Ever encountered a "404 error" message on a site? Also known as a "page not found" error, it can really annoy visitors. Some of these folks may never return to your site. If you don't handle these people with care, you could drive important traffic away from your site. Now, you really don't want to do that, do you?
----- EXTENDED BODY:Links go "missing" for a whole bunch of reasons:
But that's no reason to allow visitors to leave disappointed! Every site must have a custom "404 page" that tries to help people find what they thought they'd find. Experienced web developers (of whom there are lots on the thelist) know that such a page is essential for a large, high-traffic site. Or at least they ought to. If that's the case, why do some of the most popular sites on the Internet not have one? Here are some examples...
... and still more well-known sites have practically useless 404 error pages. Some examples are:
Very few sites actually trap the URL causing the problem and allow people to enter it into a form without copying, pasting, pressing the Back button to check the referrering page, etc. Why is that so hard? Instead of asking questions like "Write to us, telling us what URL caused the problem, where you came from, what operating system and browser you're using", why not just sniff all this through a server-side script and use that info? See: http://www.ask.com/AnErrorPage.html as an annoying example.
Don't drive people away. Here are some ideas for designing more user-friendly error pages::
Using some or all of the above measures will spread that "they really care about me" feeling amongst your site's visitors, and we all know that trust is a scarce commodity on the Web.
Are there any decent 404 pages out there? Yes. Here are a few:
More resources
One day, I will have my own company. But my company will be different.
How?
1) All People will have their own private offices to work in peace, quiet, and privacy.
2) There will be no motivational posters with nonsensical quotes, etc. floating around anywhere. These are demeaning to employees. They imply that it takes a poster to constantly remind people to do a good job.
3) There will be no performance-related pay. Instead people will be paid fair salaries and everything will be done to take money off their mind. Performance-related pay is nothing but a bribe for employees to do their jobs, and it turns things into a "doing the job just to get the incentive" situation. You can compare it to a dog shaking your hand in exchange for the biscuit you'll give it as a reward, not because it particularly likes you.
4) There will be no performance reviews to induce fear, distress, and rivalry in the employees. Continuous feedback on the job will eliminate the need for it.
5) People will be rated not on just what their job involves, but on other roles that they may play in the company that contributes to the growth of the company. A Web author who comes up with a money-saving idea will not be rated on just HTML skills alone.
6) People who speak up against company practices will not be labelled "disrupters" and "non-team players". If their criticism makes sense, it will be seriously considered.
7) No one will have to work overtime for more than two days in a month. If they work more than this, they will get compensatory leave. All people have personal lives that need attention. People with personal problems make inefficient employees.
8) People who are more inclined towards purely technical or functional roles will not be forced to manage people or projects as the only possible career growth option. If someone wants to remain a superior programmer/ designer/ writer, he/she will simply move into a role that requires advanced skills e.g., technology research, advanced UI design, etc.
9) A percentage of company profits will be set aside for distribution in equal percentage amounts to all employees. This is far more effective than incentive pay and since it depends on company growth, it will encourage a holistic view of things rather than individual performance.
10) Lastly, there will never be corporate bullshit like mission statements that say something inane like "We create high-quality products for our customers", or "Our employees are our greatest asset." The work environment should say this, rather than trumpeting it in some ego-centric corporate material.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gopal EMAIL: vgopal07@rediffmail.com IP: 192.158.55.16 URL: DATE: 11/23/2004 11:50:40 PM Dream Company ! Well more on the lines of semco. Check out Maverick (book name) by Ricardo semler. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JD EMAIL: me@phpkid.org IP: 160.33.98.118 URL: http://jdk.phpkid.org DATE: 01/13/2005 03:51:42 AM It sounds very familiar to be being a JoS fan. Anyway, I would have joined your company if only you had opened something related to IT! :) JD ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sowmya EMAIL: sowmya.srinivasan@gmail.com IP: 202.144.91.163 URL: http://jlt-chumma.blogspot.com DATE: 04/06/2005 05:15:37 PM Considering that this post is more than 3 years old and that now, you have your own restaurant, I am assuming you dont have any openings for software people in your company .. But if you do open one, I would like to join this company! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Raj EMAIL: rajenho@gmail.com IP: 128.221.4.201 URL: DATE: 11/03/2005 04:11:19 AM Hi Madman, i have spent a good part of my day reading through your blogs. Truly interesting and entertaining. But as i read through your blogs i couldnt help wonder where in your mind is the line between way things should be and way things can practically be. I feel a current of idealism and devil-may-care in your blogs. But imagine a world where everybody is like you and have as radical thoughts as you. I've met people like you and i count myself as belonging to the class that sucks it up and keeps things going, not necessarily change things drastically. When i was younger my immediate feeling for people with such opinions was of anger and dude's-on-a-cloud... but with age i have learnt to listen to the opinions. Just curious what a comment like this triggers in your mind. You seem like a guy who has the right attitude to take comments (you wouldnt have had such a fantastic blog site if not :)). Write a blog on this, I'am sure it will create more interesting conversations. Anyway i think you have a fantastic blog. Your blog sort of sounds like a desi version of http://www.joelonsoftware.com/. Keep up the good work Raj ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: online poker EMAIL: bill@texas-holdem.co.uk IP: 200.21.161.66 URL: http://ty2j.com/online-poker.html DATE: 03/30/2006 03:44:00 PM online poker Probaly you should read this. online poker Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy online poker now ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Personal income tax should be abolished BASENAME: personal_income STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Society & culture DATE: 02/12/2001 06:04:48 AM ----- BODY:Mahesh protests against the Rs. 5000 income tax rebate that women tax payers get. He favours abolishing it since it obviously will get frittered away on clothes, entertainment, etc.
He doesn't realise that there is a far greater evil that needs to be abolished.
And that's personal income tax for everyone!
Yes, you heard that right. I strongly believe in abolishing personal income tax completely.
Has Madhu lost it, you wonder? I assure you that I have perfectly logical reasons for this. Ready? Let me start...
----- EXTENDED BODY:Fact no. 1
As we all know (well, some of us anyway), there are only about 20 million taxpayers in a country of over 1 billion people. That puts us taxpayers at only 2% of the population! Yes, just a measly 2%. We're not even close to touching double digits here. What's more, personal income tax (not corporate income tax) is only 3% of the GDP! In other words, it's contribution to the national kitty is pretty much negligible.
Fact no. 2
The savings rate of Indian families has been falling each year. This means that more people are saving less. Apart from the impact on the net worth of individuals/families, this affects the economy seriously too. If people save less, they also spend less. The most immediately hit sector is the FMCG sector, and of course, everything that people buy with money gets hit. If people buy less, industrial growth slows down. If the industry slows down, companies have lower sales, which mean lower tax. Lower tax collection means the government has less money to spend on important things like infrastructure, education, and health. Lower sales also mean companies can't invest in growth and expansion, which is bad for everyone. I could go on, but this is a vicious cycle. You get the idea, right?
Fact no. 3
The IT department is nothing more than one giant harassment machine. In fact, the system punishes honest tax payers and makes tax evaders out of them. For those who don't know what an IT return scrutiny is, it's when the IT assessing officer picks up some returns at random (well, not totally at random) and scrutinises it in minute detail. If he finds or suspects a discrepancy, he can issue a notice to you and you then have to explain every detail of your income and possibly every transaction in your bank statement.
Here comes the rub. Get this: your chances of having your return scrutinised increases with your total declared income and with the tax bracket that you fall into. In other words, if you make Rs. 10 Lakhs per year and fall into the 30% bracket (that's 35.2% now with all the surcharges), your return is more likely to be picked up than if you were making Rs. 2 Lakhs and fell into the 10% bracket.
Now, that by itself isn't too bad. But... there's another gotcha there. The assessing officer is answerable for any return picked up for scrutiny and doesn't result in any additional tax being levied. The officer's career path is also dependant upon how much tax he manages to extract out of us poor souls. That essentially means that even if you're as straight as an arrow in all your financial dealings, the tax buggers will try and squeeze even more out of you.
See how this encourages tax evasion? All honest citizens fear a tax scrutiny, as it means nothing more than continuous harassment from the IT department. And here's the icing on the cake: if you want to file an appeal against the officer's ruling, you have to submit it to the same bloke who actually made the ruling! Yes!!! It's up to him whether the appeal is admitted in the first place. This is like appealing against a court ruling, but having to submit your appeal to the same judge that you think is wrong! Does this make sense? Is this not totally out of this world? Yes, it happens only in India.
All this just means that people will try any legal (and illegal) means to try and keep their declared income as low as possible. And the IT department puts out ads saying "Pay your tax. Hold your head high." Bah!
Fact no. 4
Due to the oppressive tax regime of Indira Gandhi (tax rates were as high as 97% at one time; I shit you not), a giant "parallel economy" exists, and it is rumoured to be as big as the "real economy". Um, that's "black money" for you folks who like it simple. This money is unaccounted, officially doesn't exist, and therefore cannot be channeled into useful things like investments in infrastructure, development, or just about anything that can help the economy. Why does this exist? Because the cost of keeping this money out of "official eyes" is much lower than the tax rates in the country. People don't mind paying up to 10% if it means they can keep it safe from the government. This isn't helping anybody. Letting this money out into the open would mean a significant boost to the Indian economy, and boy does the economy need that boost!
So... how will abolishing personal income tax help matters? There will be no noticeable effect on government revenue. As I've pointed out earlier, it's contribution is negligible. But look at the wave of good it will do:
1) It will mean the end of the harassment from the Income tax department for honest taxpayers.
2) People will save more money. This will translate into increased spending on consumer goods. Increased spending will mean companies make more money. If companies make more money, they can invest it further for growth and expansion. It also means that the government makes more money by way of corporate income tax. And since corporate income tax is a flat 38.5%, more money will flow into the government coffers. Want the icing on the cake? Apart from direct income tax, revenue from indirect taxes like excise and sales tax will also go up, giving the government even more money! Hallelujah!
3) Most importantly, the entire "parallel economy" (well, a lot of it) will come out of the shadows. People will now be able to flaunt their money without fear, and this means they can spend it freely. Once again, this leads to greater industrial growth (see point no. 2 above). If the parallel economy is really as big as they say it is, this could give the Indian economy that inflow of investments that it so badly needs.
Does this sound so bad? Doesn't it warrant serious consideration? If giving up 3% of your GDP can bring in so much money into the system, isn't it a measure the government should take immediately?
So forget about abolishing rebates for women. Just scrap income tax totally.
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anupam EMAIL: anupamketkar@rediffmail.com IP: 202.149.215.14 URL: http://anupamcentral.blogspot.com DATE: 09/25/2003 03:06:02 PM cool thinking man, way to go. i agree with you, though i dont know too much on this subject. But politicians survive on creating differences and using them for their own agenda. So they would prefer to create one more issue that they can rake up at opportune times, for example, during election year. the womens reservation bill, which no one acutally wants is a good example, of how they waste our money on tp'ing in parliament. More later. ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Avoiding personal conflict on mailing lists BASENAME: avoiding_person STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 0 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Technology CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Technology DATE: 02/22/2001 04:45:57 PM ----- BODY:I subscribe to email discussion lists on various topics like web development, information architecture, experience design, online writing, etc. I have often seen vicious arguments break out on some of them. Somebody posts something, then someone else not only refutes that but also calls the original poster a moron for not knowing better. Pretty soon, many flames are exchanged, and the rest of the list subscribers are silent witnesses to a bloody mess. Nobody likes that.
From observing these battles, I've found some common behavioural patterns in all such incidents. The following is my list of suggestions for avoiding flames and managing conflict on mailing lists:
----- EXTENDED BODY:1. Attack an opinion, not the person. This is my golden rule for resolving conflicts. If, for example, you want to point out that the design of a person's site sucks, don't also add that you think the person is a clueless designer. Nobody likes to be called incompetent.
Bad
Good
3. When you disagree with someone, say just that. "I disagree" is not the same as "You're wrong". The former is a difference of opinion; the latter can be construed as a personal attack, even when it's not. When possible, avoid any "you" statement. Make it an "I" statement instead. The subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) effect of having "you" in a sentence is that it puts the spotlight on the person receiving the message. A natural defensive barrier goes up.
Bad: "Why can't you see that this db schema won't scale to support transactions with thousands of users? I've already told you two times that it won't work because [reasons]"
Good: "I realise you've thought through this, but I'm not sure this db schema is scalable for the features we're planning. Here's why: [reasons]"
Believe me, you can never win an argument by starting a letter or email with a negative stance, even when you're 100% right. The other person's pride will be hurt, and such a person will fight it out to the death :)
5. Don't be cryptic. Say what you mean, in as simple and straight a way as possible. Avoid innuendo, implied statements, and stuff like "wtf?", "*shrug*", etc.
6. When in doubt over what the other person meant, ask him or her. Don't assume anything. Wars have been fought over assumptions.
7. Humour is always good to diffuse a tense situation. When you suspect that the other person may misinterpret you, use emoticons.
I tell ya', I get tired of scanning résumés sometimes. Having seen thousands of them while hiring people, I can confidently tell you that the average employer spends only 30 seconds per résumé. What does this mean? It means you only have 30 seconds to make the first cut. Since I see so many badly written résumés and since someone on the Evolt list posted a question about résumés, here's my first article. Follow these résumé tips and you'll improve your chances in the job hunt.
----- EXTENDED BODY:Since the objective of a résumé is to get you a job interview, your résumé should keep shouting, "These are my skills, this is what I have accomplished, and this is how I can be an asset to your company". While no two résumés can ever be alike, keep the following points in mind while creating your résumé.
Don'ts
Dos
"If you do things the way they've always been done, you'll get what you've always got"
- Jack Welch
Conventional wisdom is not necessarily right all the time. It's an unwritten rule of nature that for a few to succeed, many must fail. Call it an offshoot of Darwin's "survival of the fittest" theory. This applies to the stock markets, career growth (that's why there's only one CEO), and companies as well. If the way to succeed were well known and universally followed, it follows that most people and companies would be successful. But it isn't so. Sometimes, to get ahead, you have to toss conventional wisdom aside and have the courage to do things differently.
As I look at most companies, I see several management practices that seem "logical" and "common sense", but are outright wrong. I may not be offered a contract to write a management book for a long while, so I'll use this wonderful medium called the Internet to put my thoughts on management down and dispel a few of the myths about management. Some of these topics include core competence v/s diversification, leadership and vision, recruitment, company meetings, performance appraisals, incentives, motivation, exit interviews, marketing strategies, project management, quality assurance, etc. (I know thats a lot of stuff, not to mention a very unorganised list :)
I hope to dwell on at least one topic every week. Let's hope I find the time to write all this. I have been inspired to do this by Joel Spolsky, who writes an absolutely fantastic column on software management on his site, Joel on Software. I highly recommend that you read ALL the articles in his archives. Most of them are top notch. I can empathise with him in several instances, since I'm in the software business myself.
My focus this week is on that most useless of management concepts, the "mission statement".
----- EXTENDED BODY:Does the following seem familiar?
"[Your favourite company] is committed to satisfying our customer's needs with products that are of the highest quality and adhere to world-class processes, in time, every time, while keeping in mind the best interests of our shareholders and investors."
Most mission statements I've seen revolve around this theme. If you wanted me to put the basic message in bulleted points, here's what it would be:
Well... DUH!
You mean you actually needed a Harvard MBA CEO to figure all this out? Really? Well, let me give you a little tip. These are the basic aims of any business, and putting it up on high quality paper and laminating it doesn't change anything magically. But yet companies set up committees who spend days away at a resort trying to figure out what their mission statement should say. There are even books devoted to this, just in case you needed some lessons in business basics.
The truth is that the mission statement is just an exercise in egocentric pats on the company's own back. What's sad is that the CEO usually believes that by hatching a mission statement, the company will suddenly see the light and all employees will start working towards a common goal. It doesn't happen, folks. You need a vision for the company (and not a redundant mission statement) and convince your employees that you can make it happen. If you have to explain the blatantly obvious to them and tell them that they are supposed to make high quality products, you've got a seriously sick company. Fix the root problem first.
If you want a mission statement, save yourself some time and money and go to Catbert's mission statement generator.
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Employee awards do no good BASENAME: employee_awards STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Career advice CATEGORY: Career advice DATE: 04/13/2001 04:08:19 PM ----- BODY:Our company gives out quarterly awards for, er, various things. It's voted upon by the employees and not the management. This quarter, I got an award for "Personifying the Trisoft value - Knowledge Improvement". In plain English, some people actually thought that my relentless bombarding of everyone's email boxes with articles on information architecture, usability, navigation, design, HTML, business strategy, marketing, etc. improved the knowledge levels of employees. Wooooohoooo! Of course, people who have worked with me in other companies know that my habit of forwarding useful articles is nothing new. Heck, Prem (current Webmaster of ciol.com) has a 144K text file of just links that I've sent him while I worked there.
Do I believe in awards? No, not one bit. Note that I didn't say I didn't believe in recognition. Recognition is very important. But things like "Employee of the month", etc. are just a bad idea. They make one person happy for a bit and make all the rest of the employees unhappy for longer (as they wonder why they are not the employees of the month). Even awards voted by colleagues don't work. They just turn the exercise into a political game and the biggest department in the company usually decides who will get an award. For all you know, "Mr. Hardworking" is probably the quiet accountant in the small Finance team, but of course nobody else is capable of understanding what he does. So he doesn't get the award. What happens instead? If the marketing department in the company is the biggest, that department's voting block influences the outcome. Just like Parliament. Real sad. Of course, if you'd read Peopleware, you wouldn't be making such mistakes.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sachin GK EMAIL: gk@op3nbox.net IP: 202.63.168.132 URL: http://op3nbox.net/weblog DATE: 03/03/2004 04:30:06 PM The 'recognition' is right on dot!! ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: The myth of convergence BASENAME: the_myth_of_con STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 0 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Technology CATEGORY: Technology DATE: 10/21/2001 04:39:30 PM ----- BODY:Convergence. They've been preaching it for many years now. Don't hold your breath though. It'll never happen.
What exactly is convergence? I wanted to get an "official"definition, so I looked it up on www.whatis.com and this is what I got: "In information technology, convergence is a term for the combining of personal computers, telecommunication, and television into a user experience that is accessible to everyone".
I assure you that it just isn't going to happen. Not today, not in the future. The media may be going all bonkers about it. That doesn't make it more likely. Nor will wishful thinking by companies that have invested large chunks of money in "convergence devices".
----- EXTENDED BODY:Don't believe me? Just ask the manufacturers of the "Internet TVs" how sales are doing. When I was doing research for this column on the Net, I found an article from the year 2000 claiming that the Onida Webcruiser was already selling 2000 units a month and the company was bullish about its prospects. The next article was from January 2001 in the Economic Times about how these devices have flopped. Sales are now only a few hundred units per month compared to half a million for regular TVs. The article quoted the COO of Mirc Electronics, G Sundar as saying "The existing distribution channel is not right for selling such products and also, a lot of consumer education is needed as most of them expect the full functionality of a PC in Internet TV". Mr. Sundar has hit the nail right on the head – the market expects an Internet TV to work exactly like a regular PC. Too bad he didn't realize it earlier. He might have saved the company a lot of money. Mistaking initial buyer curiosity for long-term success is a big marketing mistake and unfortunately, one that many companies make.
Some might say that these devices aren't succeeding because their time hasn't come yet. After all, there is a certain "cool". factor about having your watch work as a digital camera, your phone work as an MP3 player, your refrigerator being used to surf the Net, and your fax machine working as a photocopier. Geeks love these kinds of devices. For them, utility is secondary. mere possession of these devices is enough. But that's exactly the point. Apart from the early adopter geek type, these products don't work for a mainstream market. These people have to be convinced that there's actually some benefit from buying these multifunctional devices (or MFDs.) And in about every case, that benefit just isn't there.
The biggest problem with MFDs is that there's always a compromise involved in their design. Designers of these products face a tough challenge. They must successfully integrate two or more (sometimes unrelated) devices (for example, a watch and a digital camera.) They have to restrict the dimensions of the device (you can't have a watch that's as big as a digital camera or you wouldn't be able to wear it.) And they must do all this within a reasonable price that the market can bear. In other words, it's just about impossible to do. It's like asking for a Ferrari that has great engine performance, costs only $10,000 and is fuel-efficient too! You can't have it both ways. There's always a tradeoff. To top it all, when you want to get a better camera, you've got to throw away your watch too. Upgrading is a big problem with MFDs.
