny comparison Ad which shows that though Mac Air claims to be the thinnest notebook, in actuality with all its add-ons, it turns out to be quite bulky. ANd this compared to Thinkpad. This should have Apple start thinking

Terminator 4 Epic Trailer

Hear Hear peoples - T4 is coming. Hope its as good as the T1 and not near as bad as T3. Asta la Vista baby!!! enjoy this T4 trailer.

Britain's Got Talent - Michael Jackson

This is awesome...astoundingly funny...INDIA RULZ

Not productive enough? Turn off the Internet

A post which has a interesting take on the "overdrive" or say "Always-On" phenomenon which takes a toll on the general productivity. I my self have faced the issue where I had the feeling that there is one more post to read or one more twitter to post , etc. This sometime causes us to lose focus of the NOW!!! And that is the crux of the matter. So as the author says - TURN OFF ALL when need something get done and that includes diggs and writing posts like these :) (I knew I had to do something "productive" now!!)Read this article here at http://tinyurl.com/5zmpz8

read more | digg story

Big crazy list of social networking sites for Video

A very comprehensive list of Top 100 video sites....chk out http://tinyurl.com/2yq5tx

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Lifestreams Channel Online Activity... - PR 2.0

Brian talks here about lifestream and workstream and aggregation of them. Nice read.

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PR 2.0 - MicroMedia Paves the Way for Macro Influence

Brian talks about MicroMedia and Media Snacker. Interesting read..

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Web Pioneers - The old websites which made what Internet is today

A interesting list of pioneering website, which gave birth to what we now know as World Wide Web and Internet. This interesting mix of websites brings a wisp of nostalgia for people who have been following the Internet from the start. I personally still remember the days when I brought the Internet for dummies to learn about this whole new world. I also remember the days here in India when I payed 120 buck!!!(ya its in rupees, but for a kid in 8th standard, that was princely sum) to surf the Internet at my local cyber-cafe. I just went crazy with it. It opened up a new world, much better than pen pals,etc. I still remember the dial up connection with its weird alien like sound that the dialer made to connect to Internet. Viewing these sites brought a smile...

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Sexual suggestions and realisations 2008! - Jhoomur Bose

A very nice read...in fact down right funny....BUT it hits the nail on the head!!!....and above all its written by a good looking chick...:)...

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Gandhi did not utter a word after being shot

A very interesting school of thought which I am sure will be very controversial in India. And I think it must be very near the truth that Gandhi did not utter a word when he was shot! In India , I have seen this tendency to treat the Father figures and members of some political families like Gandhi family as taboo subject. Is this a democracy?

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No more big pay hike, bonus for IT staff in India?

So are we in for a long winter? Well I don't think so and its not that I am some kind of eternal optimist. Its just that I believe the dynamics of the our economy is such now that we will get less hit by any recession in US. And this time around, recession in US should be manageable. Lets us all still have a dream to dream...

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Young guy suddenly thinking of Investment!!!

Today there were guys from our company's bank to talk about investments as it was nearing the end of financial year. Now guys like me i.e. young londas who are earning well, have no apparent responsibilities as they are not married or no need to support parents /family, tend to blow up there money. And think investment is for tomorrow, when we have more responsibilities or are married no need to think about it now. Well at least I used to think like that for last two year(the duration I have been earning my keep by self). Well thats is where we make the most elementary and naive mistake. We should actually invest more since we are young and not the other way round. And I also realized that I was losing out on lot of money and saving options.
Here are some hard facts about various investment option which gives tax breaks according to government rules:-
1. Under 80(c) the tax break is allowed on the following investment tools:-
(a.) ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan)
(b.) ELSS (Equity Linked Saving Scheme)
(c.) LIC (Life Insurance Certificate)
(d.) Tution Fee of your kids
(e.) FD (Fixed Deposit)
(f.) NSC (National Saving Certificates)
(g.) PPF (Public Provident Fund)
Now under 80(c), the maximum a you are allowed to invest is between 1,00,000/- to 1,10,0000/- per financial annum.
2. Under 80(d) the tax break is allowed on the following investment tools:-
(a.) Medical Reimbursement
Now under 80(d), the maximum a you are allowed to invest is 15,000/- per financial annum.

Also the Lock-In period (for those who did not get it like me the first time - lock-in period is the minimum period for you need to remain invested in any above options to get the tax break) for various investment tools, so that we can benefit the tax break are:-

1. FD has 5 yr lock-in
2. PPF has 15yr lock-in
3. ELSS has 3 yrs lock-in

Before I go, just a note, NAV means "Net Asset Value".ULIP and ELSS are calculated in terms of NAV and this is publicly publised everyday.

Inter-linking of social sites...

