Diwali Extravaganza!!

Check these out!

They are distinctly different

It is really always amazing as to me how kids play, especially how a boy plays and how a girl plays. Needless to say, they are distinct!

Sravi always seem to have great time talking to her babies (she names every toy she has and tell you what? They are all girlie names) or playing a teacher-teacher game making her dolls sit just like pupils and indeed giving them punishment as well; making them stand aside as they misbehave or disobey her.

Whenever she scoots on her scooter she carries her favorite doll greenie along with her. She loves her scooter and indeed it has been the best buy as because she enjoys scooting along so much carrying her dolls and teaching those to scoot as well. I always find my nephew Ajay finding interest in Car toys and Rangers accessories, way distinct from Sravi. These days he’s been navigating well with computer keys and playing games. If ever Sravi uses PC the most she enjoys is paintbrush and she draws pictures (not bad at all) and names them or gives her buddies names to those. What a distinctive way of playing between a boy and a girl right? Boy stuff and girl stuff yay!

Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently!!

Ever contemplated on investing in shares? If not, it’s still not high time. Believe me, it is one of those money making opportunities that can be handled from the comforts of your home. All you need is an understanding of the market trends and just a net-connected PC.

A person who invested as low as Rs. 10 K in Wipro a decade back is richer by more than 10 millions. However, it’s the one who waited is now with smiles and millions of course. He did have all the patience to see his shares split, to wait for company’s bonus and dividends, more than all he saw the company growing every step up, while seeing the share prices fall in the interim as well! How much of the losers (I meant in the share market) have got this patience? I think there will be noone! Any investment needs time to grow. You can’t anticipate to double it in a fortnight! You better not at least henceforth.

While saying so I know there is so much of volatility and uncertainty in the markets. But that doesn’t simply mean you need to press the panic button and sell off all your investment for peanuts or a loss. You waited thus far, why not try and breathe for a little while more? I recall my school teacher saying, patience always pays. So, be patient. Selling during an uncertain time makes no sense absolutely, at least in the share trading business (if you are married...then I know you are already more patient than before)

Let me tell you one small secret: People who buy more stocks during the uncertain times will have a big smile down the lane. Because they waited right? So staying long term is the mantra you need to practice and you have all what it takes to become a millionaire!

Aside, do your due diligence: Researching is what you need to do and never pay a heed to the skeptics. Pay attention to the looked down stocks! For instance you would want to consider hotels and other hospitality stocks (even the health industry stocks). Invest in health and it pays back handsomely in a couple of years’ time. You may benefit from picking up or rather investing in those that others have been ignoring. Finally, I will remind of Shiv Khera’s quote : Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently. Similarly people who are making money invest in places where others don’t!

Internet Security And Your iPhone

The rise in power of the personal computer and the advent of the Internet has led to many amazing technological innovations. Just twenty years ago, something as complex as the worldwide web would seem unfathomable, now it is hard to imagine ever living without staying connected for a part of the day (lolz). Unfortunately, as with every great innovation, there are always those who take advantage of something to just corrupt it. With the Internet, it has become hackers who threaten security. In the case of the new iPhone and it’s built-in web browser, things are no different as well!

In fact, the iPhone, based on the fact that it uses a “watered-down” version of Apple’s home operating system, is very much susceptible to corruption via hackers. Given the lack of complexity to the browser, hackers can take on the ‘appearance’ of another, trusted website; once the hacker ropes you into their trap, there is no turning back. Almost immediately, your iPhone’s system can become corrupted.

Another drawback to the iPhone is the ability to view websites that house the discussion forums. While there are no complications in accessing pages with the posts, there is no line of defense between the iPhone and posts that contain harmful, encrypted codes. Sadly, there is no way to identify these corrupted message boards.

The classic hacking method of embedding viruses and/or other corrupted material within e-mails is no stranger to the iPhone. If the hacker can trick you into opening his or her e-mail message, it might already be too late for your iPhone’s operating system. Once a virus finds its way into your OS, the outlook becomes very bleak for recovery.

But how exactly do you go about defending yourself from corrupted information that is floating around the website? Use your head! You might be able to get away with visiting shaky websites from your home computer, as your security systems are probably the highest of quality. But more discretion must be practiced with the iPhone as one click can lead to disastrous consequences.

As such, it is always a good idea to avoid opening websites unless you can claim with certainty that they will be safe—stick with the massively popular sites for your iPhone, perform more varied web surfing on a personal computer. To that end, only connect to trusted networks. Yes, it is a pain to have to wait for internet service and it can be tempting to ignore the risks and connect to any network once you receive a signal, but practice patience. It won’t do you any good to connect to a corrupted network once it wreaks havoc on your iPhone. The only thing worse than no connectivity is an iPhone that no longer can connect once there is connectivity.
The bottom line is that the iPhone cannot really compete with the security measures that can be taken on most home computers. And unfortunately, hackers will take every chance they can get to exploit this fact. This means that more caution than necessary should be used when navigating the Internet on an iPhone. So exercise it generously!