Let's take a few examples. The browser technology in Internet TVs is primitive (you can't play MP3s, view Flash, or run Java applets.) They have no hard disk, so you can't keep your e-mail for reading later. Nor can you save attachments, download MP3 files, or store your friend's wedding pictures anywhere. This limits you to just browsing web sites for information (and you can't store that information anywhere.) Can you upgrade your browser like you can with Internet Explorer or Netscape? No. Why would you want a device like this? And for about Rs. 25000 ($500), what do you get? You get a very expensive TV and a lousy browser (Internet access costs not included.)
How about the Casio watch that also functions as a digital camera? Well, the watch part is fine. But the digital camera is nothing to write home about. It lacks a flash, has a resolution of only 144 x 176 pixels and shows pictures in grayscale on the watch. You also have to keep your arm absolutely still while taking the photos. And the photo quality is nowhere near a proper digital camera. For Rs. 13000 ($269), what do you get? You get an expensive watch and an amateur digital camera. The product may be a hit with people who just want the latest gadgets, but people who want decent pictures will probably buy a decent camera.
Apart from the functional issues, MFDs also suffer from manufacturers trying to change the way people use these devices. Instead of observing how people do things and developing products around that, companies try and change the way they do them instead. This usually breeds unnecessary complexity. Trying to change people's habits drastically is dangerous. It almost never works. Visit LG's site and read about their Digital Network Refrigerator. It says, "Have you ever imagined talking face to face with your family through your refrigerator? Or doing Internet shopping through it? The LCD window not only displays the inside temperature but also reports on the validity date of foods, their nutritional value, culinary possibilities, special delicacies, and such, as well as on staples which have run out and been ordered from the supermarket.". Talking with your family through the refrigerator? That just sounds creepy. I suppose people will have to stop using the fridge while talking to their family. How about the information about food? People will have to enter information about food and expiry dates manually. The appliance wants to turn you into a supermarket assistant. Isn't technology supposed to make our lives easier?
[author's note: This page no longer exists on the LG India site. Hence, I've linked to an alternate LG site]
Using a fridge used to be easy. You opened the door, put in the food, and closed the door. Now, you have to enter information about the food as well. What if you're going out for the weekend and your fridge magically orders food for you? And how is it to know what I want to eat from day to day anyway? Lastly, you'll do Internet shopping from your refrigerator? Doesn't that sound wacky to anyone? Hey, do I get a free chair with it too or do I have to stand and navigate the Net? Heck, that's what I have a PC for. And at a list price of $9999 (about Rs. 4.8 Lakhs) for the fridge, I can buy myself a new fridge, PC, home theatre system, washing machine and a motorcycle, thank you.
Don't confuse what's possible with what's useful. Specialized devices are much better than a device that can do ten things, but not do any of them particularly well. I love my Swiss army knife but when I want to cut vegetables in my kitchen, it's a poor choice. Yes, you can make photocopies of documents on your fax machine but do you know any business that does so regularly? No, they probably use a photocopy machine instead? Why? The specialized machine is faster and has more useful features.
Don't believe the hype. The future belongs not to convergence devices, but to divergent (i.e., specialized) devices. Convergence isn't happening, and that's not going to change just because the media or the manufacturers tell you so.
[This article first appeared in my column for Network Magazine India (print edition) titled "Second Opinion". ]
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: webguru@vsnl.net IP: 219.65.148.44 URL: DATE: 04/07/2003 08:46:14 AM Are you sure? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sachin EMAIL: mailme@sachinnair.com IP: 203.195.173.35 URL: http://kautilya.sachinnair.com DATE: 04/28/2003 12:57:39 AM hey...gr8site,loggedonafteralongtime.Ihadrunintoalotof diff..trbles...latest..being..spilling..tea..on. .my..kybrd..guess..which..key[among..many]..does.. not..work? u..av..rpeted.a.few..para's..inthis.. article.while..reposting..by..accident. Srry..for..the..horrible..typing..blame. .my..kybrd/:/ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sachin EMAIL: mailme@sachinnair.com IP: 203.195.173.35 URL: http://kautilya.sachinnair.com DATE: 04/28/2003 12:58:18 AM hey...gr8site,loggedonafteralongtime.Ihadrunintoalotof diff..trbles...latest..being..spilling..tea..on. .my..kybrd..guess..which..key[among..many]..does.. not..work? u..av..rpeted.a.few..para's..inthis.. article.while..reposting..by..accident. Srry..for..the..horrible..typing..blame. .my..kybrd/:/ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: brandon EMAIL: mar.lowrence@gmail.com IP: 93.72.88.68 URL: http://rapid4me.com DATE: 05/26/2009 06:31:44 PM I've got all my clients set up with OpenDNS. It's a real helper when it comes to eliminating this junk. Between OpenDNS http://file.sh/OpenDNS+torrent.html and McAfee's only useful bit of code, it's not terribly easy to get nailed. Add in Firefox with NoScript, and the odds go way up that you're not going to get caught by nefarious means. Add Eudora or Thunderbird into the mix, and the odds get even better. ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: How Indya.com blew $50 million BASENAME: how_indyacom_bl STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Business CATEGORY: Business DATE: 11/02/2001 06:39:30 AM ----- BODY:I told 'em it had to happen sooner or later, and as it turned out, it was sooner. The portal Indya.com, which seemingly had money coming out of all its orifices, has lost 80% of their staff, including the CEO, CFO, chief of content, technology chief, etc. and is now down to just 25 people. From "the ultimate home for Indians" down to a portal for Star TV's TV shows is indeed a big fall.
Last year in April, Indya.com did something nobody had ever done before. They paid an insane amount of money (estimates vary but most people think it was around Rs. 2 Crores, about $400,000) to The Times of India (print edition) to buy out their entire front page and turn it into an ad for their portal. They also hired Sunil Lulla, the former General Manager of MTV, as the high-profile CEO.
Some people called it excellent branding. I just called it a foolish way to blow lots of money. ----- EXTENDED BODY: But money wasn't really a problem for Indya.com. After all, they'd suckered, er, convinced the great Rupert Murdoch himself into parting with $50 million for a 33% stake in a portal, which was going to be in the business of content for the unexplored areas of news, astrology, romance, weather, sports, contests, polls, blah blah blah (yawn!). Certainly nothing that hadn't been done before. Which makes me wonder how naive Rupert made his billions. If he could be so gullible, perhaps I should try and sell him my EStones.com concept: I'll sell plain old rocks to the ten or so people around the world who want them. Hey, I could eventually turn it into a "community" site. Imagine the revenue potential in that. C'mon Rupert, show me the money! I'm happy with just $1 million. I deserve it more than that trickster Pradeep Kar, on whom I've already lavished praise for his illusion-weaving powers.
I tried to explain to some people that there was absolutely nothing new about what Indya.com offered. Anything that they had, people like Rediff, Sify, IndiaInfo, IndiaTimes, [insert favourite portal here] already did. "The focus of the portal is to get sticky eyeballs through advertising, sponsorship, marketplace, transactions and merchandising", said Lulla. Their very expensive advertising talked of their "attitude", but this didn't affect the content at all, which was pedestrian. They offered different colour schemes for their site, which was about all that was "new". So, yes, the Times ad got people to their site, but there was nothing to keep them coming back; and certainly nothing to make people switch from their favourite site. In fact, it was a great example of what I call YAP syndrome - Yet Another Portal.
Lulla kept making grand statements about the future of Indya.com, about how they'd make money in three years, how they would enter the broadband market in 2002, how they would get into interactive content, how they would make money by changing to an "online transaction-based charging model".
And then the trouble started. The layoffs began. Indya.com had hired over 220 people since April 2000. In July, they fired 20% of them. Apparently, their profitability maths still didn't work out, so in August, they fired another 35%. Oh, the things you have to do to save money. If only they had saved a bit of money from their wasteful advertising, it would have paid the salaries of some of these poor employees. And now, 80% more have "quit" (as everyone knows, that means they were asked to leave). The "ultimate home for Indians" portal is no more than a site for Star TV shows.
What a way to blow $50 million in a year and a half.
The man, the brains behind this grand venture, Pradeep Kar, now says he doesn't want to get into any more "pure Internet ventures". That's a big reversal for a man whose official company biography reads:
Pradeep Kar is the Founder and Chairman of the Microland Group - a leading player in Indian Digital Economy. A true industry pioneer, Pradeep understood and sought to harness the impact of the Internet long before it was recognized as the transformative force it is today. Based on this keen vision and a proven ability to identify untapped market opportunity, Pradeep has served as the primary architect of Microland Group - today, a diversified technology services company focussed on software and infrastructure services
Well, the "pioneer" sure doesn't sound very enthusiastic now, does he?
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: american general finance EMAIL: mike@poker.ch IP: 202.152.58.132 URL: http://ty2j.com/american-general-finance.html DATE: 03/31/2006 12:19:17 AM american general finance Probaly you should read this. american general finance Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy american general finance now ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: better not told EMAIL: sand_sand42@yahoo.co.in IP: 15.211.169.106 URL: DATE: 04/14/2009 07:26:50 PM hahah...well... said man... actually i was part of this system i mean the tag "MICROLAND" few months before....but now currently safe somewhere...you know what...the second phase of this history has already begun and they are half way into it what we call as "sinking ship". True it is "History repeats itself " ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Big Freakin' Flash ads considered harmful BASENAME: big_freakin_fla STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: User experience CATEGORY: User experience DATE: 11/07/2001 06:08:09 AM ----- BODY:Psst. I'd like to show you something interesting. But first, you have to do something for me. Go read this story on News.com. Don't worry about me. I'll be right here till you finish. Go on, read it and come back to this page. (To make sure you don't lose track, the link will open in a new window.)
Did you read the story? No, you didn't read it all. Go back there and do as I said. Please?
OK, now make sure that the other window is closed.
Done?
Now let me ask you a question: what was the advertisement on the page about? You know, the big in-your-face Flash monstrosity? Didn't you click on it?
Whaddya mean, you can't remember? Didn't it practically punch you in the face with its presence? It didn't? Funny. That was one of the reasons they made it so big and made the adjacent text so hard to read. They sacrificed readability for supposedly higher click-through rates. And yet, I find anecdotal evidence that people are just going back to what they did with 468*60 banner ads - ignoring them.
----- EXTENDED BODY:The real problem is that the advertising is so intrusive that our minds try their hardest to find a pattern to them and block them out of our "scanning" routine. In fact, all advertising is intrusive. That's why people switch channels when the ads come on. And when people see banner ads, they block them out of their minds.
But the ads on TV are different. They appear at intervals during programmes, not in the middle of them. Imagine if you were watching Friends and a little window opened up in the bottom right corner and started hawking Ginsu knives. I bet there would be many enraged viewers calling NBC and telling them to stop the nonsense. That's because you would be interfering with the viewer's experience. You'd be getting in the way of what he or she was trying to do - enjoy the programme. Not only would you annoy the viewer, you'd probably also make her very hostile towards the product that was being displayed.
And yet, this is exactly what web sites are doing - trying to butt in loudly into whatever the user is trying to do. There she is, trying to read a review of a new inkjet printer and you're doing your best to stop her from reading and click your ad instead. Your efforts at creating useful content and your need for people to click on ads are at odds with each other - not a good situation at all. Unfortunately, it's not usually a matter of balance. Instead of half the users clicking on ads and the other half reading the article, you get 0.5% clicking on the ads, and 99.5% pissed off that you shoved that thing in their faces. Then again, if they don't even notice it, they may not be pissed. In either case, your ad suffers, and it all makes for a poor user experience on the site.
The problems with these ads are:
So sites found that no one was clicking on ads. I've already explained the reasons for this. And they decided to make them bigger and bolder. What's more, to make sure you didn't scroll right past them on top, they stuck them in the middle of the content in the hope that people would see them at least then. Guess what? It was novel for a while and more people might have played with them, leading advertisers to believe that they were getting good value for their money. Pretty soon, the novelty wore off and people went back to ignoring them just like they did with the good old 468*60 banner ads.
What's that? You say newspapers display ads in between content too? I agree. But ask yourself how many of them put them smack in the middle of the article that you're reading (say, the op-ed page). At least here in India, they haven't got around to that yet (could the American readers please clue me in on the situation there?). And even with newspapers, people start filtering out ads mentally unless they're really big.
Let's stop and think here for a while. You can't put ads on top, because users will just scroll past them. You can't put ads in the middle, because it annoys the living heck out of users (not that this seems to particularly bother the web site owners) and they won't click on it anyway because they want to do what they came for. What is a web site to do?
The solution is to think of the problem from a user's perspective. Let's say Jack wants to buy a new inkjet printer. Let's try and step through the process.
Are you with me so far in the various stages of advertising failure? Good.
Finally, Jack finishes reading the review and thinks, "That seems to be the right printer for me. I wonder where I can get a good deal on it". Bang! That's the point at which he's ready and receptive to your ad. He is much more likely to click an ad now that he's finished doing what he came here to do. And since the ad fits into his goal of buying a printer based on reviews on the IT portal, he might even welcome the ad.
The best place for your ad is therefore the bottom of the page. In my example, Jack will probably want to see an ad for inkjet printers after he's finished reading. And since there's nothing below the ad (of much value anyway), to scroll to, you'll improve the chance that he'll take notice. Work with him to help him achieve his goals, not against him. If your advertisement adds value to the site content, you'll get the extra business. You also have to think carefully about when to show Jack an ad. As I've shown, displaying it on the home page will just get him to ignore it.
Of course, I have simplified the scenario a bit. Jack might also want to compare the Deskjet 820cxi with the Canon BJ4000 and see how it stacks up before he makes a final buying decision. But I wanted to keep this short, not write a long paper. I also have no idea if the 820cxi is a good printer. I just needed a model for an example.
Don't expect much to change soon. It'll probably be another year or so before there's another article in some major publication about how users are now ignoring BFF (Big Freaking Flash) ads. (Substitute more colourful adjective for "freaking" if you wish.) "BFF blindness" will become a new buzzword. And then site owners will try and find another shape and size to get the user's attention. And a year after that, users will start ignoring those too. It's a vicious cycle, but it'll continue.
If you've read this far, you have my thanks. This article is more than 1600 words, and you read it all. Web writing is not that different from print. I'm thinking of writing an article about that too. If you want me to do it, please drop me a note. There's nothing like reader mail to motivate me. Oh, and get yourself a copy of On writing well: the classic guide to writing non-fiction by William Zinsser. There aren't many books on writing that can compare to it. It's inexpensive (about $11) too.
What has your experience with BFF ads been? Do you actively click on them or ignore them just like the old banner ads? Write in and let me know!
Resources
Don Norman: Banner blindness, human cognition, and banner blindness
Jan Panero Benway and David M. Lane: Banner Blindness: Web Searchers Often Miss "Obvious" Links
SatireWire on Net advertising (funny)
MarketingTerms.com now has a description of banner blindness along with links to articles on the topic
Here are five random books from my book collection. I recommend them all. The hyperlinks lead to pages on Amazon.com. Yes, I am an Amazon associate, so I make a bit of money from sales. I'm not trying to make my first million this way, and most of these books are affordable. It doesn't even come close to paying grocery bills, folks. I've only made $15 so far :)
Selling the wheel: Written as the story of a man called Max in ancient Egypt who invents the wheel but can't find buyers for it, this book gently explains the different stages of the sales process in a humorous, engaging style. You won't find any jargon here. The book explains the different types of salespeople, and when to use each one. I'm always lending my copy out to friends.
Influence : The Psychology of Persuasion: It describes itself as the book all marketing people must read. I agree. Social psychologist Robert Cialdini has done a good job of explaining how people manipulate others into saying yes, and he also explains how to prevent that from happening to you. Read the chapter on "Authority" and I guarantee that you'll be shocked and amazed at the first example he gives.
The Design of Everyday Things: What can I say about this book? It opened my eyes to things I was never aware of. It changed my life. It got me into the field of user experience. And yet, it's not full of jargon. It's so easy to understand that laypeople can read it too. You'll never tolerate bad design again. Whenever I see a poor designed product now, I immediately start doing a detailed analysis of what's wrong and what I'd do to fix it.
Peopleware : Productive Projects and Teams: If you run a software company or manage a group of technical or creative people, please read this book. If you're wondering why your people aren't as productive as they should be, you'll find the answers in here. It's a pity that most software companies ignore the advice in this book and wreck their companies in the process. They still believe that open space offices make people more productive. Anybody who's tried to do programming in these conditions (like I have) will tell you just how distracting an open plan office is.
The Ten-Day MBA: Steven Silbiger, an MBA himself, gently pokes fun at the propensity of MBAs to use words that ordinary mortals can't comprehend, and then proceeds to explain the fundamentals of business as taught in most business schools. If you're a non-MBA techie or designer who has to speak the language of "management" or "the marketing department", you should arm yourself with the knowledge in this book.
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Interface critique #1 BASENAME: interface_criti STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: User experience CATEGORY: User experience DATE: 11/14/2001 06:17:02 AM ----- BODY:I've noticed that Brian Hayes hasn't updated his interface halls of fame and shame since June 2000. So I guess I better post my interface examples right here.
Today's post shows three interface designs (technically, it's actually software design). Two are something that Microsoft could have implemented years ago and saved not only a lot of grief to its customers, but also a loss of face. The other example is something that's not talked about much but is annoying enough.
----- EXTENDED BODY:Example #1
I use Eudora as my mail client. I've used it since 1994 and consider it much better than Outlook/Outlook Express (try sending an earlier message to another recipient in Outlook without using the "Forward" option.). The best reason to use it, however, is that it has no scripting holes waiting to be exploited. For example, while it allows Javascript, VBScript, and Java to be embedded in email messages, it wisely leaves them turned off by default, as you can see from the following screenshot:
Notice how the "Allow executables in HTML content" option is unchecked by default? That's the way it should be.
Microsoft's usual contention is "the users need it". I'll accept that argument at face value. Just leave the damned thing turned off by default. The 2% of users who do need it can turn it on in their mail clients. In fact, many of Microsoft's security holes are because everything is turned on by default. Sigh
Example #2
Let's say you left the scripting on in Eudora. All is not lost. Your PC doesn't suddenly become a virus-spreading machine. That's because when some rogue program tries to send mail without you knowing about it, Eudora pops up this warning:
While a little verbose, the dialog box tells you in no uncertain terms what the danger is. It tells you that there could be a virus on your system. Now, you probably know that most people just press "Yes" or "OK" without reading the stuff in a dialog box. That's why this is so brilliant. It doesn't ask you, "Do you want to send the message?" and thereby risk spreading the virus. It asks you if you want to see the message. Even if you hit Enter without really looking at it, you don't screw your system. I love it!
What really amazes me is that only in Outlook 6.0 has Microsoft finally recognised this problem. This is surprising given how much money Microsoft spends on usability research.
Example #3
The bad interface example for today comes from... well, it could come from any graphics program, because they all have adopted the same bad convention. Try saving an image from your favourite graphics program and you'll probably get a dialog box like this:
This is a really bad interface choice. Look at the choices in the "Save as type" dropdown. Once upon a time, the options used to be like "GIF", "PCT", "IMG", etc. Picking an image format was easy. Since they were all arranged in alphabetical order, you only had to press "G" to get ".GIF".
This was easy. Then some moron decided that it was more important to emphasise the origin of the image format. So ".GIF" became "Compuserve Graphics Interchange (*.gif)" and ".PCT" became "Macintosh PICT (*.pct)". Unfortunately, this made it much harder to select the proper image format. Now, you had to press "C" to get GIF and "M" to get "PCT". There are several people who don't even know that the GIF format came from Compuserve. Was knowing that bit of information really essential? Was it worth the reduced interface usability? Not at all. They could easily have had the following choices in the dropdown instead:
GIF - Compuserve Graphics Interchange
PCT - Macintosh PICT
BMP - Windows or OS/2 Bitmap
A better option, don't you think?