Recently I observed a trend of which I have been also a part - inter-linking of our digital online presence. Most of the sites are now-a-days compatible with each other where you can link them each other. You can post links of your other sites on a site. Like my pownce account where I have put most of my "other" site presence. Or my digg profile. The list can go on. Also another trend is where you have sites like ClaimId where you can claim your online digital content or MicroID which is of the same. A brave new "new media" world have started

Mittal, Ambanis in Forbes top 10 list

Recognition of Wealth creation and success of Indians. This shows that Indians have finally arrived on the global scene.The biggest indicator is The mega global acquisition by Indian companies like Corus by Tatas, Accelor by Mittals(though strictly not an India based firm) , Luxury car brands Jags and Land Rover to be acquired by Tatas again. This is but a few example. The list goes on like Mahindras, Ranbaxy,etc. We can say that the "Golden Age" of Indian economy is back which has been growing at a steady rate of 8 to 9% year on year, even though not at the spread of Chinese economy. Only blooper in the party is the recession in U.S. as lot of company are dependent on the U.S. economy. But then thats true for whole of the world :)

read more | digg story

The technology behind Google's great results

As a Google user, you're familiar with the speed and accuracy of a Google search. How exactly does Google manage to find the right results for every query as quickly as it does? The heart of Google's search technology is PigeonRank™, a system for ranking web pages developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University....or is this for laugh :)..read on and enjoy lol :)

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Are we in a recession? « Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger

a very hot topic now...and which affects everyone...and i mean everyone...from Beverly Hills to hill in bangladesh...and definitely here in india and me..

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Crunchies Winners

The List of all the Crunchies winner for 2007...

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Apple’s Razor Thin Macbook Air-- bub.blicio.us

As usual Brain does nice write on the AWESOME and COOL Mac AIR - worlds thinnest notebook...and....it so cool looking....i want one :)

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Here Comes Trouble: An Antidote to Software Patents

The $250 million Vonage burned through as a result of the patent lawsuit brought by Verizon et al provides yet another example of why patents for business processes implemented on computers (a.k.a. software patents) deserve to die.

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O2 Offers Napster For Free!

Here we are seeing the dawn of the age when "free services" like free music a.k.a Napster as a part of the broadband service....

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1930s-40s in Color - a photoset on Flickr

A collection of old photos by U.S. Congress Library...

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Sun Buys MySQL for $1B and Wall Street Mourns

Sun Microsystems said today it would pay $1 billion to buy privately held open-source database maker MySQL, a move that strengthens Sun’s ability to offer an alternative to proprietary software.

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On Being Middleful

Confessions of a Social Tools Architect...a nice, sensitive and insightful article by Greg

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10 Alternative Ruby Web Frameworks

Sometimes developers want to be different or have a need for something easier. Here are 10 Ruby web application frameworks developers can use instead of Ruby on Rails.

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20 Awesome Images Found In Google Maps

From a Fox to KFC, people are getting creative and putting on quite a show for Google maps. Who's next to step up in 2008? I liked the MOzila one....and mini parked on side. But sadly one thing i found with google maps and people using it(like this article) the focus is always US or Countries like Aus or europe....never places like India or south east asia....

read more | digg story

Another Rumor of the Day: Facebook Buying Plaxo

Another nice post on Facebook by Brian Solis of http://bub.blicio.us

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Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg on 60 Minutes -- bub.blicio.us

Brian Solis's(http://bub.blicio.us) take on Zuckerberg's interview in 60 min

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Tata's new "Peoples Car - Nano" launched

Ratan Tata kept his promise.Tata delivered on its promise and launched the "People's Car" or should I say "Common man's Car" in 1 lac despite lot of detractors. Now dream to own a car is much closer to reality for lot of people :).
Well actual cost comes higher than a lac when taxes are included.
Tatas have come out with 3 variants - Standard, Deluxe and Luxury. And the best part is that the last two variants have AC in them which lot of detractors said would not be possible. In fact nano has already changed the dynamics of the auto industry and will have a huge impact on the auto market in india.
Tata have also launched a website also.
Here are some pictures of nano from the site:
The Standard Version:

The Luxury Version:

The Interiors:

Image Source: www.tatapeoplescar.com

Facebook lets me back in-Scobleizer - Tech geek blogger

The story of Robert Scoble whose account was arbitrarily by Facebook. This caused an uproar among bloggers. Now he is Back!

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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Ruby On Rails Galaxy

My technology ramblings and travel through Rails galaxy....

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DataPortability.org - Share & remix data using open standard

The way to future for social network sites?

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bub.blicio.us

A very Good blog on Technology by Brian Solis

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Vote for the Sexiest Geeks of 2007

Wow...so many hot chicks at one place and THAT TOO all of them are GEEKS...welcome to geek heaven :)))

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Stairways to Heaven

Stairways to Heaven
Originally uploaded by arjunghosh

Tools of Gods...lol :)))

Rishikesh Trip - Trip to abode of heaven

Rishikesh Trip - Trip to abode of heaven
Originally uploaded by arjunghosh

Circle of FRIENDS......an early morning shot at the camping site in Rishikesh

What Girls need to know about their geek Boyfriends

Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht discuss an email about a geek about to marry a girl that just wont understand him on diggnation episode 129.

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Top Ten Photos of 2007 From National Geographic

From a tiny bird so rare and unusual that its scientific name means "strange owl" to a super colossal squid caught near Antarctica, National Geographic News gives us their best photos of the year.

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Top 10 Obscure Google Search Tricks

When it comes to the Google search box, you already know the tricks: like searching for exact phrases in quotes like "so say we all" or searching a single site using site:lifehacker.com gmail. But there are many more oblique, clever, and lesser-known search recipes and operators that work from that unassuming little text box.

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NORAD Tracks Santa Claus-- bub.blicio.us

Quite funny....:)

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