Magazines and books are soon going to be a history!!

Yep Yep and did you know this?
Every single day, it seems like newspapers and magazines are increasingly becoming outdated, as news and articles on the Internet provide the same content without the price. It only seems natural that eventually, full-length books will have a computer-based replacement. Amazon.com, in their online initiative, has created a device that will provide the first steps in making our current books go the way of the dodo. Their new portable text-viewer, the Kindle, is spearheading a movement to make books cheaper, more travel-ready and eco friendly as well.

The Kindle acts as a technologically advanced notebook. It has the ability to access the Internet, so discovering new texts will be a simple task. You can search the web to find your favorite blog, newspaper, and/or magazine and read them all in one convenient device. Now, you will no longer have to fumble around trying to find your magazine or fold up that irritating paper.

There is also a store that offers books for purchase. These digital texts are offered at a cheaper price than their tangible brethren. Ergo, the money invested in the Kindle will be made back through savings on the books you would have purchased anyway. In fact, if you are an avid, or even an average, reader, reading via a Kindle will become a cheaper endeavor in the long run.
Kindle promises definitely to be a great idea. My only apprehension with purchasing one would be the fact that since it is such a new technology, there might some bugs that need to be worked out yet. This being said, once the inevitable revisions of the device are released to the market in the near future, I will seriously look into acquiring. And if you enjoy reading, no matter what form of the medium you choose to look at, I suggest you do the same..cool!

Gurur Brahma...Gurur Vishnuhu...Gurur devoh...maheswaraha..!!

Don’t you feel to go to school is a privilege considering the fact that there are so many children who still work instead of going to school?
And, yes to go to a school that had great teachers is a fringe benefit …..and to have a motivating teacher at least one during your entire education is something you are blessed with I believe, a teacher that can change the way you have been thinking, a teacher that inspired to choose a path in your career, a teacher who taught you to be a human being …
I am blessed is all I would say, as I've had three such teachers for what I am today (at least to a great extent)
there was Ms. Sundara Valli my English Madam during my 11th grade who aside English prose and poetry taught so many values of life; there had been Mr. Ram Kumar my GPBr First Year BSc teacher who taught with such flamboyance and ease that I remember longing for his weekly-once class, and there had been Dr. Ravuri who really changed my course of post graduation. He had a special way of approaching to everyday lessons and that gave birth interest in me for a new subject and I opted for Agronomy and not my otherwise interesting Plant Breeding as my PG specialization.

A great teacher always inspires as quoted by someone and I am blessed by 3 to inspire me during my learning times!

I know not where these 3 inspiring teachers are today..But I do remember them with reverence, love and gratitude!

I thought it’s a befitting tribute to wish all such great personalities who shape many more ….Happy Teacher’s Day! By the way is the guru shishya paramparya being lost to monotonous and mechanical teaching and children ignoring the pains of a teacher? I hope it does not. Some relations are forever and nothing should change them.

Care to Hair care

I went out to meet a friend today and she expressed surprise for the severe hair loss, although, I quipped. I know that I am well catching up with men as regards to hair loss. And, I am also upset that I lost way too much hair these days (who to blame?).

I do notice that more women are losing hair than ever before. Some study says that 1 among every 5 women experiences some form of a hair loss. If you want to know the common types of hair loss amongst women, here they are:
1) Fungal infections: The source could be change in water, boutiques and even hair washing products such as the shampoos.
2) Telogen effluvium is a form of alopecia and second most serious hair loss pattern studied by trichologists and dermatologists. Every woman experiences this at least once during her lifetime and there is heavy hair shedding with Telogen effluvium, as much as up to 500 strands of hair and in a month as you see almost half the hair has gone. Several factors responsible for this include:
crash dieting
anemia
excess hair doing including applying several chemicals to hair
post partum (if the woman is subjected to poor nutrition and/or deprived sleep)
thyroid and liver infections may also result in Telogen effluvium

So said, these are correctable issues if the hair loss is identified early and the cause is dug. If a quick intervention of this condition doesn’t happen, the hair loss can become almost irreversible.

3) Patterned loss of hair
It’s the worst form of hair loss and there are male patterned baldness and female patterned baldness. While in the past it used to be more of female patterned baldness, of late there is more of male pattern hair loss in women. In either case, the reasons could be hereditary or hormonal.

In hereditary acquired patterned hair loss (could be maternal or paternal) there are 3 stages when the patterned hairloss starts; menarche, post-partum and menopause stages.

The problem develops slowly but over a period of time and in majority of cases a girl or woman realizes that she has been losing hair after say 5-6 years after the problem has actually started.

Hormonal type of patterned hair loss can be seen in women suffering from hormonal disorders initiated by diseases such as PCOD (polycystic ovarian disease) and thyroid (usually hypothyroid) disorders.

However, in these cases it calls for a thorough investigation of blood samples for different hormone levels and a correction may sometimes help in regrowth of hair, especially when detected early.