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: wtf EMAIL: sfsfsd@example.com IP: 219.65.148.14 URL: DATE: 04/24/2003 01:11:39 AM fdsfsdfsd ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: asdf EMAIL: asdas@dfd.com IP: 219.65.148.14 URL: DATE: 04/24/2003 01:12:20 AM So the big day finally arrives. You've got an interview at a company where you'd really like to work. You eagerly arrive 15 minutes ahead of schedule, are ushered into a room with three interviewers, and it begins. Just when you think everything's going great, the HR manager asks you one of those groaners. "So... what would you say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?" Your mind screams, "Oh no, not that one again!" but you somehow manage a clichéd answer anyway. And just as you're hoping that the question was just an aberration, out shoots the next one: "If you were an animal, what animal would you be?" In an instant, your impression of the company crumbles. Is this the company you admired? How could it be, when you're being asked such asinine questions? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: webguru@NOSPAM.vsnl.net IP: 219.65.148.60 URL: DATE: 05/07/2003 05:56:46 AM Testing out new toolbar. This text is bold.This text is quoted.This text is italics. This is a hyperlink. ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Managing and dealing with spam BASENAME: managing_and_de STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Technology CATEGORY: Technology DATE: 06/12/2002 06:28:55 AM ----- BODY:
This was a message posted on the thelist, a mailing list devoted to web development and run by evolt.org
Hey all --
Gotta love the internet at times. Someone threatened to sign me up for about a bazillion SPAM e-mails ... and lo and behold, their spam terrorist attacks have now worked ... I am getting roughly 60-70 SPAM e-mails per day and am spending all my time deleting those little buggers.
My questions: (1) Is there any way to remove myself from any of these lists rather than one at a time? and (2) At first I just let sleeping dogs lie ... after several days of this I'm just royally IRKED ... is there a way to sign THIS person up for some spam?
(PS. Don't bother writing nasty mails to me or the list telling me this is "wrong" ... you try having your mailbox overflow with garbage every singe hour of the day ... I'm angry.) If you'd rather not send this information publically, contact me privately.
I found this very interesting as I've been dealing with spam for many years. So I took the time to write a long reply. Here's what I wrote (quoted text is indented):
----- EXTENDED BODY:My questions: (1) Is there any way to remove myself from any of these lists rather than one at a time? and (2) At first I just let sleeping dogs lie ... after several days of this I'm just royally IRKED ... is there a way to sign THIS person up for some spam?
Tch,tch. They don't call it spam for nothing. It usually means that they're not interested in the "honourable" way of doing things like subscribing you only when you "opt-in".
RULE no. 1 of managing spam
Asking them to remove you or following their "unsubscribe" instructions is the worst thing you can do. This merely confirms that your email address is "live" and you will then be bombarded with even more spam. Instead, contact the ISP whose mail server it has come through and ask them to take some action (the abuse@example.com address is usually the one to use if you can't find it on their site). Never resond directly to spam.
RULE no. 2
Expect that the "From:" email address will be bogus or worse, belong to some innocent user. It's trivial to forge "From:" headers. By retaliating, you might be punishing Joe User who possibly had nothing to do with it. For example, I get spam from ZDNet India that comes from an email address that bounces mail.
RULE no. 3
You can never totally rid yourself of spam unless you never sign up for an email account. Even if you don't tell *anyone* your email address, spammers might run a automated mailing attack where they try millions of combinations of email addresses at yourhost.com (that's why Hotmail and Yahoo accounts get so much spam. There's a good chance that any username exists on those services)
(I'm sure there are more rules, but I consider these the most important :)
(PS. Don't bother writing nasty mails to me or the list telling me this is "wrong" ... you try having your mailbox overflow with garbage every singe hour of the day ... I'm angry.) If you'd rather not send this information publically, contact me privately.
Try it? I've had much more than that. I'm sure many of the people on this too have had to handle lots of spam. What do you think happens when you put a "webmaster@example.com" link at the bottom of thousands of pages on a popular site? All the bloody spambots crawl and pick it up. :(
What kind of spam are you receiving? Is it "regular spam" or simply things like subscriptions to newsletters that don't have a "double opt-in" process? You recognise regular spam by subjects like these:
1) credit card processing for your site!
2) You can be a millionaire NOW!
3) Add inches to your penis
4) Get cheap home loans
5) This scheme really works!!!!!!!!!!
6) University diplomas
7) Find Information About Anyone
8) Grow Younger 20 Years
9) Hot XXX pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (yeah, they usually have that many exclamation marks ;)
10) LOSE WEIGHT WHILE YOU SLEEP
(and several variants of the above)
And lastly, the surest way of telling "regular" spam is if there's a footer or header vehemently denying that the mail is not spam (e.g., "THIS MAIL IS NOT SPAM!!!!"). And they sometimes also point to the "US Unsolicited Electronic Mail Act of 2000, which states that mail cannot be considered spam if it contains contact/removal information, which this mail does." and points you usually to this URL: http://spamlaws.com/federal/hr3113a.html
(The Act was never enacted, so it's all bullshit)
I'm sure most people on thelist get crap like this regularly. Not much you can do there but complain to the ISP(s) involved. If it looks like a real content newsletter from a credible site, it may be worth trying to unsubscribe from their mailing list.
What can you do about filtering spam? Here are some ideas:
1) If you're using a Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. account, they usually have a "spam filter" feature. Activate this from your account preferences screen.
2) If you've got a regular POP account, see if you can configure your mail client to flag messages that are not directly addressed to you. Outlook 2000 can do this, I'm sure. You can then delete stuff that's spam (Caveat: messages from mailing lists like this one will also get caught in the filter). If you want more help on using filters with your email client to stop spam, check out this article: http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,47324,00.asp
3) Consider using a program like MailWasher that lets you filter the mail before downloading it, saving bandwidth. Mailwasher lets you check the headers of a message, delete them directly from the server if it's spam, and even bounce messages. You can download it at: http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/nickbolton/download/mailwasher.exe
4) Keep a spare account Yahoo/Hotmail/[any web mail] for giving out to people you don't know well, subscribing to newsletters, or registering with sites. Despite their privacy policies, some sites *do* rent out your personal information. Give your "secure" address only to a few trusted friends and colleagues. This also lets you deal with important mail first before reading all the newsletters and e-zines in your other account.
5) Avoid putting your email address on your web site (if any) in a form that spambots can harvest. Create a contact form and use a server-side script to handle the emailing. If you *have* to put your email address on a site, put it as "you at example dot com" (people can read this but bots can't) or hyperlink to "mailto:you%40example.com" (spambots won't find it but your email client will handle it fine).
6) Check out the Google directory on spam at: http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Abuse/Spam/ for tons of resources on the topic.
Hope that helps.
Madhu
Since writing that mail, someone pointed me to an absolutely wonderful service called SneakMail that provides you with disposable email addresses. For example, you can use something like 8ter3fdw7@sneakmail.com to subscribe to a newsletter that you think might spam you. If that indeed happens, you simply discard that address and create a new one. Outstanding idea! I'm going to use it - a lot.
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anita EMAIL: anita8040@yahoo.com IP: 68.9.137.145 URL: DATE: 04/13/2003 08:50:26 AM I hate Spam as well. I hate pop-ups even more. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Timo EMAIL: sdafasdf@sadofhasldfhasd.co.uk IP: 80.202.174.57 URL: http://www.elasticspace.com DATE: 04/24/2003 07:27:39 PM hiveware email encoder. Use moz/phoenix/camino/safari to block popups. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kingsley Jegan EMAIL: kjegan@inautix.com IP: 203.199.202.97 URL: http://kingsley.blog-city.com DATE: 04/25/2003 03:02:29 PM New guideline: Do not open mail that you suspect is spam. Spammers now use images with unque ID's embedded in HTML mail to see if an account is live. If the server receives a request for that image, it means the mail was read. And your email address will get sold as a confirmed "live" account. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: blog@madmanweb.com IP: 219.65.148.60 URL: DATE: 05/07/2003 05:59:50 AMNew guideline: Do not open mail that you suspect is spam. Spammers now use images with unque ID's embedded in HTML mail to see if an account is live. If the server receives a request for that image, it means the mail was read. And your email address will get sold as a confirmed "live" account.Thanks Kings. Will add that to the list soon. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: vishal EMAIL: bhupesh_mangla@yahoo.co.in IP: 210.212.45.144 URL: DATE: 02/27/2007 03:29:18 PM HI ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Daveed Shachar EMAIL: dovshachar@hotmail.com IP: 87.70.125.41 URL: DATE: 10/18/2009 04:17:24 PM And lastly, the surest way of telling "regular" spam is if there's a footer or header vehemently denying that the mail is not spam WRONG SHOULD READ: vehemently denying that the mail is spam ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Stupid interview questions BASENAME: stupid_intervie STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 0 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Management CATEGORY: Management DATE: 08/01/2002 04:30:22 PM ----- BODY:
So the big day finally arrives. You've got an interview at a company where you'd really like to work. You eagerly arrive 15 minutes ahead of schedule, are ushered into a room with three interviewers, and it begins. Just when you think everything's going great, the HR manager asks you one of those groaners. "So... what would you say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?"
Your mind screams, "Oh no, not that one again!" but you somehow manage a cliché¤ answer anyway. And just as you're hoping that the question was just an aberration, out shoots the next one: "If you were an animal, what animal would you be?"
In an instant, your impression of the company crumbles. Is this the company you admired? How could it be, when you're being asked such asinine questions?
----- EXTENDED BODY:Sadly, far too many managers, especially HR folks, continue to ask stupid, clich餬 and pointless questions at interviews in the misguided hope that somehow they can reveal the true nature of the candidate.
Nonsense! Interviews must focus on how well a person can do the job he's being interviewed for. Most of the "standard" interview questions are so cliched that interview guides all over the Internet and magazines have canned answers ready for you to use. They're like those beauty pageants where the girls get asked what they would like most and they reply "world peace!"
So, dear managers, here is your guide to stupid interview questions and why shouldn't waste your time, and more importantly, the candidate's time, with them.
Let's start with?
These types of questions make me laugh. Some people actually believe that questions like those can realistically measure how "creative" the person is or how well he can "think out of the box" (how I despise that term). Yeah, right! If you think that if a person wanting to be a lion tells you that he'd make an excellent leader, you need to go back to school and learn something useful. What does being an animal have to do with the job they're being interviewed for anyway? Are you looking for cats for your company? Horses? Elephants? Gorillas? Besides, why on earth would any "creative" person want to be an animal? They'd be bored out of their skulls. All animals do all day is wander around, find food, eat and sleep. Even sex is usually restricted to the mating season. Not exactly what I'd want to be doing.
Want to see how creative they are? Give them a real life problem your company has faced, and ask them to tell you how they'd solve it.
Variants:
If you could have dinner with a famous historical figure, who would it be?
How many squares are in this figure?
A plane crashes on the border between USA and Canada. Where did they bury the survivors?
You expect an honest answer to this? Is the candidate supposed to read the minds of his co-workers and tell you what they think? If they thought he was an incompetent moron, do you reckon they'd tell him about it? And even if the candidate knew that they felt that way, do you think he's going to tell you that? Asking someone what others think about him or her is silly. You'll never hear the truth, so why bother asking? You might as well ask, "Describe yourself."
You want to know what others think of him? Call up his references and find out.
Not one sensible person will answer "No" to any of those questions. If an interview question has only one answer, don't waste time asking it. Who in their right minds will say that they're not good "team players" (a term that means different things to different people) or being good managers, even if they weren't? (Aside: if you asked me if I were a good team player, I'd reply, "depends on the team". It's true. I've been in situations where I've got things done faster by myself because I was working with idiots.)
If you want to find out more about a person's leadership skills, I'm afraid that no interview can ascertain that. Leadership skills are best demonstrated in real life situations that demand them. Sure, you could pose several hypothetical situations, but case studies are very limited in what they can measure. Besides, the best people to ask about someone's leadership ability are his subordinates.
For managerial skills, ask questions about how he managed performance problems with subordinates, conflicts within the team, and how he developed their skills.
Every darn interview guide you can read on the Net has a canned answer to this. Pick something positive and point it out as a weakness - "I work too hard", "I tend to work late to adhere to deadlines", etc. This is the king of "I wish for world peace" questions. Ask a clichéd question and you get a cliché answer.
The candidate knows that an honest answer to this question is quite likely to cost him the job, so why would he tell the whole truth? What if the interviewer then decides to "put him under pressure" and keep picking at his "weakness"? How many people will admit, at least to an interviewer, that they have a short temper?
Ask specific questions about the work they need to do in their new job, and then see if you can spot weaknesses in their answers.
(I'll admit my weakness. I can't put up with people asking stupid interview questions. Thankfully, I've never been asked any of these, though I've sat in on interviews where they've been asked.)
This one is one of my favourites. In this age when the business landscape can change radically in less than 3 years (dotcom "boom", anyone?), making long-term career plans can be a mistake. Companies change, businesses change, business models change, and technologies certainly change. The IT industry especially is one where you have to keep adapting quickly. Locking your sights on some distant goal can leave you blind to the other opportunities around you. Other opportunities don't necessarily mean switching jobs. It can be a new direction for your existing company. The real question is where the company sees itself in 5 years.
If you're interviewing for a middle or senior management position, there is always the chance that the job the candidate is aspiring towards is held by one of the interviewers. Making that the target could be seen as a threat, and could cost the candidate the job.
Here's a tip: don't make 5-year plans for your company, and please don't ask candidates to make astrological predictions. Concentrate on what they can do for you in the present, and whether they show the resilience to adapt to changing business conditions in the future. It doesn't matter if they are good candidates for the VP - Automated Widgets position in five years. Who knows if the Automated Widgets department will even be around in five years?
Nick Corcodilos, keeper of the excellent Ask The HeadHunter site, suggests a tongue-in-cheek answer of "Do you keep your employees for five years?"
It's a "classic" interview question. Supposedly intended to be open-ended to break the ice, this question isn't and never was very useful. It's too vague to be of any help. Is this the first you've ever heard of the candidate? Don't you have his resumé in front of you? Doesn't that tell you about him? Yep, there's his work experience, there's his education, there's the stuff he's supposedly skilled at. So what do you want to know? Whenever I've heard this question being asked at an interview, the candidate usually starts off from the beginning, explaining his educational qualifications, his first job, his second job? his eleventh job, and so on. Some have even started off with their childhood. Why waste everyone's time? It's all there in the resumé, dear manager. Why don't you look at it?
Tip to candidates: if you're asked this question, reply with "what specifically would you like to know about?"
These are questions to which there's only one appropriate answer, and those are available in any of the hundreds of interview guides you can find. They also try to measure qualities that can't be realistically measured in an interview. Some of these are:
If you say you don't like it, you'll be labelled a lazy slob. If you say you don't mind at all, you will be seen as a desperate, overenthusiastic bloke who's saying it just to get the job. The only "acceptable" answer is that you don't mind it once in a while if it's critical to the work being done. Don't bother asking this. You know it's a canned answer.
Ever known a person who said "no" to this one? If he says that he thrives on pressure, he comes across as a guy who needs to be pressurised before he gets anything done. If he says he doesn't like it, he gets the boot. What's the alternative? I've interviewed hundreds of people, and I can confidently tell you that there is no reliable way of measuring the candidate's ability to work under pressure in the job he's being interviewed for. For that, you just have to put him in a real work situation, something that the interview can't do. If you ask him about pressure on previous work, it's very easy for him to either lie about it or to exaggerate, which makes the question worthless.
"Not very well" is not an option, even if it's true. There's only one "acceptable" answer to this too. The interview guides usually suggest that you reply with "I consider it if it seems valid and reasonable." Phooey! There's another canned answer.
So, dear managers, tell those clueless HR lackeys to stop asking these silly interview questions. Instead, explain to the candidate what the job requirements are, right at the beginning of the interview. Then ask them questions that will help you understand how they'd do the job. Encourage them to ask questions and get more information, and accept that job interviews cannot always reveal everything about a candidate.
These aren't the only stupid questions out there, but I hope they do give you an idea of what to avoid. If your HR manager could use the advice in this article, e-mail this link to him or her. And if you're asked three or more of these types of questions in an interview, I suggest that you think again about the company you're planning to join.
Of course, I expect a lot of angry mail from HR folks. I welcome feedback. If you can think of other stupid questions you've been asked, let me know too. I'll add them here.
Further reading
Nick Corcodilos, Ask The Headhunter - full of job hunting, interviewing, and HR wisdom. Read all the articles on his site, especially this one about respecting the candidate. Good for HR people, even better for job hunters. Nick is also the author of the book Ask the Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job
Monster.com interview help - for getting canned answers to all the canned questions. ;)
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: yazadjal@NOSPAM.vsnl.net IP: 219.65.18.8 URL: http://yazadjal.blogspot.com DATE: 05/02/2003 03:00:36 PM It is a nice piece. I'm not Madman, but he does deserve a pat on his back. And hey, the notes below are cool! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ravages EMAIL: ravages@deleteme.indiatimes.com IP: 210.214.3.253 URL: http://selectiveamnesia.blog-city.com DATE: 03/05/2004 10:45:13 AM Nice one MadMan. I liked that describe yourselves bit. I even had friends coming to me and asking me to write out their life history in ten lines so they can puke it out at interviews. Thankfully, I have never been interviewd for a job. All I have to do is walk up, ask to meet the writer and show him my portfolio. That's it. Job or no, no questions. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Manish Jethani EMAIL: manish_jethani@yahoo.com IP: 148.87.1.170 URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/mannu/ DATE: 03/22/2004 12:59:12 AM Probably off-topic: Interview questions (technical) Joel's guerrilla guide to interviewing ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Balaji EMAIL: mt@balajin.net IP: 61.3.216.129 URL: http://balajin.net/blog DATE: 03/26/2004 06:55:37 AM Nice one Madhu. Very true. I have been asked many of these questions. Also, i do interviews and have asked similar questions. A good eye opener. -balaji ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mahesh Bhat EMAIL: mb123@rediffmail.com IP: 203.199.92.129 URL: DATE: 06/26/2004 04:01:22 PM Nice article ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: valononuju EMAIL: valononuju@yahoo.com IP: 83.229.17.12 URL: http://valononuju@yahoo.com DATE: 08/08/2004 09:17:45 AM valononuju@yahoo.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Krishnan EMAIL: krishnan_s_k@yahoo.co.in IP: 144.16.64.4 URL: http://livejournal.com/~krishi/ DATE: 08/24/2004 09:23:49 AM A very nice piece. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Linda M EMAIL: rakuspirit@yahoo.com IP: 68.234.43.251 URL: DATE: 09/06/2004 07:00:36 PM Very thoughtful, Mad Man. I agree fully, but the only problem is how do you get the interviewers to pay attention. Perhaps mail it to the company anonymously? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Visalakshi EMAIL: visa2004@rediff.com IP: 61.247.241.130 URL: DATE: 09/14/2004 01:37:51 PM very nice article.I would like to add a new idiotic question which was asked to me ."Will you quit from a company if you get more pay?"I got irritated with this question.&most of my friends too ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ben EMAIL: webcalibur@gmail.com IP: 203.121.0.18 URL: DATE: 10/08/2004 12:14:36 PM good stuff!!!...i wish i came across this site earlier...was asked some stupid questions yesterday tho...one of it was, "what was the last book you read?" errrrr...."how to get a job in 20 minutes???" hahaha ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Amol Hatwar EMAIL: amol@hatwar.org IP: 203.129.203.26 URL: http://hatwar.org/epilogue/ DATE: 10/12/2004 04:56:59 PM Q. Tell us five of your greatest weaknesses. A. Smokes, Food, Wine, Wimmen and Money. But hey on a serious note, some interviewers do look out for clues like how cofidently you state the obvious, whether or not you lie etc. from these so called "canned" questions. But I seriously doubt about how many HR managers know how to glean this information. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sowmya EMAIL: sowmya.srinivasan@gmail.com IP: 202.144.91.163 URL: http://jlt-chumma.blogspot.com DATE: 12/07/2004 02:24:15 PM Hi Very nice article ! :-)) and well said ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: A. Smith EMAIL: asmith8@hotmail.com IP: 204.152.103.191 URL: DATE: 12/30/2004 03:36:12 AM I'm an HR Professional, have studied and practiced for several years in the Silicon Valley. I have been a speaker at several local job networking groups. Like many Recruiters and HR people, I've successfully found great candidates and pushed hiring managers to review resumes, interview candidates, gather team input, and make decisions for many different positions over the years. Do I ask questions that may seem to have no relevance to you? Sometimes, yes, I'm guilty. However, my questions are carefully thought out, scripted, and I listen to the responses so I can follow up intelligently. Every Recruiter or HR professional has stories about the outrageous replies given by some candidates. Although you are biting your tongue and finding the politically correct response, I can assure you many people are not doing the same! During this time of downsizing and outsourcing, there are people acting as Recruiters or HR people who are not qualified but were assigned the role. Your quarrel is with a limited number of people, not an entire group of professionals. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Zaphod EMAIL: zbabelbrox@yahoo.com IP: 69.105.136.54 URL: DATE: 01/10/2005 01:37:54 PM Wow! I'd like to know what kind of companies, especially the *technical* ones in the Silicon Valley ask such questions to recruit! As an engineer, I have interviewed several candidates and been in countless interview meetings. Usually the problem has been the opposite. People ask such difficult and specific techinical questions that sometimes only those who are directly working on the topic can answer it, not even those who have done a PhD in the same or related area. To make it worse, sometimes the interviewers turn their backs to the poor candidate solving an excruciating equation on the board and work on their computers, blissfully ruthless towards their plight. It is easy to take for granted what you are working on and I have seen brilliant candidates rejected due to whims of high-nosed technical interviewers, for not answering some very specific questions that are related to their work. I think the focus should be to choose candidates based on fundamentals. Or even I.Q if it is something as basic as programming etc. If fundamentals are clear, it is very easy to pick other things since no one does rocket science in engineering firms. Anyhow...just another perspective! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dr. Dan Muldoon EMAIL: dr_dan90@yahoo.com IP: 147.134.154.38 URL: DATE: 01/24/2005 08:22:07 PM I ran across this website by Googling the combination of "stupid questions," "five years," and "interviews." The question, "where to you see yourself in n years," is my biggest interview pet peeve. It seems to cross all occupational lines. Good luck guessing what the interviewer considers the middle ground between "Running this company" and "I dunno." I always feel like answering something like, "Five years, in other words January 2010. Wherever I am by then I'll be able to forsee by December 2009." Or maybe, Living off the royalties from my book, 1001 Brutally Honest Answers When Asked Where You'll Be in Five Years. Both of those would blow my chances, of course. Interviewers sometimes fail to realize that the door is swinging both ways, especially when it's your prospective supervisor, not some "HR lackey," asking the questions. In some cases, if they turn me down because they didn't like my answers, they're doing me a favor. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Reflex EMAIL: manpath2001@gmail.com IP: 198.207.223.237 URL: http://lust-anger-greed.blogspot.com/ DATE: 02/21/2005 12:23:43 PM One more question is " Why do u want to shift your job". Most of the times it is the salary which drives us to a new job. Even the interviewer changes his job if he had offered few thousands more. This blog is too interesting. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Allie EMAIL: lishdartist@yahoo.com IP: 68.51.21.203 URL: DATE: 10/25/2005 08:44:05 AM Oh man, the "where do you see yourself in X years" question. I hate that one. This was a great article to read. Love the tips! I wish more interviewers followed them. I get tired of being asked the same old questions. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Heidi EMAIL: hdacey1@aol.com IP: 205.188.116.134 URL: DATE: 11/16/2005 08:38:13 PM MadMan- Needed the piece/peace. Been raising kids for the past 10 years. Tough getting an interview without recent exp. When I do, I feel like i'm dealing with the kids! It is so hard holding back the sarcasm. My questions: Can you multitask? What have you been doing the last 10 yrs? Why do you want to go back to work? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: BJS EMAIL: benshaw001@yahoo.co.uk IP: 141.163.84.17 URL: DATE: 01/09/2006 06:45:51 PM The most ridiculous question I had was when applying for a PhD grant. After the usual questions, mentioned already, I was then asked what research I would do or how I would change my proposal if I won the lottery!!! Well absolutely none is the honest answer, I’d be lazing on a Mediterranean beach, sipping sangria in the sun! The answer was supposed to be ‘I wouldn’t change a thing’, but come on! The worst thing about this interview was that after a 20 minute presentation there were no questions of note regarding what I’d said. Then came the actual interview in front of a four person panel. Now after spending weeks learning the quite intricate and difficult biology of my topic inside out, and swotting up in a hotel room for the 24 hours prior to the interview I expected a few technical questions. There were none. Not one. All I got were the usual ones of ‘why research, where do you want to be in 5 years time bla bla bla, explain what you do to the layman (why?), the lottery conundrum, tell me about yourself, and countless other pointless, clichéd and, quite frankly, demoralising queries. One man in particular had a very poor technique, where he would read something from my resume, then ask me about a certain point, but in a way so that I could only reply monosyllabically to confirm what he’d just read. I understand the need when required to expand on an answer, but this wasn’t the time. To top it all, I was last to be interviewed and after doing this for 8 or so hours they had had enough, they had trains to catch hundreds of miles to their respective homes and in my opinion already knew which candidates would be successful. This was borne out by the eventual recipients of the two grants as they were in a field of biology that at the time was the ‘in’ thing, completely destroying my faith in the whole system!! I am better now though and working in the field of my choice, but I’ll be very wary of interviews in the future, although probably better prepared. Well as much as you can be for whatever mind boggling drivel they come out with next!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Deaken Frost EMAIL: deaken_frost204@yahoo.com IP: 64.254.127.89 URL: DATE: 01/19/2006 03:22:40 PM MadMan, You Simply Rock !!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: meenakshii EMAIL: ambilipj@gmail.com IP: 203.199.198.152 URL: DATE: 08/23/2006 06:14:35 PM hey, it was a gr8 article... madman, u r tooo kool...wen evr i cum to bglore, i wil drop in @ ur restau ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ajay EMAIL: raj@dravid.com IP: 202.89.64.110 URL: DATE: 04/23/2007 03:18:40 PM hi ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bobster EMAIL: bobparsons@gmail.com IP: 99.33.241.93 URL: http://www.mockquestions.com DATE: 05/06/2009 12:53:16 AM Howdy, Great article! Love the questions! Superific Job! I also visit, Mock Questions for my interview help. Keep up the fantasticarooni work! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Wambamcam27 EMAIL: wambamcam27@gmail.com IP: 208.120.147.26 URL: DATE: 12/03/2009 10:03:19 PM THIS IS THE MOST TERRIBLE ARTICLE EVER WRITTEN ON INTERVIEWING AND THE ADVICE GIVEN IN IT INDICATES THAT THE PERSON WHO WROTE IT KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY OR HIRING ANYONE. These questions are asked over and over again because a good interviewer can read a person like a book based on how they answer introspective open ended questions. You can't make a knowledgeable decision on someones character based on what school they went to and what is on their resume. Too often people are hired for those reasons and they are not a good fit with a company because the interviewer didn't spend enough time getting to know the person. If you are reading this article and you are taking this advice i implore you to disregard it. These are the most important questions you will be asked. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ownos EMAIL: dor3999-inbox4@yahoo.com IP: 69.231.82.13 URL: DATE: 02/16/2010 01:30:50 AM I was at a job interview about a week ago and was asked nothing but these lame questions. And @Wambamcam27 What does psychology have anything to do with it? Canned questions get canned answers. It doesn't reveal anything about the candidate other than he/she has a good enough memory to recite canned answers. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mrcloud EMAIL: mrclouder@sbcglobal.net IP: 71.145.128.95 URL: DATE: 02/22/2010 09:05:44 PM I believe that all hiring power for companies should given back to the managers like it used to be.HR has no idea of what a good canidate is for most of their departments.The local manager/dept is where the rubber meets the road.Do you really think that all these bogus questions really guage any real qualities of say a programer,eletronics tech,or mechanic.20 years ago I was hired on with a fortune 500 company.I was interviewed over the phone by a manager (that new the trade and knows what it takes to do the job) from 1500 miles away and was hired.Today this would rarely happen because HR has to meet with you and ask all these stupid illrelevent questions. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mrcloud EMAIL: mrclouder@sbcglobal.net IP: 71.145.128.95 URL: DATE: 02/22/2010 10:13:25 PM @Wambamcam27 You are wrong.You are one of the reasons that there is incompetence in the workplace.Your PSYCHOLOGY argument is totally bogus.If a person is applying for a job that he is unqualied for and has no experience, then mabie because that is the only tool that you have.In alot of fields like mine (Telephone Communications),the 20 years of experience and accomplishments on my resume, says it all.A competent manager can tell if I'm a fit for the job or not, and all those bogus questions guage nothing. ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Interface critique #2 BASENAME: interface_criti_1 STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: User experience CATEGORY: User experience DATE: 08/26/2002 06:17:02 AM ----- BODY:For a user experience consultant, I don't post enough material on my own blog, but somehow seem to find the time to post tons of comments on Webword, one of the best usability-related sites on the Net. So what do I do? I pester John Rhodes, the keeper of the site, to become a guest blogger and post links and commentary on the site. And John, being the naive soul that he is, actually grants me this access. Little does he realise how opinionated his site is about to become. So all you friends of MadMan's Weblog (yes, all 3 of you), be sure to visit Webword every day and see what interesting tidbits I post there.
Look Ma, I got featured as a "Net veteran" on Rediff.com. Ma...? Ma! Come use that funny thing called a PC and surf the Net. Don't be such a technophobe. Relax, computer screens don't blow up like they show in the movies. It's safe, I promise you.
Damn it, this site is supposed to be about user experience - Content, Interfaces, Usability, Site architecture, and Business strategy. We need some dope on that, don't we? It's been a while since I last critiqued interfaces, so let's look at some new awful specimens.
----- EXTENDED BODY:1. Scaring the crap out of the user
This dialog box appeared when I tried to uninstall ZoneAlarm from my PC. These dialog boxes are all too common.
Exposing users needlessly to the innards of your system is always a bad idea. When something like this pops up, the average user (and that doesn't include geeks like you and me) have no idea what to do. They probably have no idea what a DLL file is supposed to be. Slightly more experienced users might know that DLL files are system files used by an application, and have heard that deleting them can be dangerous. The geeks and power users know what DLL files do, and what the common Windows DLL files do, but almost certainly wouldn't know what an application-specific DLL does.
Here's how different types of users would typically react:
a) Novices: What does this mean? What does this file do? The system's telling me that programs may not function if this file is removed. Better leave it there.
b) More experienced users: This is going to remove a DLL file from my PC? Missing DLL files have crashed my PC before. What do I do? Better leave it.
c) Geeks: Damn, I don't know what this DLL file does. Is it used by other applications? Will it crash my word processor? Will Windows start again after I get rid of it? I don't want to risk it. Let it stay. I've got a 40GB hard disk, so space doesn't bother me.
d) The guys who programmed ZoneAlarm: Hey, I know what that file does. It can be deleted safely. Hey, why am I uninstalling ZoneAlarm?
This dialog box scares people with an error message that threatens dire consequences - "If any programs are still using this file and it is removed those programs may not function." It also doesn't give them the faintest idea of what the file or component in question does. Except for the ZoneAlarm programmers, few would know its purpose. Users cannot make any kind of informed choice after reading the message.
Solutions
Since most people are likely to press either "No" or "No to all" anyway, a better solution would be to automatically assume "No" while uninstalling the product and never show this choice to the user. This would leave behind a few DLL files on the PC, but hard disk space is no longer a concern in these times. If the file is not required by any other application, it just takes up a megabyte or two, and doesn't cause any more harm. If, on the other hand, the DLL file is required by other applications, the danger of the user pressing "Yes", deleting the file, and screwing up the system is eliminated.
That, however, is not the best solution. To really solve the problem would require changes at the operating system level. Microsoft should build a system that tracks which applications use a particular DLL file and also create a method for identifying and naming a DLL file with its purpose in the application. So, instead of the scary dialog box above, you'd see a box that says:
The following file will be removed:
Name: D:\WINNT\system32\Zonelabs\vsruledb.dll
Used by: [List of applications that use the DLL file]
File description: [A plain English description of what the file is used for]
(I'm feeling lazy, so I couldn't be bothered knocking together a form in Visual Basic, but you get the idea, right?)
2. When Autocompletes go wrong
This is what I get when I try to type in the address for Webword, a usability-related site. This is Internet Explorer, a web browser. You'd naturally assume that IE would suggest the URL of the site when I type in "webwo...", but you'd be wrong. Instead, for some unknown reason, IE decides to suggest the name of a text file that I created for storing some long comments that I wanted to post to the site. I've never been a fan of the "browser integrated into the file system" approach that Microsoft took with the operating system. Even then, an intelligent browser would check the URLs first for matches before suggesting a text file on the user's computer. That's common sense, or is it?
3. Of the programmers, by the programmers, and for the programmers
That wonderful Indian e-commerce site, Fabmart, shows us why interface designers should not be left to either programmers or clueless designers. An overzealous programmer, determined to prevent bad data from being sent to the site search engine, has implemented a JavaScript script that seriously harms the site search usability. Why? Because the script won't let you search for anything with an apostrophe in it. Too bad. That means I can't search for books like The leader's handbook and The mind's I. And what a friendly error message too - "Keyword contains invalid characters". Apart from violating one of the basic guidelines for useful error messages, i.e., be polite and avoid "hostile" words like "Abort", "Kill", "Invalid", etc., it also fails to meet another requirement of a useful error message - be helpful. Notice how the dialog box gives you no idea of what part of the search term was "invalid". It also doesn't tell you exactly which characters aren't allowed.
Fixing this error would take approximately 2 minutes of code modification. How much in sales are Fabmart losing because of this glaring error? Who knows? But it's definitely more than the cost of fixing it.
4. When Autocompletes go wrong redux
Autocomplete is a wonderful feature. It has saved me a lot of typing time. But that's no reason to get carried away and implement it everywhere, including, of all places, the File Save Dialog box. This is a screenshot of the Save dialog box from Windows Notepad. I had typed out an ad for a manager position for our apartment block. I wanted to save it as "Manager ad". The enterprising Notepad, however, decided that it was very likely I wanted to wipe out an old piece I wrote on managing spam called "managing spam.txt". So it helpfully supplied the rest of the file name to do so. Why? Where is the productivity enhancement in that? Do many users often overwrite existing files with new ones? Of course not. The busy user might accidentally press "Save" and have an existing file wiped out (and no, an "are you sure" dialog box is not an excuse. Most people ignore them anyway.) So why implement something with negligible usefulness but the potential for catastrophic and irreversible harm?
(Note: On further research, I've found that Notepad isn't the only application that does this. In fact, it seems to be a "feature" of the standard Windows Save dialog box. Oh joy!)
5. What the hell were you smoking?
OK, this isn't an interface design problem, but it was so damn funny that I just had to put up a screenshot here. This is from the registration page of Indiatimes's "Dating" service.
I split my sides laughing! A question like that on a dating service? Who's the bright nut at Indiatimes who thought of this?
Hmmm... then again, if people get turned off by that and don't register, maybe it is an interface design issue.
(Note to designers at Indiatimes: Pssst... guys, if you didn't resize the photographs of members to fit within your rigid dimensions, they might not appear so distorted and twisted, hence reducing their marketability. That hot chick doesn't look so appealing when her face has been stretched horizontally to 1.5 times its width. ;)
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anton EMAIL: digitalcameras-store@takoe.net IP: 205.234.138.153 URL: http://www.digitalcameras-store.info DATE: 03/31/2006 10:56:46 PM I want mp3 player. What will advise? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jeff EMAIL: jefw@starband.net IP: 24.21.91.8 URL: DATE: 02/10/2007 10:21:26 AM I've read many articles tonight regarding the message, "The system indicates that the following shared file is no longer in use........" I was uninstalling Registry Mechanic and this window popped up. I've seen it many times before and the first time I read it, I thought who ever wrote it did not major in English. Much of the feedback I've read slams Microsoft programmers for writing this stupid response and confusing the end-user. But the one thing I haven't seen much talked about is what blew me away. The second part of the statement says, "If any programs are still using this file and it is removed......." What In The WORLD! The first paragrapth says the .dll file is NO LONGER being used by any programs and the next paragraph says, "If ANY programs are..."? The whole thing counterdicts itself. It says the .dll file isn't being used then it turns around and says it might be? You are right, a pathetic way to put it. J ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Job reservations in the private sector BASENAME: job_reservation STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Society & culture DATE: 05/07/2003 08:17:47 PM ----- BODY:The ugly word "reservation" is making an appearance again in the legislative circles. Now, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is considering passing a law making a certain percentage of private sector jobs available only to backward castes.
Job reservations for "backward" castes, regardless of merit, have been present in government and public sector jobs for a long time now. Isn't it enough that we have to endure the appeasement of vote banks by shameless politicians? Why should the government interfere in the running of private companies and dictate its employment policies? Unlike the government, social justice (or the appearance of it) isn't one of the responsibilities of private corporations. A corporation exists to make money for its shareholders. While you could argue that it has a duty to its employees, it doesn't have a duty to employ. A private corporation should be free to hire whoever it wishes, competent or not, justified or not, and pursue whatever path it thinks will lead to profitability. The government's meddling will only result in more social divisions. Do they honestly think people who get hired only because "there's a quota for them" will be welcomed with open arms by other employees or that they will have a great career path?
Reservations were originally intended to be a temporary measure; something to have in place while the government tried to provide education to the so-called backward castes and get them to equal societal and economic status. That they continue to exist only points to the utter failure of the government to do so in the last 55 years since we became independent.
You'd expect a politician like Mayawati to resort to such tactics, but what do you say when members of the intelligentsia also support these policies? JK points to this news article in which Narayana Murthy, the Indian media's God of the software industry, opposes caste-based reservations proposed by Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna. He, however, extends his support for economic criteria-based reservations in our companies. In other words, Murthy wants us to reserve a certain percentage of jobs for the poor. No, it's not for government jobs but in the private sector. I'm not sure why Murthy, a capitalist for sure, is making such a statement. Why does he want to force philanthropy on us? Why isn't he content with just hiring the best people, regardless of their economic background?
His hypocrisy shows through in that he doesn't think his own company, Infosys Technologies Limited, is a good place to start practising what he preaches. Does Infosys reserve any percentage of its jobs — and I mean the serious software development jobs, not the lower end "office attendant" type — for poorer people? No, they certainly don't. If Murthy is serious about his intentions, let him put his money where his mouth is. That may, however, present a problem because there's something already there.
His foot.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandeep EMAIL: b_sandeep@fastmail.fm IP: 203.200.59.135 URL: http://sandeep.blog-city.com DATE: 05/08/2003 12:50:02 PM Madman, Thanks for posting the stuff. Attaboy! I doubt if anybody in the Indian industry will take Murthy's words seriously. Infosys among other things relies on political influence to get "things moving." And our beloved S.M. Krishna just loves this man! This is not to say Infosys hasn't set a good example, done good work, etc, but has more to do with, as you say, Murthy's hypocrisy. I believe his statement was meant to remain in Krishna's good books. If however, the government(s) pass acts to this effect, it'll be the end of all enterprise, initiative and free market capitalism. We'll have a new Red India. Sandeep ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: suman EMAIL: suman@sumankumar.com IP: 203.145.132.236 URL: http://suman.blogspot.com DATE: 05/11/2003 12:10:28 PM Why do people fall for this 'chicken soup for the soul shit' from these CEOs? I think. inherently, we indians are suckers for mush and melodrama. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: yazadjal@NOSPAM.vsnl.net IP: 202.88.137.55 URL: DATE: 05/12/2003 02:14:40 PM Super! Now me being lazy lazy, can I put a link to this on my blog? Or is this new blog of yours still a "secret"? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilesh Chaudhari EMAIL: mail@NOnilesh.org IP: 61.0.49.125 URL: http://nilesh.org/ DATE: 05/18/2003 12:48:18 PMHe, however, extends his support for economic criteria-based reservations in our companies.