Remember a hair saved today can help you smile with confidence tomorrow! Ain’t it?
Haviong said and done, I know my hair loss is due to hypothyroidism I suffer from and I have confidence that my Eltroxin and my food can reverse the scene. Anyways time can only tell whether it is hereditary or hormonal :( pattern of hair loss in my case!

Hai Hai Ganesha …..Come Again Ganesha!!

Ganesha is one my favorite deities and why, he is such a lovely god to just watch and see; I love his long coiled trunk, flappy ears and the small mushik or the rat that lay on his left side is an added attraction. Wonder how such a huge deity can travel all along on this small rat.

All of the explanation I got regarding this elephant god in the form of stories and they never seem to hold up to my child’s mind. She has several doubts about Ganesha!

Lord Shiva killing his son boy and chopping head of the boy and then again try fixing a Gajasura’s head to the boy and bringing life to the boy is all a great story that I knew and I tell sravi the same and she listens to me amazed. It is from then that the boy is known as Gajanana. So said, the story draws all sympathy from young and the adults for the little boy. No wonder he is everyone’s favorite deity.

It is on Ganesha Chaturthi that we bring this deity to our homes and offer puja along with great food. I recall my mother’s expertise in making undrallu (the pressure cooked food preferred by the god to other foods) while we as children used to go collect all the foliage from backyard to do the puja. I recall my brother donning the traditional attire and I recall him to look very cute.

This year too, I went out to get our cute deity and I especially liked the clay one without any colors (doing my bit to make the earth clean and green…hah); very cute-looking Ganesha indeed and bought it.

I could not buy the umbrella yet, although, told Sree Ram to get it. If we make our ganesha to sit with umbrella, its like we have made him comfortable almost and I know my hands have to work fast with doughs and soojis so we can please him with the food as well.

I know my task begins early in the morning, but it is great to have these once in a while and while the lord takes care of us, its nothing what we offer him on a chathurthi.

I wish that I make undrallu well so he likes. I lack the skill and the expertise so never they came out well out of my hands. All my watching as a child has never helped me!. Wish I could please my lord with my food. Those countless hours of assisting my mother as a child should help me do the undrallu with ease at least this year.

Immersion of ganesha idol is another interesting feature of this festival. We still watch on TVs for biggest and unique idols of ganeshas taken through crowded streets as a procession. It used to also bring tears in me! I used to wonder as to how we could be so tough on this god; previous day we loved him so much, we fed him with great food, we fell on his feet to seek his blessings, but the next day we are merciless and we push him into waters. Can’t there be a better way to bid an adieu to this cute God?

I still need some valid explanation as to why his idol needs to be immersed. Do you know it by the way? All said and done, I am all geared up for yet another ganesha chathurhi? Are you as well? Since Ganesha is also a deity known to remove any obstacle, come let's seek the blessings from elephant god collectively!

Quacky Hellow from below!

Who is pretty here? The sweetie in front of the bloom or the bloom behind?

Solitary Soul

Pollination Captured!

Beauty of Innocence!

It was last Sunday that all three of us (me, my hubby and my daughter) went to spend some time at Lalbagh here in Bengaluru. We had a nice day out with Sravi and I lost myself in nature and no doubt it was great to be with all natural elements surrounding you!

The place though is littered with plastic bags and pepsi cans...still loved it...the shrubs were so kind to cascade most of that litter.

The glass house is especially great and I loved the pond and the quacky creatures in the small pond! Sravi loved the white ducks. She kept on asking me to freeze one single white duck in our camera (please!! Don't call her racist she wouldnt understand a thing what you are saying!) we could'nt do it though. They seem to be so united irrespective of color, moving as a train!

My Dad...My Hero

Eversince I started blogging (10 days back) I'd been contemplating on dedicating one of my posts to the most important person in my life..."a man," and he is my father. I’m just not HERE without my father and I mean it in every sense of it; be it physically, biologically, mentally, emotionally, or professionally. To me, he is not a father alone, but a friend, a guide and a philosopher too.

Curiosity and refusal have been the order of my childhood and I realize it now though. But it is now I am fathomed by the fact that he's more than willing to give a clear answer to all of my questions. Tell you what? There have never been one liners and never one without a logic. I didn’t want to say that we have had long hours of discussion, Nope we never had! But he’s not fed me with those calorie-rich baby foods alone he gave me the fodder to think and ink to my writing muscles!

As of now, I find it very difficult to talk a thing or two with him, still it is the same ol' feeling of hero worship I have for him. If you ask me did he play with me when I were a child, I would say, No, never. We've never had so much of time together playing or laughing. But used to be a fire just the other side of his persona! I have attributed this to be the reason for his weird personality, but I realized once I was mature enough it is that fire that did not want to overprotect me or make me their mere shadow, and it is that fire that lit up and infused in me as extra confidence and guts (that I traveled 600 miles all by myself, safely as a student!), the same fire gave me strength to accept my failures and ask me to face them over again and again!!