Why does he want to force philanthropy on us?Aren't these contradictory? Anyway, I see his view as - if the Govt is hellbent on bringing all people on the same socio-economic status, they as well announce reservations for the poorer classes than backward classes. Hypocrisy isn't the word, Good books may well be the motive. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hello EMAIL: assclown@mailinator.com IP: 219.65.149.82 URL: http://www.fark.com DATE: 02/24/2004 11:39:32 AM Just a test. See if comment spamming will work. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lalith EMAIL: lnarayan@umich.edu IP: 67.173.213.150 URL: http://www.geocities.com/lalith_nm DATE: 03/25/2004 04:00:11 AM I am a staunch opponent of this crap called caste-based reservation, but I believe economic criteria based reservation and scholarships are required at the school/ university level, so they at least get a fighting chance. And as for Narayana Murthy, well he really is a successful and smart guy, but when it comes to making such statements, as one who has worked in Infosys, I can say he doesnt necessarily know what he is talking about. But hey he needs to come up with stuff like this, so he can score points, right? How about talking about cleaning his own bathroom? (You clean your bathroom, good - dont use it to score points!) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gautam EMAIL: gautambas@rediffmail.com IP: 202.177.151.236 URL: http://www.freerindia.com/gautam DATE: 06/09/2004 01:38:16 AM In India I seriously think caste based reservations are for more important than economic backwardness reservations. The reason being that more often than not caste backwardness also captures economic backwardness. But high castes who don't want to do certain types of work in some ways hit an axe on their own lives and careers. If you want to address long term deprevation problems caste reservations are your ticket. As a matter of an academic exercise check out states with large populations of BCs which have not had major social movements i.e. UP, Bihar, MP, Jharkhand... you will see that p.c.i is in the region of 9000Rs. p.a. that is 750Rs. p.m. Even J&K has higher p.c.i than these places. I don't know of any studies, but it seems intuitively plausible that the existence of caste barriers has a restraining effect on the economies of these states. All this is not to say that reservations are the best solution to any problem. They are simply a political weapon that allows politicians from lower castes to leverage their position, and to garner votes, and in the long term (10 years) this will probably create a more liberal society, replacing the age old varna system for which I think no defence is honourably possible. Ofcourse we will be faced with new problems like the affirmative action mess, but eventually I think it will be better than the horrendous situation that most of our Gangetic compatriots face today. I bet I am going to get atleast a little flack for this, but I don't really see what a liberal resolution to this problem will look like. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: A N Nachar EMAIL: an_nachar1956@yahoo.com IP: 220.224.21.178 URL: DATE: 06/19/2004 10:43:39 PM The messages make an interesting reading. I would read a message & tell the caste of the message poster. With the rotton high caste Hindu mentality you won't expect any rational thinking on reservation policy. Try answering following questions- 1) There was 100% reservation in all sectors for high caste Hindus for past 5000 years. To make justice, why not have 100% reservations for Dalits for next 5000 years. Do you believe in justice my friends? 2) In these 5000 years what nerit have you seen? India has lost to every invader and has been at the bottom of every list, be it GDP, development, Olympics or clean & hygenic civil life and honesty. What is the merit of high caste Hindus? 3) Which are the relatively developed & progressive states today? UP, Bihar or Rajasthan? No. These are Maharashtra, Karnataka & Tamilnadu. The states where anti-Brahmin movement flourished and Brahmin reservations were thrown off 50 years ago. These states where Shudras started contributing & these state took to the road of development. In Rajasthan, UP & Bihar, the high caste still rules the roost & because of their third class merit, they are still backward. Why not give the tested theory a try again? Remove the high caste Hindus with third class merit and bring in the meritorious Shudras & then see what happens. Finally, remember what happened after the Mandal Commission report was accepted by Vishwanath Pratap Singh. The high caste Hindus predicted a doom. I have not seen the doom, have you? Today, Mandalization is a reality and even the the party of high caste Hindus (namely BJP) cannot afford to speak against Mandal though in their heart of heart they would prefer to do so. So long as caste is a reality, reservations would be a reality. If you guys want caste (and you do, please don't be hyppocrates on this!), you will have to accept reservations. Its a package deal. The reservations are there because of casteist idiots like you and your forefathers. YOU have to decide whether to continue with it or terminate it. The choice of preserving caste & removing reservations is not available to you. You cannot have the cake & eat it too. So, try to use your brain and be rational on the reservations issue. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pestwiper EMAIL: a@b.com IP: 61.2.88.50 URL: http://www.mblog.com/pest_blog DATE: 07/03/2004 05:06:03 PM JUst added you to my daily visit sites becoz of thiz great article ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ajit EMAIL: sunilagraj@hotmail.com IP: 203.194.8.155 URL: DATE: 07/18/2004 05:35:34 PM This is an article by Sudha Murthy. In that she says that her husband was a communist and a wannabe politician before marriage. I dont know what his political inclinations are now. But that could be a clue. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: afsal EMAIL: mafsalm@yahoo.com IP: 210.212.228.7 URL: DATE: 09/23/2004 02:04:35 AM i'm an engineering student.i'm planning to present a project on same topic"should reservations be allowed in private companies.so could you please sent me more articles on the above matter.hoping you would reply at latest possible ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: OP EMAIL: opSharma3k2@yahoo.com IP: 203.196.227.111 URL: DATE: 09/28/2004 01:56:31 PM I would like to address specifically to A N Nachar's article. I think you have misinerpreted the Indian History. Its not like there was reservation for high caste Hindus for past 5000 years, but social functional areas were divided in such a way. People were not didved into casts but they were known as such according to the work/job they were involved. A person who used to teach was known as Brahmin - and not that a Brahmin only could teach. Reservations which we are talking now a days are like this - Only SC can join on this post. Is it fair? I support reservation in education to all those people who are not able to afford. Tell me is it acceptable that one person who belongs to well-to-do familly but bcoz he is SC so he will not pay fee? Today reservation word has become controversial and believe me my dear its not we people , its not the Hindu Society responsible for , but only the politicians who do not care for society or country but only VOTES! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: coolio EMAIL: gsgsf@hotmail.com IP: 218.13.33.247 URL: DATE: 12/12/2004 11:08:01 AM excessive uncontrolled reservation not a good idea India has an average low Intelligence Quotient compared to many other countries. Even with ZERO reservation they would find it very difficult to compete with other countries with much higher IQ levels such as USA, Germany, UK, China, Japan etc. This is seen in the fact that there is no major international brand names or advanced technology that has originated from India at present. These are the IQ levels of a few countries: India (81), China (100), Germany (102), Japan (105), UK (100), USA (98), South Korea (106) Full IQ list on page below: http://www.rlynn.co.uk/pages/article_intelligence/t4.htm Therefore, uncontrolled & excessive implemention of reservation will result in India being rendered totally incompetitive at the international level. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hari EMAIL: harry@123india.net IP: 65.27.105.173 URL: DATE: 01/29/2005 09:52:41 AM here are the answers to some of your (A N Nachar) questions: >>There was 100% reservation in all sectors for high caste Hindus for past 5000 years. To make justice, why not have 100% reservations for Dalits for next 5000 years. Do you believe in justice my friends? It is like punishing son for his father's crime. Your justice sounds absurd. Do you really want us pay for our ancestors' mistakes? We don't feel too good about what our forefathers have done in the past. If you keep lookgin back, you'll only be left behind. >>2) In these 5000 years what nerit have you seen? India has lost to every invader and has been at the bottom of every list, be it GDP, development, Olympics or clean & hygenic civil life and honesty. What is the merit of high caste Hindus? It is like saying "if I was made the prime minister of India, I would turn India into Japan". Don't try to play the blam game. A handfull of jerks in our own country thought that India would be better off under english rule. And that is the reason our country came under the english rule. You cant' blame the whole community for a fault of a few traitors. >>Why not give the tested theory a try again? Remove the high caste Hindus with third class merit and bring in the meritorious Shudras & then see what happens. It is not a question of high class hindus with third class merit or meritorious Shudras. What we we need is merit not cast. There are all types of people (good and bad) in all castes. What the industry needs is talent, if you have it in you, try to compete. There are reservations at academic level to provide you with all the opportunities you need. You are given a chance to improve your skills. I have many friends in my own engineering college who made the best use of the oppertunity and got excellent grades. They can succeed in industry even without reservations. Reservations at employment level is only an easy way out for dumbest of the dumb. And again those dumb people are present in all castes. >>If you guys want caste (and you do, please don't be hyppocrates on this!), you will have to accept reservations Nobody wants caste, it is only the politicians who are still making a fool of ignorent people like you. I have many friends, nobody ever cared to ask what caste I belonged to and neither did I ask any one. None of us know each others caste. How old are you? 70 years? You need to realize that we are in the 21st century, and I never heard anybody of my generation talking about caste. You really need to grow up. >>You cannot have the cake & eat it too. This sentence doesn't make sense to me. Why can't I eat my cake? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ConcernedCitizen EMAIL: filmenthu@yahoo.com IP: 24.9.100.233 URL: DATE: 02/03/2005 11:39:43 AM Some dalits have recently flown pakistans flag in meerut. How many dalit groups condemned that act ? When two dalit's were given death sentence in Andhra Pradesh a few years ago for burning a bus with passengers , many dalit groups went on dharna and brought pressure on politicians and finally the President at that time, K.R. Narayanan commuted death sentence to life improsonement . Why ? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: WorldTraveller EMAIL: tncps@hotmail.com IP: 209.228.8.23 URL: DATE: 02/24/2005 03:21:23 PM Reservation promotes inequality. India has not made much progress because truth and justice never took firm roots in the Indian society. Mr. Nachar like those in many other Dalit websites has completely put the blame on Brahmins for the India's lack of progress. It should be noted that Brahmins have been only involved with religion and intellectual persuits. They never had control of state or trade. Kings and their dynasties are to be held responsible for poor defense in the face of external agression. Trade had flourished in the past so even merchants would have been in a strong postion in the society. If brahmins were committing grave injustices against others how come the kings and business community of the past failed to take corrective action? Does the awakening take 3000 years that only today's political parties are in a position to demand justice? Brahmins have monopolized Vedic religion - especially rights to perform Vedic rituals that they invented - but that should be considered proprietary and patented. But did that hurt anyone? No, everyone else invented their own demi gods and started their own temples and rituals. Therefore we see no dearth of gods and goddesses. So brahmins are no way responsible for backwardness of other so called castes. Infact rest of the world also had not progress much until past 300 years. With renaissance the western world world has changed especially in the last three hundred years. Thanks to the west that we have far better quality of life in India. Atleast they shared and are sharing their technologies with us even though they plundered our wealth in the past. But how much have we progressed after we got freedom? Not much, and why? How much have we Indians contributed to the scientific discoveries so far? And even now we are not seeing any major contribution from Indians (except select profressionals from various fields)? BTW, Tamilnadu has not improved because of reservation. The conditions are worser than ever before (which is true for even other cities). It would do far good to the country if there were no reservation - this practice should end. Instead govt. could provide loans to the economically backward candidates. Infact govt. should shrink and most of the things privatised so that we citizens get better service instead of our tax monies ending up with corrupt politicians and employees. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dalith EMAIL: dalith@yahoo.com IP: 135.214.154.104 URL: http://www.ambedkar.org DATE: 04/30/2005 04:16:28 AM This is what bill gates has to say on affirmative action. 1. Women and people of color are presumed to be incompetent until proven otherwise. 2. Since the perfect technique for measuring people has yet to be devised, it is in these areas that subjectivity enters the assessment process and groups of people who are viewed negatively (Blacks/ethnic groups/women), for their differences in a given society, tend to suffer in this type of evaluation. 3. Diversity enriches our performance and products, as well as the communities we live in. When a case was registered in american supreme courts against affirmative actions bill gates, GE and other top 50 compamies came up with a counter suit saying that if affirmative action is cancelled, they will not be able to hire minorities and that is going to affect their profits. Now top notch companies who have proved merit in production and sales have these views on affirmative action. Why does not Mr Subash GOyal take some lessons from people like them. Just because the bible said that earth was flat did not make galileo wrong. If we keep looking at the great thoughts of people like Mr goyal no progress is possible. Why does not he look at the article of CBP as to how reservations will cause the private sector to prosper. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/97979/1/5339 Can lessons be learned by an private enterprise which does not even make up 3 percent of the world share of profits. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.59.207 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 04/30/2005 12:30:39 PM Dear Dalith, I hate to recycle a cliche, but that article you linked has more holes than Swiss Cheese. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nitin Khare EMAIL: khare_nitin@hotmail.com IP: 71.81.227.34 URL: DATE: 03/18/2006 11:00:27 AM Well the most important issue with reservation is that after some time everyone will demand for it. Start with SC/ST. Later on OBCs will join, then minorities, and so on... I guess ultimately every resources (not only jobs) will be distributed as per your number/strength. China and India are already proving that bigger is the merrier. So if there are 20% muslims in India then 20% jobs should be reserved for them. In hindus if 22% are SC then reserve 22% for them. Moral of the story is that your intelligence or merit doesn't matter anymore. You will get free education in good colleges, nice job in MNCs, may get promoted out of turn. Why?? Just because you are SC/ST/OBC/Monority.. Ha ha i guess after some time the general category will be the only minority left. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vikram EMAIL: vikram131983@gmail.com IP: 202.88.129.39 URL: DATE: 04/23/2006 02:01:04 AM Not meaning to sound rude, but i think that enough has been done for the so called lower castes in the past 40 years. If they have not been able to "uplift" themselves, it is their fault. Why is the UPA government punishing meritorious general category students by taking their jobs away and giving them to undeserving candidates just because the latter belong to a particular section of the Indian community which has done nothing except whine about their so called oppression. If the Congress Leaders and Think Tank are thinking about the possible 49.5 % votes they may get from the SC/ST/OBC/MBC/BC communities, then they have forgotten about the remaining 50.5 % of the populace, which might possibly never vote for the Congress ever again. 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Many Indian companies and MNC's (viz. TCS, Infosys, CSC etc...) don't allow applicants who did their degrees part time OR correspondence and or secure less than 60%. Then how can the reservation be implemented in such a competitive environment where merit and skills does only matter? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Venkat EMAIL: yanumula@hotmail.com IP: 68.61.221.131 URL: DATE: 11/18/2006 02:28:38 AM Hey guys: It is over. Now we should think about what to do. If they come up with idea of "reservations in marriages". ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Journalism or advertorial? BASENAME: journalism_or_a STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism DATE: 03/05/2004 01:25:37 AM ----- BODY:
The latest issue of Outlook magazine has a piece titled The Body Electronic that I found... strange.
It masquerades as an article about exposing the Indian sex sites on the Internet and how they're hawking women to willing customers. If I didn't know better, I'd call it an "advertorial" for the sites in question. The writer goes all out to provide every last bit of contact information for the people involved in this business.
Examples:
"Business is good.... Earlier, we had services all over India...but stock was proving to be a problem...we are looking for customers for a lifetime..." —Sameer, who claims to be an MBA with specialisation in marketing, on the Mumbai mobile number 098216-86191.
www.indiasexguide.com, true to its name, is more pan-Indian, giving contact details for most big cities.
In Mumbai, you can contact one Robert or Ashok, reachable at 09819437751, who will do the needful. The duo has offices in Churchgate and Andheri (W).
A registration at the indiatimes.com dating site in Kashyap's name (Is Outlook ready with my bail money?) led me to Arun, available at 098218-44021. "I can sure provide the service in Delhi. Just call me two hours in advance," he said. Based in Mumbai, he needs just an hour's notice there.
The author concludes with:
My intention is not to raise awareness about Sameer, Arun, Purnima, Robert, Ashok, or their websites. I wouldn't dream of doing that in a magazine that's read by my mother. My honest intention is to make cyberspace a little more worthy of our kids' eyeballs. So I spoke to the cbi about it, whose spokesperson expressed surprise and wanted the addresses of these websites.
Gee, by publishing it in a magazine read by thousands of people, he's certainly raised awareness. Just what we need - a journo on a moral crusade who writes articles like advertorials. If he wanted only the CBI to investigate, he could've given them the mobile numbers in question. What purpose did printing them in the magazine serve?
Go read the article and tell me if you too find it stinks a bit.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tester EMAIL: tester@mailinator.com IP: 219.65.136.15 URL: DATE: 03/05/2004 06:46:18 PM Yes, your comments work. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ashok Hegde EMAIL: ashokhegde@vsnl.net IP: 219.65.65.184 URL: DATE: 03/06/2004 04:09:23 PM "My research with www.bombaysexguide.com ended with Network Solutions, which provides the database for the site but "does not guarantee its accuracy"..." Network Solutions provides the database for the site????? Since when did network solutions start doing that? Ashok ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandeep EMAIL: nomail@mail.net IP: 203.200.40.199 URL: http://sandeep.blog-city.com DATE: 03/10/2004 12:38:44 PM Dude, You're finally back with some !@@&** writing :-) Welcome back! I almost thought this blog/site was dead. BTW, I'm planning to migrate from my current blog and get a decent hosting service. Any recommendations apart from Vesana.com? Take care. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: suman EMAIL: suman@sumankumar.com IP: 198.152.13.71 URL: http://sumankumar.com DATE: 03/13/2004 05:21:51 AM Ah if only they provided such details about an article on technology! How many times have I whined when some journo or the other give blogspot.com as a link... never mind! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hoshi Sato EMAIL: hoshi@hotmail.com IP: 219.65.136.57 URL: DATE: 08/01/2004 03:12:02 AM Thank you for a great article. I wish people like you were employed there. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: helal EMAIL: humazumder@yahoo.com IP: 69.88.3.49 URL: DATE: 12/09/2004 07:04:05 PM i am happy ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: checkers EMAIL: pokermain@acroduke.net IP: 201.21.218.197 URL: http://ty2j.com/checkers.html DATE: 03/30/2006 07:12:30 PM checkers Probaly you should read this. checkers Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy checkers now ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: How blind is justice? Is it mentally challenged too? BASENAME: how_blind_is_ju STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 DATE: 03/18/2004 12:45:20 AM ----- BODY: Innocent: Don't pass go, but you still owe. (Metafilter discussion and BBC coverage): Get locked up 25 years for a crime you didn't commit and then the government wants to charge you money for your prison hotel stay. This has to be one of the most asinine things I've read in a long time. I wish it were a joke. Unfortunately, the BBC story confirms that the British government has indeed losts its marbles. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aditi EMAIL: aditim207@yahoo.com IP: 61.95.246.168 URL: DATE: 06/15/2004 10:12:27 PM the Zee english thing ... exactly my thoughts ... have a nice holiday ... see ya soon ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Indiatimes.com - India's spam champion BASENAME: indiatimescom_i STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: User experience CATEGORY: User experience DATE: 03/18/2004 12:02:32 PM ----- BODY:That wonderful Indian portal we all love, Indiatimes.com, affectionately known as Indiaslimes (and various other names), has clearly taken some lessons in usability from the mistakes of other mail services like Yahoo and Hotmail. Hotmail and Yahoo, as part of their registration process, offer you several pages of newsletters and information services that can very quickly fill your inbox with unwanted junk mail. This extra step is of course an annoyance to new users.
Therefore, Indiatimes has decided to make the sign-up process simpler. It does not ask whether you want to sign up for any newsletters. Instead, it decides by itself that you like spam and happily fills up your inbox for you.
For instance, I had to sign up for an Indiaslimes account to read some crap on their site some time back. I never intended to use their email because I don't need yet another email address. However, curiosity about their much-touted APIC (which deserves another blog entry of its own) led me to log in to my never-used account and see what the fuss was about. Bear in mind that I have never given this email address to anyone or used it for any other purpose.
After logging in, this is what greets me:
Wow, so many "special offers" and all of them from Indiatimes. I really appreciate their concern for me getting the best deal for my money.
No, no, no, this isn't "spam" at all. Most spam messages include some cheesy way of getting yourself off their "subscription" list. Indiatimes, to prove that it doesn't spam, dispenses with that completely.
Here's what one of the messages looked like:
See? Not a single "get me off this fucking list" link anywhere. Saves them the trouble of even programming the feature. That's efficiency!
When I saw this, I wondered, "was there some fine print in the sign-up screen that subscribed me to so many damn mails?" To be sure of that, I created a new account. Like I said earlier, the sign-up process is only one screen. And this is the screenshot of it. Do you see a "spam me liberally" checkbox anywhere?
and this is the next screen:
Indiaslimes is fond of another method of spamming. All you have to do is give Indiaslimes your email address for anything. (For instance, if you give your real email address for posting an ad on their classifieds site.) The next day, you will start getting discount coupons, "special offers", etc. from their e-commerce group. To make it harder for you to unsubscribe, they are all on different mailing lists so you have to remove yourself separately from each one.
Indiatimes.com - India's #1 spammer. Richly deserving the title of IndiaSlimes.
PS: if you need an Indiatimes ID, I have created one dummy account for you.
username: moronuser
password: moron
Enjoy!