That’s not all at all to his persona. He is more than a human at heart with a generosity that knew no bounds! I am sometimes aghast by these qualities. He would ask his domestic help to call up her parents from his phone and would increase her payment and pay a bonus without she having to put in a word, saying its only human to do so when he himself liked to receive hike or bonus as a central government employee.
Again, he is ruthlessly frank when it comes to analyzing anyone. It brought him friends and foes, but I believe it is his order no matter he has made friends or enemies. So father, I just love the way you are! It doesn’t matter we didn’t have a laughter and fun-filled times, you still are my hero …hero….hero…!!

A love that is limited by time and space?

What does it mean by love- What is the chemistry that works within you when you think of a person? Whether the affection you have for your parents, the extra care you wanted to show on your children or the warmth you feel for a friend who does a lot to you or a feeling you have for a good samaritan neighbor with whom you discuss everything between a heaven and hell? What is the biochemistry involved in all these feelings? Do they all lead to love?

Do all these forms get limited by time or space? Yes I guess! Let me tell you, this (limited?) love is vain and is capable of deserting anybody at a moment's notice.

The only way to love (anyone) is to love without limiting anything. Isn’t this ‘love’ the emotion that really is ruling all of our lives after all? Be it the positive aspect or negative aspect (such as ill feeling or hatred) you need to take time (unlimitedly) to think of a person whom you hate even! Is not it? So why waste a precious life hating someone? Why can’t we start “loving” everyone, even a person whom we dread to think of without looking for reasons? Some one said that a smile is very contagious, I will change it, love is contagious and it can spread like virus and I love to see the world infected with this pleasant virus. Can it happen?
I wish Rama, Allah, Buddha, Jesus collectively do that!

Road Safety in Bengaluru- Is it a dream?

Road safety in Bengaluru has become like a dream that can never be realized, and a never-ending menace. Everyday, there is at least one amongst 1000 who do not return home after striking the roads of Bengaluru. The accidents are on the rise due to poor driving sense of the motorists as well as poor road conditions.
Lack of vision amongst the rulers has resulted in today's plight of the roads. Peak-hour traffic witnesses about 12,000 passenger car units every hour at traffic-dense areas of Hosur Road, Tumkur Road and Mysore Road.
Potholes and craters on roads seem to be an eternal problem. The poor shape of majority of roads in the city also pose a serious threat to the treading motorists, especially during peakhours and during nights. Needless to say what a mess we see during rainy season. Furthermore, the sleeping police which is more popular as the speedbreakers, are another threat on roads. Most unscientifically laid out speedbreakers are a common sight on Bengaluru roads and they are a reason for accidents rather than what should have been otherwise. There was no government during the premonsoon season and so no one really took interest to fill all the potholes of the city before the onset of monsoon.
When it comes to poor road safety due to poor dribving sense, noteworthy is the fact that a minimum of 5,000 traffic violations take place in Bangalore everyday, and this is shockingly nation's high figure and you now know the gravity of the situation in Namma Bengaluru.
Traffic police seem to conduct road safety campaigns for about a week once in a while but they are hardly any takers or followers of the safety rules.
To tackle the problem of traffic rule violators, levying on-spot fines is just not enough. As a small step forward to check on violators it is learnt that, traffic police (even the lower-rung officials)will soon be equipped with BlackBerry mobile handsets soon. Police will try to catch traffic defaulters with the help of these BlackBerry sets. The database of the violators will be recorded in the sets and will work in conjunction with a central server and repeat violators will be penalised three times the fine and I guess this system should keep a check on traffic violation.
On a pilot basis CCTVs were installed at specific junctions such as the Manipal Junction and Coffee Board Junction and traffic police are on a way to permanently install them at few more points in the city where density is high, not just to ease the traffic congestion but also to have an eye and put a curb on the erring motorists.
Earlier night traffic was not much but with the drag race culture and the night-operating BPOs, the night-time traffic is not any better. Reckless driving is one prime reason for several serious traffic accidents on Bengaluru roads, especially during nights. It was only a week that the city witnessed a major accident involving death of two teenagers and seriously injury of three youths on the Bangalore-Mysore road during late night hours. The reason was found to be rash driving of the driver who lost control on vehicle. This rash driving or drag racing has become a recent trend amongst the upwardly mobile youths who feel reckless driving as a style statement on roads. These motorists have to be dealt with very seriously and should be sent to training sessions on good driving sense.
One right step by the BJP government in this direction should be to coax government servants to use more of public transport and better is to start an incentive scheme for them to initiate the drive of using only public transport and refrain them from using private transport.

Google AdSense- A Great-income Generating Tool Online

One of my friend was asking me why I have to start blogging? There is not one answer to this while I wanted to show my clients a writing portfolio the other is to benefit at least a little from adsense.

So, have you ever wondered how many people are using AdSense and how much they earn and what is an Adsense? Well, AdSense is a “juicy steak” that monetizes a website. It is a program that gives advertizing revenue from each page a website has, with the least possible time investment. It works by having targeted ads delivered to a site based on content and earns commission resulting from searches generated by visitors' search requests.

AdSense is a fast-paced way yet requiring less effort for publishers of websites of different magnitudes to apparently publish pertinent ads on content pages that are relevant to the users’ needs. If you have ads on your site, then think of better positioning and play with colors that will work better than others. Apply them in a manner consistent with its purpose and design to keep on attracting more visitors.
Google AdSense is free; nothing to lose and it’s definitely worth it to join the program. It maybe a “mine-is-bigger-than-yours” type of thread (that’s how the competition goes right?), but it is a product of your creative thinking and work that will most likely give you the numbers that others are earning from the program. It gives contextual information that depends on a given topic. It is also a pay-per-click advertizing framework where there can be no fixed amount to how much you earn per click.
It is true that a greater part of Google’s income mostly come from content sites and publishers like NetScape, AOL, About.com, Lycos, Shopping.com, etc.; but the moment a Google search box is added to a site you own or on blogs you run, it gives you a substantial income. The figures usually range from what you call a “loose change” to as high as $100,000 per month per a webmaster if you know how to do it.
While it is one incorrect idea of people to just hit their websites flat with AdSense, thinking that it’s the only thing they need to make money, little do they know that the real trick to keep in mind is that there are factors to consider in order to turn the websites into an income-generating tool. Some sites are doing good with AdSense, that it pays up to millions of dollars a year, and that goes with having the right and exact website that bears high paying keywords and phrases plus the correct traffic.
Responses from ad users -- these are visitors that usually come to the site -- depend on the topics you have that are rich in keywords and key phrases. If your topic contents bear high-paying keywords and key phrases, then you have a foundation to have a steadfast income. Think of it this way, visitors that go to your site are sometimes “blindfolded,” whether they look at the ads as an extra resource that completes the whole or not, even if you have what you call “low-paying” keywords or whatever metrics you use as long as it draws traffic to your site, then GREAT! you’re making some money.

Did You Bungee Jump Anytime?

Because, I wish I do that. Every time such an activity happens here in my town, there is too much of a crowd, and although I am not clausterophobic I become impatient to wait. I remember telling a friend's husband who's been on an office tour to Minneapolis to enjoy time there. I heard that he even tried skydiving which is something really exciting. So said bungee jumping is much different and I just loved to see people do (not in reality though). For those of you who want to know what it means, here it is ....

Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure can usually be any fixed object, such as a building, bridge or a crane. Indeed it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as from a hot-air-balloon or an helicopter, that has the ability to hover over one spot on the ground. So said, fixed-wing aircrafts are unsuitable because they only stay aloft when moving rapidly forward. The thrill comes as much from the free-falling as from the rebounds.

When the person jumps, the cord stretches to absorb the energy of the fall, then the jumper flies upwards again as the cord snaps back. The jumper oscillates up and down until all of the energy is used up.

Despite the inherent danger of jumping from a great height, several million successful jumps have taken place since 1980. This is attributable to bungee operators rigorously conforming to standards and guidelines governing jumps, such as checking calculations and fittings for each and every jump. The procedure includes rigorous double-check very much similar to pilots’ pre-flight check routines.
However a common mistake in fatality cases is to use a too long cord. Most bungee jumping cords are made from natural rubber. The common bungee cords like Euro and Mil Spec cords stretch 2 to 4 times the original length. The cord should be substantially shorter than the height of the jumping platform to allow it room to stretch. When the cord reaches its natural length the jumper either starts to slow down or keeps accelerating depending upon the speed of descent.
The average age of jumpers is between 16 and 40, but the limit is 14 to 50. Spectators of all ages stand in awe, witnessing the many people who like bunging up and down.

I didn't even get the privelege of watching the live bunging action. Did you by the way? Next time dont be a watcher, be a jumper. Happy bungee jumping!

Landmarks of Labor

I saw Sree Ram, my husband, calling her cousin yesterday night and wishing her a safe and healthy delivery. She’s in her last week of pregnancy and indeed today is her expected date of confinement.

But, I started wondering is she aware of the labor landmarks. I thought to post these in the interest of other expectant mothers.

Landmarks of Labor (Oh Dear! I never Experienced any of these. I had an emergent C-section)

Pre-labor: It is during this phase that the cervix that is beneath the womb that needs to soften and ripen (the membrane thins down). During this phase one may feel niggling contractions off and on. So one can’t be sure if this is real labor or is not, all you become is emotional. You just need to relax now. This phase may last for one day or max for 2 days. Don’t keep pondering about it, you need distraction. Watch your favorite movie on a DVD or listen to some cool and soothing music. If you are active and not bedridden you may want to become busy. So take a walk and hit the nearest grocery store or vegetable mandi. Better, visit friends. Take long bath in lukewarm water. Ask your husband or a close friend to give a massage (partner massaging his expectant wife is a new thing here, but ask him and he may not say no to your request). Take little and quite often to you’re your energy levels up.