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Murali EMAIL: mkb_blog@yahoo.com IP: 210.210.126.39 URL: http://blogs.sify.com/mkbiyer DATE: 03/18/2004 03:37:53 PM I couldn't believe this ... only yesterday I has made a post on my blog on the same issue with a screen shot ! http://blogs.sify.com/blog_display.php?blogid=8&pid=12#495 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: suman EMAIL: suman@sumankumar.com IP: 198.152.13.68 URL: DATE: 03/19/2004 04:18:34 AM Ha ha! Not just Indiatimes even Fabmart spams you. I wrote to them saying I would sue them if they keep spamming me and they took me off the list. Are there any anti-spam laws that take care of unsolicited commerical e-mail? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandeep EMAIL: none@spam.com IP: 203.200.40.199 URL: http://sandeep.vesana.com DATE: 03/19/2004 09:51:54 AM Ha hahahaha! Wonderful MadMan:-) But don't you think 'twas a waste of your energy to rip apart the IndiaSpammer? Hope they rot in the Fifth Circle of Hell. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pallavi EMAIL: pallavi@lgsoftindia.com IP: 203.200.13.4 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 03/19/2004 01:22:44 PM yeah i agree with that.. the good old days of clean mail systems are gone ... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Manish Jethani EMAIL: manish_jethani@yahoo.com IP: 148.87.1.170 URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/mannu/ DATE: 03/22/2004 05:02:11 PM I'm getting spammed by anita@indiatimes.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: webguru@vsnl.net IP: 219.65.141.193 URL: DATE: 03/22/2004 05:11:12 PM Manish, do not make ANY contact with Indiatimes.com using a real email address. It is instantly harvested and used for spamming. For instance, all you have to do is send them an email saying, "I'm getting error XYZ when accessing Indiatimes.com" and boom! you're put on their mailing list. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: moronuser EMAIL: moronuser@indiatimes.com IP: 199.67.140.81 URL: DATE: 03/23/2004 08:52:18 AM I created an indiatimes mail id some months back. Indiatimes was one of the mail server, not blocked by my internet proxy. My inbox looked exactly same as moronuser's. Indiatimes and Times of India SUCKS. I hate them from the bottom of my heart. They are an evil monopoly without brains. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lalith EMAIL: lnarayan@umich.edu IP: 67.173.213.150 URL: http://www.geocities.com/lalith_nm DATE: 03/25/2004 03:40:40 AM Madman, I notice an optional "Alternative E-Mail ID" field. Did you fill that in? and do you get spammed there too? now that would be fun :-P Oh, and moronuser, you are not alone. Times of India totally sucks(im talking about their website, I wonder how the paper is). Check this link http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mahim/toi/ -Lalith ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shankari EMAIL: shankarimurali@yahoo.com IP: 203.200.10.83 URL: http://www.uthinksour.blogspot.com DATE: 12/08/2005 11:37:34 AM Given that all these are *dated* comments, I'm late... This is GREAT! I knew I couldn't be 'only' one FUMING at indiaslimes! I refuse to click on anything which requires me to sign into that! but 'moron' is now an option!?! BTW, is it only me... or, is there a prob. w/ yahoo? Its my homepage AND I do belong to many yahoogroups, but of late, I'm having to spend a LOT of time for pages to load. This happens both on IE & Firefox and only for yahoo pages. Ofcourse, I also have MSN- so could that be slowing yahoo or is it just paranoid me??? Thanks in Advance (there, no short forms- & yes, I NEED to meet you soooon) Shankari ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: free solitaire EMAIL: web@acroduke.co.uk IP: 61.115.210.49 URL: http://ty2j.com/free-solitaire.html DATE: 03/30/2006 06:07:30 PM free solitaire Probaly you should read this. free solitaire Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy free solitaire now ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: verizon ringtones EMAIL: web@freeonlinepoker.co.uk IP: 80.59.86.100 URL: http://ty2j.com/verizon-ringtones.html DATE: 03/31/2006 12:00:47 AM verizon ringtones Probaly you should read this. verizon ringtones Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy verizon ringtones now ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ROHIT SAHU EMAIL: rohitsahu_562@indiatimes.com IP: 61.0.198.103 URL: http://in.indiatimes.com/ DATE: 03/06/2007 09:52:24 PM ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mohit EMAIL: mohit.sheth@indiatimes.com IP: 203.27.235.5 URL: DATE: 05/05/2007 01:52:26 PM Dear Team, My Indiatimes E-mail id is mohit.sheth@indiatimes.com So, I need to configur in outlook so, i can configur to this Pls Do need Ful. Thaks & Regards, Mohit Sheth ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ben John EMAIL: ben.john121@gmail.com IP: 122.169.210.97 URL: http://www.Coupons4save.com DATE: 08/26/2009 12:01:23 PM Hi,it is incredible to find the fabulous offers.These discount coupons are a good way to save money.Thanks! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: spamkiller EMAIL: astutenesssacerdotal@noclickemail.com IP: 59.182.45.251 URL: DATE: 10/02/2009 03:50:54 PM Filtering spam is not the solution. You must report indiatimes as a spammer . Please go to Spamcop . net and do a free registration. then forward the spam from indiatimes to them. they will report it to all the networks indiatimes uses. fight back spam. bandwidth is being wasted, pollution is increasing.Yes India times sucks , and so do their products . They sell all kinds of crap. dont buy from them at all. Ban indiatimes for good. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kamlesh EMAIL: pranam108@indiatimes.com IP: 203.199.41.59 URL: DATE: 10/06/2009 08:48:14 PM Dear sir, Please help me... May i configure my indiatimes ID in outlook/thunderbird please send me its incomming server name and out going server name. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: siva EMAIL: siva.buzz@gmail.com IP: 122.169.142.150 URL: http://www.Deals4Now.com DATE: 01/24/2010 12:25:06 PM nice areticle.fight on spam ----- PING: TITLE: APIC URL: http://sandeep.weblogs.us/archives/018088.html IP: 65.38.3.79 BLOG NAME: Techbook DATE: 03/22/2004 06:16:58 PM Ok, I've been meaning to write about this for quite some time, but was only inspired to write after reading this.So, like all the (gullible? nah!) people, I felt the need to find out what exactly Indiatimes' much-touted APIC was.... ----- PING: TITLE: APIC URL: http://sandeep.weblogs.us/archives/011613.html IP: 65.38.4.87 BLOG NAME: Techbook DATE: 06/07/2005 04:48:46 PM Ok, I've been meaning to write about this for quite some time, but was only inspired to write after reading this. So, like all the (gullible? nah!) people, I felt the need to find out what exactly Indiatimes' much-touted APIC... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: A small interruption BASENAME: a_small_interru STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 03/25/2004 06:21:09 PM ----- BODY: I've temporarily removed the previous post about Indiatimes spam because the screenshots were breaking the layout in lower resolutions (damn this CSS layout stuff!). Yes, you losers who haven't upgraded to a 17" monitor and still run at 800*600 resolution have made me do this. :) There are also a couple of minor layout issues that I'll get around to fixing soon. So if something looks screwed up, mail me at blog AT madmanweb DOT com and let me know. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Manish Jethani EMAIL: manish_jethani@yahoo.com IP: 148.87.1.171 URL: http://www.livejournal.com/~mannu DATE: 03/26/2004 02:49:35 AM So how about we start with fixing the obvious errors? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: webguru@vsnl.net IP: 219.65.136.28 URL: http://madmanweb.com DATE: 03/26/2004 03:39:52 AM Oh my, I was wondering when somebody would point out that my HTML isn't validating any more. Anyway, those aren't life-threatening. (one P tag open or one ALT attribute missing doesn't blow up stuff) The problems I have are browser-specific, which I'll get to when I'm not so tired. Or I might decide that IE5 users be damned. Hell, it's my personal site. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Alka EMAIL: alka@alkadwivedi.net IP: 203.101.6.65 URL: http://www.alkadwivedi.net DATE: 03/26/2004 10:21:29 PM Humm... a good developer always take care of all the types of PC users! :-). Jokes aside, your blog is neat it does not look cluttered. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kingsley EMAIL: kingsleyj@hotmail.com IP: 203.199.202.97 URL: http://kingsley2.com DATE: 04/21/2004 12:45:54 AM Yes! The luddites win again! Wait till we launch the attack of the web-safe palette! And while we are at it, can we get some disabled people in here to fisk those javascript thingumajigs? Shouldn't your "Daily links" blog have a "New" indicator, so us lazy asses can see if you (a fellow lazy ass at updating) have added anything new? And why do "Who is MadMan?" and "Send me email", two links which work differently, look the same? Comrade! You vill hav to answer to court of the people, da?! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: abhi EMAIL: abhi3@fastmail.co.uk IP: 61.3.129.193 URL: http://www.freepgs.com/abhishek DATE: 04/24/2004 10:17:03 AM there's something called 'preparing the image for the web'...:) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tomsingh EMAIL: why@themailid.com IP: 203.197.62.148 URL: http://myangst.blogdrive.com DATE: 05/14/2004 03:45:17 AM hiyaa..firstly - read ur "who is madman" page. am impressed!! mite ask u for some encouragement IF i wanna try to make it on my own in the future (been contemplating this). :D ps - dont worry - not in the resto business :P ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Off on holiday BASENAME: off_on_holiday STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 06/15/2004 11:33:08 AM ----- BODY: Hola, amigos! I'm taking a well-deserved break from all my cooking and heading off on holiday for a couple of weeks. The first week will be in sunny Mauritius (well, it's winter there so not terribly sunny) after which I will be in Mumbai for a friend's wedding from 25-28 June. Any of you Mumbai libertarians who want to meet up should please leave a comment so I can ping you. Oh, and some contact info would help too. :) I know this blog's been rotting away for a bit, but I've been posting a few things on the more widely-read AnarCapLib aka Yazad's site. Here they are: Introduction to logical fallacies and critical thinking Reservations - the economy ain't safe yet Other stuff I've written for MouthShut.com (older stuff; and sorry, the site sucks): A scathing review of the TV Channel Zee English A thumbs-down for Hathway the Cable Internet service I'll see you folks in a couple of weeks. Till then, let's see who steps up to uphold fairness, justice, and logic in the blogosphere. ;) ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 07/14/2004 02:02:14 PM hahah MOuthshut.. you still writing there !! I am glad you finally got to take a break from your work ... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: poker tables EMAIL: info@online-poker.org IP: 219.110.98.55 URL: http://ty2j.com/poker-tables.html DATE: 03/30/2006 02:37:23 PM poker tables Probaly you should read this. poker tables Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy poker tables now ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: free nokia ringtones EMAIL: main@poker.fr IP: 61.186.164.119 URL: http://ty2j.com/free-nokia-ringtones.html DATE: 03/31/2006 12:18:59 AM free nokia ringtones Probaly you should read this. free nokia ringtones Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy free nokia ringtones now ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Holiday snaps BASENAME: holiday_snaps STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 07/06/2004 05:22:13 PM ----- BODY: Yes, I was away on vacation to Mauritius, and it was good fun. I've created a web album of snaps for you folks to check out and be envious of. You can find it at http://www.madmanweb.com/mauritius (Some of the pics had to be scaled down in size for the Web, hence the lower quality.) I was also in Mumbai for a few days after that where we had a big meeting of the Libertarian Cartel High Council. Pictures of that are with Yazad, but some other pics of Mumbai as well as a Bangalore meetJeff was a major influence in my life. In my early teens, when I was just learning to cook, I would watch Jeff Smith's Frugal Gourmet religiously. It was the first cookery show I learnt from, even before learning to mince garlic from Martin Yan. His obvious love for cooking was infectious. It inspired me to take up cooking seriously and have fun doing it. His show also taught me some important basic principles of cooking including one that I continue to preach to all my friends and family: "Hot wok, cold oil; food won't stick." It is these principles that mark the difference between a good cook and a great one. Jeff's smooth-talking style made cooking look not like a chore but an extremely rewarding experience. Wannabes like Sanjeev Kapoor can't come anywhere near him.
Today, I'm the chef and owner of a fine dining South-east Asian restaurant in Bangalore. Jeff, you played a big part in shaping my future. For that, I will always be grateful.
May The Force be with you.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: lavannya EMAIL: lgoradia@yahoo.co.uk IP: 61.2.69.193 URL: DATE: 07/13/2004 02:23:33 PM hiya madhu, me dropped in to take a look at what the madman does besides cooking mindblowingly... i enjoyed the sunday night tremendously...forgive my half drunkenness..please love lavannya ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 07/14/2004 01:58:44 PM Well I guess I missed his shows.. :( though I used to love Martin Yan's shows... loved the way Yan used to go chop chop chop.. amazing !! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lalith EMAIL: lalith@gmail.com IP: 203.145.186.8 URL: http://www.lalithn.com DATE: 07/14/2004 05:49:13 PM Hey Madhu, I should try this hot wok, cold oil trick. i am nowhere close to evenbeing a good cook, but food sticking to the pan was a problem I always had. Will keep you posted. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@madmanweb.com IP: 219.65.136.73 URL: DATE: 07/14/2004 07:24:26 PM I love it when people get their mind blown at my restaurant. ;) I'll give you lighter cocktails next time. Hehe. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Miriam EMAIL: miriam@dynagirl.com IP: 69.11.140.174 URL: http://www.dynagirl.com DATE: 08/24/2004 07:26:17 PM Hey Madhu! Long time no see. Congratulations on the restaurant!! That's wonderful. I'm looking forward to reading more about it. My brother and I were also JS fans, we would (OMG, how dorky) videotape it often and made many of the recipes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: okadd EMAIL: somemanage@gmail.com IP: 87.118.86.206 URL: http://wiwapia.com DATE: 05/25/2009 03:35:27 PM It still looks bran’ spankin’ new. I wish there was an unmanned method of bringing it back to earth at the end of its life, instead of having it burn up. Is there any robotic satellite retrieval system http://wiwapia.com/en/Information_Retrieval out there? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rob EMAIL: wrobertewing@gmail.com IP: 98.25.134.232 URL: DATE: 07/20/2009 10:39:33 PM Really nice site. I found it when looking for restaurant options when in Bangalore during an upcoming trip. Rob ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: How to get a good steak in Bangalore BASENAME: how_to_get_a_go STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Food & Cooking CATEGORY: Food & Cooking DATE: 07/14/2004 12:37:31 PM ----- BODY:Getting a decent steak in this country isn't easy. In the north, the taboo against beef restricts serving of beef to only the five-star hotels. Thankfully, in the south, we're not so conservative and in Bangalore especially, there are plenty of restaurants serving beef.
But while there are plenty of restaurants serving steak, there aren't too many that serve good steak. In India, you don't get a choice between different cuts of meat like you do in the West. If you want a porterhouse or a t-bone, good luck. The beef you get in India comes in two basic forms: a) the stuff that takes 2 hours to cook and b) the stuff that cooks in 3 minutes. There's nothing in between.
Moreover, most of the mid-range restaurants in town don't know the first thing about cooking the steak right. Some typical abuses are:
a) Not cooking at a high enough temperature because of which the meat "leaks" and gets very dry
b) Overcooking it to death - giving you extra well done and turning it into leather in the process
c) Liberally slathering it with some gooey sauce so you can't taste any of the meat flavour
d) Totally disregarding your instructions on the doneness of the meat - giving you well done when you ask for medium
So, dear reader, given that you cannot go into a restaurant kitchen and make the steak yourself (or call me to do it), here are some tips for you to get the best out of your steak dining experience in Bangalore:
Bon appetit!
PS: If you want to try something different from steak, try Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine, my restaurant on CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. We serve food from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nitin EMAIL: painn-nonospam@hotmail.com IP: 192.169.41.42 URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com DATE: 07/14/2004 01:02:53 PM MadMan, I refuse to even call it a steak unless it has those wonderful cross patterns on it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 07/14/2004 01:52:51 PM Interesting pointers.. I loved the Steaks at The Only Place.. the old one.. After that.. the goodness of tender steak I remember was in Kobe's in Mumbai. :) Here in Bangalore.. I am yet to find a place who serves good steaks.. tried Lazzio's, Charoals, etc etc but yet to sample a good one. Here its enough if you get a tender steak. Forget about asking for well done and medium well done.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 07/14/2004 01:53:52 PM Interesting pointers.. I loved the Steaks at The Only Place.. the old one.. After that.. the goodness of tender steak I remember was in Kobe's in Mumbai. :) Here in Bangalore.. I am yet to find a place who serves good steaks.. tried Lazzio's, Charoals, etc etc but yet to sample a good one. Here its enough if you get a tender steak. Forget about asking for well done and medium well done.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jhanvi EMAIL: sorry@idonthvoneto.post IP: 198.240.133.75 URL: http://absolutelyanonymous.blogspot.com DATE: 07/14/2004 03:17:13 PM Uhh this has nothing to do with the B'lore steaks. Just wanted to say that I really like your blog, your style is simple and flowing and free from all the sarcasm n self opinionated stuff going around. (Sadly I m one of them at times.) Nice... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: arun EMAIL: a@junk.com IP: 203.194.14.194 URL: http://www.arunwho.com DATE: 07/14/2004 04:05:12 PM thats some... tell me.. what do you mean "Not cooking at a high enough temperature" my steaks/sausages always always leak and does get dirty.. at home.. do i do a 3 min on each side on full heat? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@madmanweb.com IP: 219.65.136.73 URL: DATE: 07/14/2004 07:22:42 PM Jhanvi, thanks. I have tons of sarcasm still left in me, however. :) Arun, a steak should be "seared" so that the juices are trapped inside. This means that the moment it hits the hot pan, it should be sealed. Otherwise, the juices escape and evaporate, giving you a chewy steak. Then it won't be grilled, it will be stewed. I guess I'll have to write an entry on how to cook a proper steak now. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Madhav EMAIL: madhavn@hotmail.com IP: 203.123.181.226 URL: DATE: 07/14/2004 08:20:10 PM The Only Place still exists, but in a different location. It's moved to Museum Road, I think. I thought the steak there was just ok, nothing great. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nitin EMAIL: painn-nonospam@hotmail.com IP: 192.169.41.42 URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com DATE: 07/15/2004 01:35:43 PM The Only Place - there used to be a place by that name in Upper Coonoor, near Ooty. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: yazad@yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 07/15/2004 02:36:06 PM I love a good steak, and I have never had one in India. The best ones are the "Argentian steaks" I've had in Cologne. Here, if I get something that's not stringy, I think I'd be happy. I soothe myself with some mashed potatoes most of the time. I like sizzlers, not for the meat, but the sauce, veggies and the sizzling hiss. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harry EMAIL: dhempe@gmail.com IP: 61.95.165.42 URL: http://www.livejournal.com/~dhempe DATE: 07/15/2004 03:01:17 PM Hi MadMan, The Only Place on Museum Road has some real good steaks. One more place for decent steaks is Juke Box in Koramangala I guess. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Premshree EMAIL: nospam@nospam.com IP: 210.210.62.169 URL: http://premshree.livejournal.com/ DATE: 07/15/2004 03:44:41 PM You know, you should seriously consider moving to a better blogging system -- one that offers threaded comments. Oh, and if you want beef, Kerala is the place to be! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kim brooks EMAIL: blog@kimbwei.com IP: 4.251.120.175 URL: http://www.kimbwei.com DATE: 07/19/2004 08:41:45 AM Madman, I would really like it if you do post an entry on how to cook a steak. I've been trying to learn how for an embarrassingly long time. I can cook a large variety of [mostly Chinese] dishes with relative success but I cannot panfry a steak. Kimi ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gautam EMAIL: gautam.ghosh@gmail.com IP: 15.219.201.70 URL: http://gauteg.blogspot.com DATE: 08/24/2004 12:30:10 PM Take it from an old ex-hotelier ...steaks (specially rare-done) are best at The Only Place on Museum Road ! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: brijwhiz EMAIL: brijwhiz@gmail.com IP: 61.1.105.198 URL: http://brijwhiz.blogspot.com DATE: 02/03/2005 12:27:49 AM The best steak I have ever ahd was at a place called Alps near cafe Mondegar in Fort, Bombay. Do take this with a pinch of salt as I am not an expert (and I do like sizzlers) and the beer was good too:). ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dyaz EMAIL: n_zayd@hotmail.com IP: 210.18.180.69 URL: DATE: 03/15/2005 08:05:39 PM Only Place serves the best steaks in south india.Take it from me i have been all over the place and the Only Place On Museum Road,Bangalore serves the best steaks .right from the cuts to everything. the steaks and lasagnas rock.No Place can match the Only Place in Bangalore.Almost everybody loves the food at The Only Place and believe me thats the place to be for a steak. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: yazad@yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 04/18/2005 05:07:27 PM Brijwhiz, I've been to Alps, and I'd give it's steak at best a 3/10. The meat is stringy, overdone and the sauce is very pedestrian. The beer is cheap though! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Robert EMAIL: manjolai@hotmail.com IP: 15.219.201.70 URL: DATE: 06/29/2005 11:27:45 AM Try Miller's 46, on Millers Road, which is off Cunningham Road, in Bangalore. Another place which serve good Steaks is 1912, which is near Koshy's. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jenny EMAIL: jennyd1975@yahoo.co.uk IP: 78.145.88.113 URL: DATE: 10/11/2009 03:44:44 AM Yes, Have to agree The Only Place truly is THE ONLY PLACE! Here the steaks are consistent, tender and tasty. Millers and The Juke Box are ok, can be a bit inconsistent and tough at times but hey, it's beef in Bangalore so who cares! ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Fixing comment spam problems BASENAME: fixing_comment STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Technology CATEGORY: Technology DATE: 08/02/2004 02:44:34 PM ----- BODY:So both Anita and Yazad were facing serious comment spam problems. Depending on your level of nerdiness, you can implement many solutions.