Early Labor: The cervix starts dilating and opening up and the contractions are more regular by now and they are also definite. Take a shower or a bath. Talk to your husband for emotional reassurance and eat if you may want to. Practice relaxing breathing techniques.

Active Labor: The cervix dilates to up to 4 inches and the baby's head almost fits through this (unless otherwise it is a big baby). Just stay focused on each of the contraction (they become more frequent). Take help from whatever knowledge you have gained and endure the pain. This is followed by actual birth of the baby and then push off of the placenta.

But I advice all expectant moms to take some time before hand and attend antenatal classes where they teach you of the breathing techniques and pain relieving techniques. These classes also make one aware of the landmarks of labor and the active labor can really be a pleasure filled experience not a painful one.

S is for Snazzier in iPhone Terminology! So, make your iPhone Snazzier with these Apps

So, how many of you owned the iPhone? Me? No, I am definitely not a phone lover. But I am not jealous; in fact, I thought I would let you all know of how to make your iPhone snazzier by loading apps, in this post. Have you explored all of its features? So if you are contented with the load of features it has for a geek like you, stop and start thinking bigger, because it can get still better with the third party iPhone apps or applications and play it on! Believe me, you and your new iPhone are going to rock for a long long time!
To get started …What you need to do is hit a store where iPhone apps are available (there are online stores as well for your information…but read the reviews on the store to know if you have gone to a right place!) and look for the free and the paid stuff.

Music
Music and mobile have become inseparable entities these days and an 8GB or 16 GB may not be really big for real music fans who would want to store every bit of music. But there is what is called as SimplyfyMedia application which enables you to access iTunes on your PC from anywhere. If your PC is not net connected you can still have access playlists pf your buddies. The application also gives information on the artists as well as the lyrics. So try your hands on it if you’re a BIG music fan.

Social Networking
FaceBook has its iPhone app and so the MySpace as well to enable the members to send messages browse through one’s network of people, share and upload images from iPhone as well as allow members to post comments as well on others profiles and stay tuned with the site’s bulletins. With this app you will never have to stay out of your network anytime

Photography
Airme Application (sounds funny? To me Yes it did!) enables one to send pictures to social networking sites including Facebook and Flickr. What more? Users can opt to tag their respective images with geographic tags which give the location, weather, date and time information of the image. Sounds cool (not funny now) right?

Gaming
Spore, now this is one application majority of iPhone would love to try. Spore is a flagship brand from Electronic Arts and play it on iPhone platform to have real fun.

Notepad
Jott (is where you can jot) is a notepad app for iPhone and a lovely one indeed, it converts one’s voice to notes so you are always on toes with your must-dos list of the day! Worth a try definitely!

Let me know how much are they worth if you lay your hands on these iPhone apps. If you have something more, I would love to hear from you. Take care friends!

Difference between CAN'T and CAN

It's actually the letter 't' that sets off "can" from "can't" and, take it out from your vocabulary is my advice to my kid so many times. Whenever she feels something is achievable but with difficulty, she says, "amma I can't" and I simply hate to hear that from her. I say "there is nothing like can't and if you try you can.

I also like to interpret it this way! Maybe the 't' that sets off the two opposite terms is only try and if you try can't can become can. Ain't it?

So said, I was so let down for lack of jobs for the last week. I did try to get some jobs but with failure. It was then that I almost felt like giving up freelancing forever. Should I or should I not have been the two things that went in my mind. My best friend reminded me of what she always used to!

My dear ....
you are wiser than you believe...
stronger than you really know...
more than you really give yourself credit for...
more beautiful than you have been told...
just capable of anything ...whatever you dream of!!
Believe in you... and trust in thy GOD and rest assured you are there where your dreams can take YOU!

I just thought it's a lovely note that she has sent to me to alert me. It hit me where it should really, and I made up my mind and thought I will try to tide over all those hurdles that come across the path of a freelancer. Come what may, I will challenge the difficulties that may come in my way of realizing dreams. And, isn't life boring without challenges? So, let there be some and let me do some reinvention of me!

Tell you what? To 'dream big' has become a passe, and the young generation started dreaming bigger! Probably we can take a gut or two from them to dream at least big. Thanks to my two friends who keep alerting me!

And, lastly it would be meaningless if I ask sravi to TRY when I simply fail to!

My 2 cents to those GENTLEMEN who are seeking writers!

It's great to learn that you’ve become a webmaster by starting either a blog or a website or a forum site or a new ezine, or you just wanted to publish your book (to be ghost written by a writer of course). However, don’t you feel nervy to demand writers for free samples to know their commitment of writing articles? I fail to understand this ridiculous attitude of a majority of webmasters these days. Or, is this probably a new trend that I didn’t know...eeeiyo!!