What I did for them is described by Shelley Powers over here. Give it a shot. It's not that hard. The only downside is that if you're running multiple blogs on your MT installation, you'll have to edit the templates for all of them or comments will not work for the other blogs.
(And before you ask, no, I will not implement it for your blog too. I already provide too much tech support without any credit.)
A simpler, but slightly less effective, solution is to have a script that turns off comments on all entries older than X days, where X should be a reasonable number like 14 or 30. A script for that can be found on Geeksblog.
A still simpler solution is to make the "Comments (X)" link go to the individual entry instead of the comments page. People will be able to leave comments, but spambots will probably not figure it out. I leave it to the reader to look through the MT documentation on how to do this. It's just changing one tag, that's all.
Incidentally, my restaurant web site (complete with its own chef's blog) has just launched in its Beta version. The URL is http://www.shiokfood.com
Some more content will also be added shortly. Sign up for the updates if you want to be informed of new articles (approximately twice a week frequency is planned.)
Your comments are welcome. But if anyone says, "page doesn't validate" or some such crap, I will feed you a knuckle sandwich.
(Tested with Firefox and IE. I don't use Opera, and I don't have a Mac. I don't care if you use either.)
Update: Head on over to Kiruba's site and tell me if you spot the speed difference in loading. Something has definitely changed. I'll write more about it. later.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: yazad@yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 08/02/2004 03:41:51 PM Thanks Madhu And I think Anita, like me, has a very low nerd quotient. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: yazad@yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 08/02/2004 03:43:11 PM Why does your comment code dsiplay the IP address of the commenter? You are free to have it for security reasons, but I'm not to keen on having it displayed for janata viewing. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@madmanweb.com IP: 219.65.138.138 URL: DATE: 08/02/2004 07:12:11 PM Why does your comment code dsiplay the IP address of the commenter? Because pointing a gun in your face is more of a scare than saying "I've got a gun in my pocket" :) I never get any asshats commenting because of that deterrent ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sameer EMAIL: super_sam5@yahoo.com IP: 193.113.57.167 URL: http://www.opti-mystic.net/blog DATE: 08/03/2004 09:48:44 PM Comment spam is something that cannot be avoided completely. Paraphrasing a witty aphorism, 'Make your blog spam-proof and someone will come up with a better (worse?) spamming technique'. All we're trying to do is tend towards perfection. In my opinion (midway down the nerd quotient scale), the best option is to use a combination of about 2-3 anti-spamming schemes with each one trying to address a different aspect of comment spam i.e. turn off comments on old posts to prevent spam on old posts... use of blacklist/bayesian filters to limit spam on newer posts... comment moderation (only on sites with limited traffic) to block manual spammers, etc. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lazy Geek EMAIL: lazygeek@rediffmail.com IP: 202.54.153.21 URL: http://www.lazygeek.net DATE: 08/04/2004 08:19:23 PM Was looking out for a solution, a long time. MT-Blacklist also failed for me. Hope this works. thanks btw. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Alex EMAIL: benvsben_au@hotmail.com IP: 61.1.204.130 URL: http://benvsben.blogdrive.com DATE: 08/04/2004 11:35:19 PM Yeah Maan! went there, saw that, came heading to yo! :D ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harini Calamur EMAIL: calamur@gmail.com IP: 203.115.72.193 URL: http://www.20six.co.uk/gargi DATE: 08/05/2004 05:42:35 PM Hi good luck with the restraunt. it looks mouth watering. Harini ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jagu EMAIL: jagunair@gmx.net IP: 168.187.1.13 URL: http://www.rumbling.net DATE: 08/09/2004 01:37:28 PM Thanks Mate.. I have been having this problem with the spams with all those enhancer tags & what not..was just wondering how to tackle it. This look very usefull will try it out. And yes when I get to Banglore next time around I am going to come and dine on all the goodies you mention on here. I am such a fooodie..... OK OK i wont use THAT word. took me like 30 mins to post this comment because of the filtering . ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: apple EMAIL: apple_b12@hotmail.com IP: 165.21.154.8 URL: http://fruittrees.blogspot.com/ DATE: 08/14/2004 10:22:11 PM I like the stuff about using proper English.. good on ya! By the way nice name for a restaurant... since i am from singy (s'pore) the name caught my eye (attention?)... good luck with it hor... err that's something we use a lot of in these parts! cheers! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anita EMAIL: anitabora5@rediffmail.com IP: 220.227.179.5 URL: http://www.anitabora.com/blog DATE: 08/20/2004 12:03:05 PM Mads, have I thanked you lately? Though the problem keeps reappearing through manual spamming, I think. But the situation has changed quite a bit. And thanks for the comment Yazad, I think that about sums it :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Manish EMAIL: mythrandyr@livejournal.com IP: 194.39.131.40 URL: http://mythrandyr.livejournal.com DATE: 08/23/2004 09:14:03 PM Works fine with Opera too. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: spider solitaire EMAIL: bill@online-poker.fr IP: 12.2.142.7 URL: http://ty2j.com/spider-solitaire.html DATE: 03/30/2006 05:15:25 PM spider solitaire Probaly you should read this. spider solitaire Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy spider solitaire now ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ugg EMAIL: han-yi-good@163.com IP: 59.58.175.182 URL: http://www.uggboots-space.com DATE: 12/24/2009 08:58:43 AM Winter is coming ,many people are afraid of cold,especially the feet.then you must something to keep warm,I think you need a pair of snow boots,made of wool.such as UGG boots,tall boots,short boots or mini boots,Very warm to wear them.And the style ,the color also the material,the quality are very good .Walking in the fashion front. welcome to my web http://www.uggboots-space.com ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Yahoo messenger annoyances BASENAME: yahoo_messenger STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: User experience CATEGORY: User experience DATE: 08/23/2004 02:52:03 PM ----- BODY: I was going to write an entry on how a feature of the new Yahoo messenger version 6.0 bugs the hell out of me, but after I told Kallu about it, the bug suddenly got fixed in a day, so now I'm cheesed off that they fixed it, leaving me nothing to write about. But hey, another one pops up to save the day! If you use Yahoo messenger, you know that you can choose to stay "invisible". This ensures that people don't see you online, and you can lurk quietly. Or so you'd think. While the invisibility works in the regular version of Yahoo messenger, it does not work with their "lite" Web version of the product. I found this out today when Udhay messaged me saying "hi". I wondered how he saw me online because I was, ahem, "invisible". Turns out that Udhay was using the web version of the damn thing and could see me just fine. Yay! Good one, Yahoo! Into version 6.0 and you didn't look into this. Update: For all of you who come to my site through Google looking for the Web version of Yahoo messenger, it's at: http://jpager.yahoo.com/jpager/messenger.html. Now say thank you. ;) ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Srikanta EMAIL: srikantas@vsnl.net IP: 221.114.252.218 URL: DATE: 09/02/2004 09:46:56 PM Still buggy . Click on 'Voice' if the guy you're trying to contact is truly offline, it says something like "Internal server error. Cannot obtain voice token to start voice chat". If the guy is lurking around invisible, the voice chat gets enabled. Srikanta ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ram EMAIL: ram11_4@yahoo.com IP: 128.250.6.246 URL: DATE: 09/13/2004 11:20:47 AM Hey, is there a lite version of Y! msgr? I am not able to find it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@NOSPAM.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.192.161 URL: DATE: 09/22/2004 01:57:55 AM Hiya Twink. There's no regular publishing schedule. I try to write something whenever I find time, which is often as little as once a month. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: adam smith EMAIL: joe@yahoo.com IP: 142.227.7.1 URL: http://www.waaaaaah.com DATE: 10/21/2004 08:16:28 PM why does the web based version of yahoo not work? frickin hell. i am on a small network, maybe that is why? burn in hell yahoo! BURN IN HEEEELLLLL!!!!.....it goes on like that for a while... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jerry EMAIL: painterman45@hotmail.com IP: 24.143.27.129 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 06:59:57 PM I am having trouble with thew audibles in messenger they loose their sound. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kamran khan EMAIL: famus_stranger@yahoo.com IP: 199.67.138.75 URL: DATE: 11/25/2004 03:32:12 PM how can I find lite web version of yahoo messenger ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tiffany EMAIL: spongy_101@yahoo.com IP: 64.4.224.103 URL: DATE: 12/03/2004 06:03:31 AM y doesn't the web-based yahoo messenger not work?!! i can't add buddies or talk to anyone! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ashita EMAIL: poisonous_ivy10@yahoo.com IP: 61.95.134.26 URL: DATE: 01/01/2005 09:02:10 PM hey where to find this lite version of Yahoo!?? ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: My pound of flesh BASENAME: my_pound_of_fle STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 08/23/2004 04:29:51 PM ----- BODY:I have this funny role thrust upon me - tech support guy of Indian bloggers. I guess it happened because I foolishly volunteered assistance to tech newbies who wanted some guidance in getting their blogs up and running. And running. And running some more.
Ahem.
But it's a thankless job. I work behind the scenes to help set up blogs, move to MovableType, fix broken shit, put new designs into place, add some nifty feature, clean up HTML and CSS, and a whole lot of other crap. I do it mostly anonymously, and more importantly, for free. Why? I'm not even sure myself. Some freaky altruistic streak, I guess.
Anyway, while I don't expect money (you cheapskates!), I can at least ask for the odd favour from you folks. I just need some help getting a decent google pagerank for my restaurant web site, and through that, some more business, I hope.
So here's what I'm requesting: Please post a small blog entry on your site with the following text:
If you're in Bangalore, please visit Madhu's new restaurant, Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine that serves good Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. The restaurant is on CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore.
To make it all very easy for you folks, you don't even have to figure out the HTML. Just copy and paste the following into your entry:
<p>If you're in Bangalore, please visit <a href="http://www.madmanweb.com">Madhu's</a> new restaurant, <a href="http://www.shiokfood.com">Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine</a> that serves good Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. <a href="http://www.shiokfood.com">The restaurant is on CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore</a>.</p>
Of course, feel free to add any paeans to my tech genius in the post as well. Though I can't deposit compliments at the bank, it's still a good feeling. :)
As for the people I'm talking about, here is just a selection of them. ;)
Pleas for help also go out to All the Cartel members, and anyone else who is generous enough.
Thank you! I love you all!
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jhanvi EMAIL: donthvone@nothing.com IP: 198.240.133.75 URL: http://absolutelyanonymous.blogspot.com DATE: 08/23/2004 04:45:54 PM Done!! Cheers, Jhanvi ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ravages EMAIL: chandrachoodan@gmail.com IP: 203.101.90.162 URL: http://www.selectiveamnesia.org DATE: 08/23/2004 05:19:28 PM Can you tell me or give me that superb noodles you served me and a friend that day? Mee Goering, I think. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anita EMAIL: anitabora5@rediffmail.com IP: 220.227.179.5 URL: http://www.anitabora.com/blog DATE: 08/24/2004 11:42:52 AM And done sir :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Muthu EMAIL: muthuonline@gmail.com IP: 203.200.40.199 URL: http://muthuonline.com DATE: 08/24/2004 01:50:52 PM Hey Madman, Neat! You just might win "the best online marketing campaign of the year" award! Muthu p.s Dont you do "Chinese"? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilesh EMAIL: mail@nilesh.org IP: 202.149.209.190 URL: http://nilesh.org/weblog/ DATE: 08/24/2004 05:01:05 PMthe best online marketing campaign of the year
If Anil can do it why can't we? There you go, Madhu, one from me too. :)
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sumeet Singh EMAIL: singh.sumeet@gmail.com IP: 206.126.161.47 URL: http://www.ind-security.net/sumeet DATE: 08/24/2004 05:32:39 PM done that. not that you helped me directly by either setting up my blog or putting in any nifty feature or any other design / css value, yet I have been coming to this blog and reading, so I decided to give back some that I have taken. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harini Calamur EMAIL: calamur@gmail.com IP: 203.115.72.241 URL: http://www.20six.co.uk/gargi DATE: 08/25/2004 11:54:13 PM Hi congrats on the restraunt. can't wait to visit Bangalore next. You could look at joining www.ryze.com - its an international business/social networking site. and it has a Bangalore network with over 2000 members http://bangalore-network.ryze.com/ It takes 5 minutes to join. Harini ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ranjini EMAIL: r@r.com IP: 64.136.27.227 URL: http://ranjini.blogspot.com DATE: 08/26/2004 06:53:12 AM Made my way in here via Anita's blog, Madhu. You've refuted many myths by giving up your techie career and going on to follow your dreams...and I do know it takes more than gumption. A hard-core Bangalorean myself, I'm longing to come by and savor your delicacies. Also, I will come back to read more of you. Congratulations and wishing you much success! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: suman EMAIL: suman@sumankumar.com IP: 203.200.30.3 URL: http://sumankumar.com DATE: 08/26/2004 05:04:12 PM"it happened because I foolishly volunteered assistance to tech newbies "Never mind. You condescending %^&*. Well, I wrote about Shiok even before you asked for links. What do I get? It IS a thankless world man. See you soon. Just settling down and struggling to find an apartment. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 09/01/2004 06:25:52 PM SIGH I hd done that long long long back !!! posted and posted about your place... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anil EMAIL: anilgorti@gmail.com IP: 202.88.147.77 URL: http://maverick.pagalguy.com DATE: 09/02/2004 07:43:47 PM Hey Madhu, Done albeit a lil late. Hope no probs here :p ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shyamal EMAIL: sr@shyamal.com IP: 205.245.27.229 URL: http://www.shyamal.com DATE: 09/03/2004 07:43:37 PM Madhu, Will definitely put those lines up on my website! I will be in B'lore in Nov. Will definitely dine at your place. -SR ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mind's Eye EMAIL: spicky_d@yahoo.com IP: 61.3.217.23 URL: http://ivo.rediffblogs.com DATE: 09/06/2004 01:34:59 AM One more from B'lore! And this is viral marketing at its best! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Muthu EMAIL: muthuonline@gmail.com IP: 203.200.40.199 URL: http://muthuonline.com DATE: 09/07/2004 12:08:14 PM Hey madhu, 've placed ur ad on my blog. Howz traffic & what's your conversion rate like? Cheers Muthu ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Wings EMAIL: swings@gmail.com IP: 202.56.233.130 URL: http://whirlwings.blogspot.com DATE: 09/09/2004 07:37:19 PM Hmm so you do food AND html. Now that's talent. Will definitely drop by if I ever go to B'lore... :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron Zeno EMAIL: ronz@despammed.com IP: 24.136.66.190 URL: http://ronz.blogspot.com DATE: 09/19/2004 07:06:34 AM So I'm a bit late on getting on my weblog. Do tell about your traffic. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Alka EMAIL: alka@alkadwivedi.net IP: 61.246.16.34 URL: http://www.alkadwivedi.net DATE: 09/28/2004 01:01:52 AM That's an excellent idea and you have so many well wishers! ----- PING: TITLE: More thanks URL: http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/archives/2004/08/more_thanks.html IP: 64.21.80.5 BLOG NAME: Selective Amnesia DATE: 08/23/2004 05:15:07 PM MadMan, who suddenly finds himself the unsung hero of Indian Blog-o-sphere is also a great Chef. If you didn't know it, you ain't worth talking to. Oh well, listen up! MadMan. Is. A. Great. Chef. And to prove it, he has a super duper restaurant. I can ... ----- PING: TITLE: Shiok URL: http://nilesh.org/weblog/2004/08/shiok/index.html IP: 69.93.129.4 BLOG NAME: Nilesh's Weblog DATE: 08/24/2004 05:12:29 PM If you're in Bangalore, please visit Madhu's new restaurant, Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine that serves good Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. While I have never been there, I can trust Madhu for it. And so can you. And so do Anita and Kiru... ----- PING: TITLE: Plugging a pal: Try Shiok! URL: http://www.kingsley2.com/archives/2004/08/plugging_a_pal_ IP: 64.21.80.5 BLOG NAME: Kingsley 2.0 DATE: 08/30/2004 08:10:45 AM If you're in Bangalore, please visit Madhu's new restaurant, Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine that serves good Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. The restaurant is on CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. I've been there once and I must say the co... ----- PING: TITLE: a fine place URL: http://blog.xavierroy.com/archives/2004/08/31/fine-place/ IP: 69.93.186.194 BLOG NAME: Odyssey DATE: 08/31/2004 10:44:30 AM If you’re in Bangalore, please visit Madhu’s new restaurant, Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine that serves good Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. The restaurant is on CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. The first chance I get, I ... ----- PING: TITLE: Eatin out in Indira Nagar? Try Shiok! URL: http://www.muthuonline.com/archives/in_bangalore/000032eatin_out_in_indira_nagar_try_shiok.html IP: 64.21.80.5 BLOG NAME: Muthu Online DATE: 09/07/2004 12:07:15 PM If you're in Bangalore, please visit Madhu's new restaurant, Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine that serves good Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. The restaurant is on CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. I 've neva been to this place, but intend ... ----- PING: TITLE: Madhu's Shiok far eastern restaurant in bangalore URL: http://www.sandipb.net/blog/archives/2004/09/12/madhus-shiok-far-eastern-restaurant-in-bangalore/ IP: 66.98.128.18 BLOG NAME: Ghosts in my mind DATE: 09/12/2004 08:05:00 AM All those who know me, realize very well how much food excites me. I am passionate about (eating) it, though. But there are some people like Madhu Menon, who takes really shows what being passionate about somethings in life is all about. Madhu left his... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Blog Mela: Call for entries BASENAME: blog_mela_call STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism DATE: 10/11/2004 12:12:58 AM ----- BODY: Come one, come all to the next weekly Blog Mela, showcasing interesting writing from around the Indian blogosphere. This is your chance to nominate your Booker Prize winning, Arundhati Roy busting, golden prose. And even if the Booker is in your dreams, you can still find a place here. :) Here are the rules: a) Either you or your blog entry must have something to do with India. The entry must be made between 8 October and 14 October. b) Don't bother with the personal posts. We won't carry them. c) Send me a cheque for $10 as a nomination fee. If I'm in a good mood, I might even waive the $10. Who knows... The Mela will be posted on 14 October for the world to see. Post your nominations as a comment or send me a mail at madman AT madmanweb dot com. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nirenjan EMAIL: mutanuuutlagadi-blogger@yahoo.com IP: 61.3.97.132 URL: http://nirenjan.blogspot.com DATE: 10/11/2004 10:39:38 PM My entry for this week's Mela http://nirenjan.blogspot.com/2004/10/archeologist.html I don't have a chequebook. How do I pay you? Cash or card? ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nitin EMAIL: painn@notcoldmail.com IP: 192.169.41.40 URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com DATE: 10/12/2004 04:12:30 PM MadMan, I'd like to propose this post from a new blog I saw Imran on why he is a Muslim and proud to be an Indian. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nitin EMAIL: painn@notcoldmail.com IP: 192.169.41.40 URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com DATE: 10/12/2004 04:14:42 PM Here's another nomination, Kiran The Brooding Dude who 'Cant Help Thinking...' about The Ahimsa Conundrum. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ravikiran Rao EMAIL: site@NOSPAMravikiran.com IP: 203.193.183.2 URL: http://www.ravikiran.com DATE: 10/12/2004 06:35:25 PM Date range please ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shyam EMAIL: shyam@shyamnair.com IP: 209.114.251.42 URL: http://shyamnair.com/blog/index.php?p=33 DATE: 10/13/2004 03:09:21 AM I am nominating myself,It doesnt have to do much with india,except that it was written by an Indian. A CONSPIRACY AGAINST HUMAN SPIRIT ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ashish Hanwadikar EMAIL: Ashish_Hanwadikar@yahoo.com IP: 68.121.219.41 URL: http://ashishniti.blogspot.com/ DATE: 10/13/2004 09:56:27 PM Here is my post for the Mela. http://ashishniti.blogspot.com/2004/10/indias-poor-economic-performance.html ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Prashant EMAIL: mullickprashant@gmail.com IP: 130.126.228.237 URL: http://prashantmullick.com DATE: 10/14/2004 12:49:22 AM Here is a wiki copy of a series of posts on the India-Pakistan series eariler this year. http://prashantmullick.com/wiki/An+Indian+Cricket+Fan+In+Pakistan The blog posts are here: http://prashantmullick.com/wlog/archives/2004/10/13/an-indian-cricket-fan-in-pakistan/ Take your pick for the one to include in the Mela. Cheers ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Twilight Fairy EMAIL: twilightfairy@rediffmail.com IP: 61.246.186.2 URL: http://twilightfairy.rediffblogs.com DATE: 10/14/2004 12:33:16 PM can the post be from any date range? personally I find the date range thing to be quite a limitation.. :-| ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Santy EMAIL: santoshkumar@gmail.com IP: 202.138.126.62 URL: http://sanspeak.blogspot.com DATE: 10/14/2004 05:55:39 PM I would like to nominate a great blog ;-). http://sanspeak.blogspot.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dilip D'Souza EMAIL: dilipdsouza@rediffmail.com IP: 203.187.210.229 URL: http://dcubed.blogspot.com DATE: 10/14/2004 09:42:09 PM OK, here's mine: http://dcubed.blogspot.com/2004/10/nose-and-toes.html cheers, dilip d'souza. ----- PING: TITLE: Flog That Blog! URL: http://www.theviewfromtheground.com/archives/000080.html IP: 203.199.124.121 BLOG NAME: Just A MindGymnazium DATE: 10/11/2004 10:58:05 AM Extremely tickled about how personal publishing is so-to-say coming into the mainstream. Speaking for myself, the blogging phenomenon (heehee, couldn't resist that pun!) has got me back onto the WWW, had pretty much stopped browsing otherwise. I must c... ----- PING: TITLE: Madhu's Mela URL: http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/archives/2004/10/madhus_mela.html IP: 64.21.80.5 BLOG NAME: Selective Amnesia DATE: 10/11/2004 11:31:32 AM The Magister brings to a close the first of the revived Weekly Blog Mela. Great fun, and an amazing experience. Especially that Instalanche. But by no means is this a flash in the pan. As we speak (well, at least, I do) MadMan is getting his house in o... ----- PING: TITLE: Mela is Back URL: http://patrix.typepad.com/nerves/2004/10/mela_is_back.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Nerve Endings Firing Away DATE: 10/14/2004 09:46:25 AM The Bharteeya Blog Mela, which I will be hosting on November 18th, is currently hosted at MadMan's blog. Drop in your nominations there or go to Shanti's blog if you want to host one of the Melas. Apart from the ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Mela update BASENAME: mela_update STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 10/16/2004 01:30:12 AM ----- BODY: Apologies for the delay in uploading the latest Mela. My official reason is that I was out today teaching a cookery class at Bangalore Club. But I'm also trying to follow Yazad's suggestion that Mela hosts try to expand the offering beyond simply the nominated posts. I am therefore trying to read as many blogs as I can to find those hidden gems. I should be done by noon on Saturday. Rukawat ke liye khed hai :) ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Bharteeya Blog Mela BASENAME: bharteeya_blog STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism DATE: 10/16/2004 03:34:32 AM ----- BODY:
Hello there. How are you? Take a seat, won't you? The show will begin in a minute. How about a cup of virtual coffee? No? You're sure? OK then.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages... MadMan's Web is proud to present you with yet another weekly edition of the Bharteeya Blog Mela, our virtual showcase of insightful writing by Indians without any of the "I changed my toothbrush today" fluff.