I think this should be termed no less than begging. I believe YES! In any book it is begging or ripping off! In a webmasters marketplace, I saw a listing posted by a gentleman webmaster who was seeking responses from good writers for establishing a long-term relationship. The niches he wanted to promote are also good and interesting (not the otherwise shady). But the catch in the listing is that he said he would give preference to a person who can write 500-worder sample one for all of the niches (say about 10+ he is looking for). This means he's looking for 10+ free samples. Now what do you call him tell me? A beggar? Well I don't have any hesitation to call him so!

It was even more suprising to see some fish (so-called writers) that got attracted to the lure he placed (long-term relationship). I felt those writers did not have a respect for them as well as other writers even!

Let me honestly tell you. A professional writer doesn't require what is called 'exposure'. Does he? He/she has been writing already to make a living. Can you go to bakery asking for free stuff saying you would want a piece of cake so you promote the baker’s name? No, Right? If you have any such weird thoughts please refrain from doing so. Because, in all likelihood you would be at least mocked and made a fun piece if not thrashed.

Real professional writers don't want to use their writing time writing for free to establish a reputation. Finally, if you are thinking to hire a professional writer, be prepared to PAY THEM and pay them decently afterall it should be a win-win for you and the writer as well!
Just my 2 CENTS FOR all gentlemen webmasters who want articles for free!
P.S.
Whew....I never thought I had so much grief that when I penned down it came to a blog post size!

President-Hopeful John Mc Ca(i)n Tarnish the image of America’s Grand Ole’ Party

Today, I wanted to present my views on McCain, the global celebrity who's most talked about today!


Psst! From one conservative to another, I don’t trust McCain as far as I can see him. It may seem traitorous to the Party but I don’t have to believe everything he says just because he calls himself a member of the Grand Ol’ Party. My trust and belief is earned by unwavering convictions on our most important issues.

Consider this! Most companies have adopted the use of the behavioral interview because it questions and validates past behavior that is a good and reliable indicator of what a person will do going forward. As the American people, we act as the human resource department of the United States of America. This is what we know best.

John McCain admits to having an affair with his 2nd wife, Cindy, while married to his 1st wife, Carol. This is the reason numero uno that says do not trust him. Isn’t he a liar and a cheat? Didn’t he commit the moral sin of committing adultery while being still married to Carol? This is the true color of the president hopeful John McCain. A base adulterer at best! Isn’t one of the tenets of Republicanism being a forthright and upstanding individual? So if he will lie and cheat on the person supposedly closest to him, what makes us think he won’t lie to us – faceless Americans? A bunch of whiners as we were called by his top economic policy advisor, Phil Gramm.

We also know that John McCain is in favor of 100 more years; 100 more years? We allowed G. Dubya to remain in office a second term in good faith to allow him the opportunity so he could finish what he started Iraq. Seven years later, we are still deployed fighting a war, running up major debt (it recently reported that we are getting close to half a trillions in debts eek) and looking for phantom terrorists.

In an interview earlier this year, McCain clearly said that we could be spending the next century in Iraq. Then a few months later, after much of backlash, he reverse pedaled to “explain” that the war would be over soon; however, the insurgency would go on for years and years and years, handled by Iraqis, not Americans. Well, which one is it? Even the Iraqis want an answer to that question. They have started to ask for a withdrawal timetable as well. Aaahh, but I digress.

As a conservative, I would like to be able to speak about McCain with confidence but it has proven difficult with this type of double talk. Yes, we do need to finish what we started. Yes, we need to ensure that we get back the foreign policy of previous presidents, including that of Reagan and Roosevelt where other countries know that you can’t just step on Americans. However, I am not confident that McCain is the right republican to accomplish that. After all, he is no Roosevelt!

To be a man of conviction means that you state your stance, live by it and do not waiver. That doesn’t seem to be the case with McCain. He flip-flops, so it has become titles of various articles and websites. McCain’s has an economic plan to cut, no, eliminate our national deficit by the conclusion of his term. Huh! I need to see a copy of that plan because I find that VERY hard to believe. However, that won’t happen because his plan has no details provided at all. Although he says it does include using the savings from the Iraq and Afghanistan victories to pay down the debt. I could only interpret that to mean that he will be bringing home the troops; which is yet another flip flop. One month we are forecasting being there 100 years, the next interview we are saving money by quickly winning the war and bringing home our troops.

Trying to follow our candidate from one day to the next is getting me dizzy. One day I am with him and then the next he opens his mouth and nothing makes sense. Now, the tom foolery is coming out of the mouths of his advisors as well. I am getting to the point where I am considering staying home on Election Day. Hopefully, he selects a Vice President who will offer some balance and good stable conservative guidance to our hopeful. But for now, I will keep my eyes peeled for the light at the end of the tunnel.

iPhone is coming to India ! Did you book the gadget?

The iPhone launching is scheduled for the month of September 2008 and Vodafone takes the privilege of bringing it to India. Most of the gadget lovers and phone freaks are earnestly waiting to their lay hands on this gadget and own it. The wait is almost over and the good news for all is that the bookings have started too!

But how much do you know about iPhone? I thought of presenting an interesting feature on this most-sought after mobile.

All about the iPhone's multi-touch technology
Keeping with the cutting-edge nature of its parent company, the iPhone refuses to settle for the norms that have been created by the cellular phone industry. For one thing, the iPhone serves as the ultimate multimedia device, seamlessly changing from an Internet browser, to an iPod, to a cell phone. However, concerns have been raised about the process of navigating through these applications. While most devices would use buttons, the iPhone eschews these in favor of touch sensitive screen—or in this case, Apple’s own multi-touch technology.



One of the first questions that pop into people’s minds whenever they think of a touch-sensitive device is how the screen will hold up to the inevitable wear and tear. In this case, Apple is one step ahead of the crowd. As a safety measure, the iPhone’s (LCD) screen is covered with a scratch resistant glass that is optically sound, preventing any hindrance on the picture quality. Of course, while scratches might not pose a threat, what about the smudging of fingerprints? In actuality, the iPhone is designed exclusively to be operated by the fingers of the hands. So much so that the usual stylus operation method of many touch sensitive devices is rendered useless. This fingers-only technology is so extreme, that not of a gloved person can operate an iPhone.



As for how the iPhone responds to the touch-sensitive commands, the device is designed beautifully. For starters, the software loaded on the iPhone has been tailor-made for swift, dexterous movements in order to navigate at optimum efficiency. Icons on the screen serve as the buttons that control the machine. Also, pressing and moving items from one location to another is as easy as (in actuality, even easier than) than clicking your mouse and dragging items on your home computer.

What purpose does this technology serve, other than looking cutting edge? You might not believe it, but the multi-touch technology saves hordes of time. Have you ever spent minutes just trying to program a friend’s number into your cell phone’s address book? Now all you have to do is a few quick taps at the screen followed by the dragging of the information into the proper location. As you might guess, this technology also allows the creation of iTunes playlists at unprecedented rates of speed. The youtube links can be played as well as sent to friends in a jiffy.

That’s not all, though. Not only does the iPhone make formerly tedious tasks from old cell phones and mp3 players a breeze, the interface is unlike any other that has been seen on any handheld electronic device. It is not as if the iPhone adds touch functionality to an old-style electronic gadget. The iPhone has its own software that revamps how these functions are performed. In the vein of opening multiple windows on a desktop computer and navigating between multiple web pages, the iPhone’s interface has multiple ‘windows’ that allow you to slip and drag back and forth between to switch out items and perform certain tasks at never-before-seen speeds and ease.

All said and done the pricing of iPhone will be around 20,000 rupees and up. So, if you are not so keen on garage stuff and if you are an Apple lover get your iPhone booking done through a simple SMS. Message iPhone to 56789, you get a confirmation message back that you have booked your new gadget! I would love to hear all your iPhone romancing experiences.

An update: I have just posted some useful tips in a new post about iPhone in case you are planning to buy one. You can read it here http://liv2rite.blogspot.com/2009/01/contemplating-on-buying-iphone-check.html

Gnana Vahini, This Different School Should Have Been There in My Times

As a child I grew up in a not-so-crowded town, but as to my education (if I can say I'm educated at all) I got it within confinement of four walls of a crowded classroom where the teachers had all rights to tame us with a thick cane that danced on our backs quite often. There was no single instance that I seriously can recall where I have absorbed a concept in the rightful way! That's right! It was all wrong ways ....... and in fact, to be more precise, there was no conceptualisation during my learning days. And, tell you what? I don’t feel ashamed to say that I have mugged up my math book too……I know what expression you guys must be having as you read that!!

Okay....and years rolled by and I became a parent (without ever being taught the right way or the wrong way ...as to how I can become one....lolz)! Great! And, time came for me to hunt for a school for admitting my kid. But, I made up my mind; it should not be the same rot, crowded classrooms where children enter with alarming faces to see their mentors. Thankfully, we didn’t have to hunt for long. We received a flyer in our newspaper and we took time to go to that place the flyer advertized. It’s a different school and probably just the way I believed a school should really be. We spoke to the teachers there (so nice they didn’t like to be called as teachers or mams and they wanted the kids to call them aunts), and let me be honest!They are just an awesome few ladies there.

I thought surely an aunt would come closer to a child’s heart than a teacher/mam right? I appreciated their idea. The idea of this different school is that of an extended family, not crowded absolutely. Some would complain they did not promote their different school well enough, and yeah a school where there are not more than 25 children at a time (the school seems to have very well optimized on the human as well as spatial resources) where they grow up and learn as one community of budding learners. At strength so less as 10-12 per classroom the children be on nodding acquaintance with everyone including their aunt (or mentor).

Mentoring/learning with too many students at any one time becomes impersonal and mechanical. I know I am a product of impersonal and mechanical school. So, I fell in love with this so-called different school at the very first sight and without a second thought secured admission to our kid. After all, I believe one-on-one is the best way to impart education to a budding learner and I am convinced that this different school, Gnana Vahini(literally means carrier of knowledge) is going to do a world of good to the bundle of joy we are proud parents of!