The entries below have been chosen both from reader submissions and from my own travels around the Indian blogosphere. I have used editorial discretion when picking the posts and if yours hasn't made it, I'm sorry.
(This is the paragraph that's supposed to start with the "without further ado" cliché but I will not use it.)
Let's jump right into it, eh?
Vichaar.org has some suggestions for online promotion of Shwaas - India's nominee to the Oscars. (Editor's note: Have you noticed the media attention paid to Shwaas compared to Lagaan?)
Dilip D'Souza has just adopted a baby and shares his experience as well as the neighbour's reaction.
Ashish Hanwadikar pores over reams of data and concludes that failed economic policies are the only reason for India's lack of economic progress.
Want another theory? Atanu Dey opines that Indians are getting left behind just because of ignorance and stupidity. Hopefully he will explain how in a future post.
In another post, Atanu posts Part 5 of a detailed proposal to get all of India educated by giving them a Rs. 5000 financial incentive to study. Will it evade the notorious Indian skill for finding loopholes in systems and abusing them? Read it and decide for yourselves.
Amardeep Singh explains how the Bush camp has turned the word "lesbian" from a value-neutral description to a slur.
Sandeep is furious that winners of the Nobel Peace Prize don't seem to be particularly worthy; the latest being a lady who believes AIDS was a virus created by whites to wipe out blacks.
Alka Dwivedi laments the mindset of some men that causes operations like hymenoplasty ("repairing" the female hymen) to be offered.
Lazy Geek tells us about how Chennai is making preparations for the shopping season that is heralded by Deepavali.
The Acorn ridicules an NRI mgazine's view that modern technology deployment should be withheld until intelligence agencies can catch up.
Brooding Dude has a theory of why the British tolerated Gandhi's non-violent protests for so long. He falls short, however, of explaining how this led to India getting freedom.
Feminine Mystique is a little overwhelmed by all the technology around us and thinks that things are hardly "simpler" as they were supposed to be.
Rajk takes an Indian friend to an Indian restaurant in UK where the conversation is not about the food but mostly about the cooler there.
Please visit these sites and whenever possible, leave a comment for the author with your views.
I hope you enjoy this selection of articles. The next mela will be hosted by young Aadisht Khanna. (A full hosting schedule is available here.)
Adios!
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: mail@yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 10/16/2004 12:59:32 PM Actually I will have a virtual cup of coffee. Bravo. Good stuff on the mela! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ravages EMAIL: chandrachoodan@gmail.com IP: 203.101.90.162 URL: http://www.selectiveamnesia.org DATE: 10/16/2004 01:13:36 PM And as if one weren't enough, you need two Instalanches. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aadisht EMAIL: myfirstname@myfirstname.net IP: 202.41.106.12 URL: http://www.aadisht.net DATE: 10/16/2004 02:16:17 PM When do I put up the call for entries, and for which timeframe? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John Doe EMAIL: johndoe@somewhere.com IP: 61.95.194.17 URL: DATE: 10/17/2004 06:39:06 PM Hey, thanks for the links! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nitin EMAIL: painn@notcoldmail.com IP: 192.169.41.40 URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com DATE: 10/18/2004 08:35:52 AM BBM Makes good reading...was good to see my post on the mela. ----- PING: TITLE: Blog Mela URL: http://www.madhoo.com/archives/003151.php IP: 63.247.140.138 BLOG NAME: Dancing with Dogs DATE: 10/16/2004 04:34:42 AM It is up at MadMan’s blog and is filled with some real virtual delicacies…MadMan’s Web: Bharteeya Blog Mela.... ----- PING: TITLE: Asia by Blog URL: http://simonworld.mu.nu/archives/050629.php IP: 64.91.238.2 BLOG NAME: Simon World DATE: 10/18/2004 01:50:34 PM Asia by Blog is a twice weekly feature, posted on Monday and Thursday, providing links to Asian blogs and their views on the news in this fascinating region. Please send me an email if you would like to be notified of new editions. Previous editions ca... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: The meaning of being an Indian BASENAME: the_meaning_of STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Society & culture DATE: 10/21/2004 02:25:02 AM ----- BODY:I was born in India and have spent most of my life here. But just how "Indian" am I?
What does it mean to be an Indian anyway? If we set aside the default label that was stuck on you because you were born in this country, is there something else that binds people together into being an Indian?
Ravi once opined that nationalism was a constructed identity. He wrote: "Every generation finds things we have in common, things that we share, things that we value and things that we can be proud of, and builds a nationalism out of it."
And what if you don't find too much in common with many people in your country? I ask because for many years, I have felt a "cultural mismatch" between me and the country I live in. I could not identify with many things that form our "culture". For instance:
Sorry if I came across as a snob for it wasn't my intention. I merely find myself getting more and more pissed off with the so-called "culture" of this country that is often hailed. Has our culture been reduced to breaking traffic laws, trying to beat the law, being unruly in situations where some order is required, spitting on the roads, urinating on walls, whistling in movie theatres during kissing scenes, etc.?
Not that all people are like that, of course. I have met plenty of nice enough people, but if I think about my average week, it's spent being pissed off at all the stuff I've just mentioned. It tilts the balance against what few positive experiences I have. (There, that sentence was in anticipation of the "don't look only at the negative things" argument someone will surely make.) And even if I didn't, I feel like a cultural "misfit" because of all the numbered reasons I've given.
How, then, can I strongly identify with this country? Is there any "Indian" left in me?
Update (27 Oct): I am amused that in a blog entry where the words "West" or "Western" haven't been mentioned even once, so many people have assumed the comparison anyway. Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups, folks.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shanti EMAIL: madhoo.1@email.com IP: 207.238.101.61 URL: http://www.madhoo.com DATE: 10/22/2004 03:00:00 AM That was kind of how I felt when I lived in India - I was a total misfit, though in different ways. I feel so much more confident of myself and happy with the way I am, I don't think I can go back and live in India again. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: arun EMAIL: a@b.com IP: 203.31.24.51 URL: http://www.arunwho.com DATE: 10/22/2004 06:16:50 AM Indians are such bloody snobs! :-)) Actually this is the problem.. instead of building/improving on our way of life, we abandon everything 'Indian' and embrace everything 'western'. most poeple have this mindset "western=modern" tch tch.. Its a pity you question your identity. btw, my brains melt as well.. watching "one man save the world" american movies ;-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shanti EMAIL: madhoo.1@email.com IP: 24.0.115.28 URL: http://www.madhoo.com DATE: 10/22/2004 09:13:29 AM How do you feel about one-man-takes-on-Pakistan Sunny Deol's movies, Arun? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shyam EMAIL: shyam@shyamnair.com IP: 209.114.251.42 URL: http://www.shyamnair.com/blog DATE: 10/22/2004 09:47:20 AM An elitist cannot be a leader, and only a true leader can uplift his society.Why do we lack the civic responsibility to stand up,make a difference and show some leadership,rather than ostracizing our own country men. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rahul Sinha EMAIL: quidire@gmail.com IP: 216.15.51.39 URL: http://quaere.blogspot.com DATE: 10/22/2004 09:50:57 AM Hahahaha, I find your words strangely familiar; I've expressed a similar sentiment about the United States. I am an NRI, born in Washington DC and living here now. I find that neither do I fit in with the "more Indian than thou" crowd of NRIs trying to desperately cling to the "mother country" nor the "Americans with funny names" crowd denying their heritage entirely. Many if not most of my friends are Americans of European extraction. Here too do I find a disconnect. Arguments about the "scandal" of burning the flag seem quaint, indignation at the UN's request to monitor US elections simply amusing. [To be continued] ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rahul Sinha EMAIL: quidire@gmail.com IP: 216.15.51.39 URL: http://quaere.blogspot.com DATE: 10/22/2004 09:52:14 AM I would say that it is often too easy to conflate certain backward elements of one's surrounding culture with the culture itself. Here I would agree with Arun, that to assume Western values = modernity is quite silly. The grass is always greener; I wish I lived in the EU. I'm sure that if I lived there I would find my neighbors' criticism of Israel in re Palestine to be hoarse and incoherent, to say nothing of naive. Even transnational ideologies end up disappointing. Libertarianism is sexy, there is no doubt; it becomes a little farcical after one doggedly goes through issue after issue and points out externalities to one's actions that leave them non-self-regarding. Were you American I would point you to the DLC/NDN wing of the Democratic party as the refuge of post-libertarians. (The myth of the self-regarding act is only one criticism of libertarianism; I would also add that to the extent that market actions end up being coercive to the participants of the market, there is nothing intrinsically preferable to an economic market vs a political one. To the extent that the political market is imperfect, well have you ever read the list of assumptions necessary for a perfect economic market to exist?) To yearn for a mythical community of like-minded fellow citizens is natural; we all do it. I doubt it can ever exist. In larger world cities with large professional populations one may have better luck creating an ad hoc group of compatriots that fit the bill, but one will always share one's polity with knuckle-dragging neanderthals. Cheers! -RS ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@nospam.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.195.245 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 10/22/2004 12:04:34 PM Arun, I haven't done an Indian-Western comparison if you notice. I said I was a "cultural misfit". What do you expect me to do to change things like getting religion out of so many things, making people follow traffic rules, etc.? I try to set a personal example, but beyond that, changing millions of people is not something I imagine doing. Rahul, could you say all that in plain English please? :) And let's not start a debate about libertarianism. This post isn't about that. I embrace principles and values that make sense to me, regardless of where they're from. I'm not a blind "West = good" advocate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kingsley EMAIL: kingsleyj@hotmail.com IP: 156.56.76.87 URL: http://kingsley2.com DATE: 10/22/2004 12:41:29 PM Indians make India, not the other way around. As long as your conscience and intellect vet them, it doesn't matter where your values comes from. I can't live my life trying to be "Indian" or anything else anyone else thinks I should be. I am not proud that I am Indian. I can only be proud of things I have accomplished. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: arun EMAIL: a@b.com IP: 203.31.24.51 URL: http://www.arunwho.com DATE: 10/22/2004 02:02:32 PM true. indians make india.. wat we do IS our culture.. western influence is totally acceptable.. im only disappointed with people who alienate themselves only to be cool.. my grand parents back in the village had tatoos and piercing.. that was so country! :-)) we dumped it now when its hep in west we are all ga-ga. back to your post.. wont say you are wrong, not asking you to correct every kuppusamy.. do what you do ..do it as Indian. becas you are one! -applause applause- ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rohit EMAIL: coolro@gmail.com IP: 203.94.201.64 URL: http://www.coolro.com DATE: 10/22/2004 02:05:16 PM We must be twins in our past life! I don't find it strange that you and I and for sure many others feel they same way. We are to a huge extent a minority. And I truly believe that we are the progressive kind, but in a way, selfishly progressive. Leave-the-country-and-be-with-'our-kind' kinda attitude and its very natural that it exists. But not even I have a solution to this. I'm an aspiring runnaway bird myself. PS: How do you think your (our) thoughts are gonna strike a vibration if you call yourself Mad? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nitin EMAIL: painn@notcoldmail.com IP: 165.21.154.13 URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com DATE: 10/23/2004 11:30:50 AM MadMan, (Your post struck a chord; the items on the list are so similar that it looks pretty spooky.) Every society has its misfits, and some misfits remain misfits in any society. In my opinion, the question of identity has answers on different levels of abstraction, and firstly it is not monolithic. You can simultaneously be a internationalist-atheist-libertarian and a Malayalee-Bangalorean-Filtercoffeedrinker at the same time. Both are components of your Indian identity; regardless of what people think. Identity is also dynamic; so those who paint it as a static entity get into trouble when accounting for modernity. The Bhangra played in the basement discos of Birmingham is Indian music, for example. Thirdly, identity is not territorial. You can live in New Jersey and count yourself as Indian. Regardless of the passport you carry, or the accent you use. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilu EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com IP: 130.127.42.47 URL: http://www.nilakantanrs.blogspot.com DATE: 10/23/2004 11:35:16 PM The need for a definition of "Indian" is pretty lame and stupid in my opinion. And regarding the stupidities in that part of the world - yeah they are as nauseating as those in other parts. Human kind can get disgusting, but who cares.... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dilip D'Souza EMAIL: ddd@rediff.co.in IP: 203.187.210.236 URL: http://dcubed.blogspot.com DATE: 10/23/2004 11:53:53 PM Madman, I've been obsessed with what passes for nationalism for a long time. I should say, I didn't find much to agree with in Ravi's post that you pointed us to, but that's not germane here. I don't know much about being a misfit. But the more I obsess and think about nationalism, the most strongly I feel that it simply does not make any sense. To me, you're a good Indian if you're a good human being, period. Wherever you live, whatever your passport or colour of skin or language or religion or anything else. To me therefore, Nelson Mandela is a better Indian than AB Vajpayee; Bush loses out to Manmohan; my friend in Lynnfield, Massachusetts -- who pays his taxes, lives by the laws of his land and helps his neighbours -- is more of an Indian than the Bombay friend who thinks taxes are for idiots and only a fool doesn't bribe the cop who catches you jumping a red light. And finally, to me culture is what we see around us everyday. Munnabhai MBBS as well as urinating on the walls; cheating on our taxes as well as Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia. It's not good or bad, it just is. My few Italian liras worth. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sid Carter EMAIL: mail@khader.net IP: 128.88.255.34 URL: http://fotomoto.net/ DATE: 10/25/2004 06:32:47 PM Replying to arun: You presume that madhu is talking about westernism, when he is actually talking about being an individual. It is interesting to see that you are making your point by accusing him of being western/modern, when he hasn't said anything of that sort. He has stated his beliefs and you find those beliefs objectionable, when there is nothing wrong with those beliefs. *That* is the Hypocrisy and Intolerance of Indian Culture. He is not allowed to be himself. Madhu: Some problem?: MT::App::Comments=HASH(0x810ad2c) Use of uninitialized value in sprintf at lib/MT/Template/Context.pm line 1187. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ashok EMAIL: a@b.com IP: 80.240.192.37 URL: http://unganisha.org DATE: 10/25/2004 07:18:25 PM Hi madhu: i find personal parallels with your a-to-j equation (except for the one about traffic -- unfortunately been guilty of some of the most terrifying traffic maneuveurs in the southern hemisphere....) what we call indian-ness is our sense of history -- who am i? who was my grandpa? who was my great-grand-ancesotr...? etc... its also the negatives you talk about. its not good or bad, its just somethin different…. why do we think breaking traffic laws is bad? why is pissing on the wall bad? -- because we end up comparing it to something else that is percieved as good.... a while back i was stuck in moyale, a dry, hellish town in northern kenya on the ethiopian border.... this is literally in the middle of nowhere. Dirt track to get in and get out. Nomadic goat herders for company. it so happened i was looking for a toilet (a result of partaking some very stale meat for lunch...) and couldnt find one. it was quite late in the evening, and i was kinda desperate so i found a patrolling policeman wearing ragged clothes and asked him if i could find a loo ANYWHERE... so he led me to a street on the outskirts(just a path cut thru wasteland leading into another 9000 sq kms of wasteland…) and said I could go here...this is the local toilet bwana. And so I squatted and did it in the light of his hurricane lantern. When I got up there were a group of kids from the village clapping and cheering. “we are a free country…”the cop told me proudly “you can go anywhere….” my views on public crapping have changed a bit since then....:) --Ashok ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tushar Burman EMAIL: tburman@gmail.com IP: 203.199.82.174 URL: http://tushar.afraid.org/ DATE: 10/25/2004 07:33:46 PM Madhu, You're not alone. In the cultural context, I think the core issue is individualism, which is looked down upon in our 'culture' rather than tolerated or encouraged. While I despise life as part of the herd, I can't come to terms with a completely self-serving existence either. I also find that it is impossible to discuss this without sounding elitist in some way. I don't know where that leaves me. I've referred to myself six times in this post. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JK EMAIL: tiptronicus-NOSPAM@yahoo.com IP: 148.87.1.171 URL: http://varnam.org/blog DATE: 10/25/2004 10:15:05 PM Madhu, I think everyone has a quirk in them which makes them the "wierdo" for the others. In Engineering Colleges, if you don't drink, you are a wierdo. Later when you do meditation you are a wierdo. If you are looking for an escape from this, you will never find one. Do what you believe in and try to better yourself each time. Some people might learn from your example, most people won't. If you stop the comparison of you with others and make it a comparison of you today with the you yesterday, life will be a good challenge :) (My brain is empty now after dumping all that out) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MN EMAIL: mahavirn@hotmail.com IP: 12.45.174.6 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 12:55:48 AM Being Indian ( or for that matter from any country) today just means you have the country's name on your passport. The world has become too small a place for people to maintain distinct social and cultural identities without being oblivious of the world around them. You travel, observe and assimilate within yourself what you think is better. Urban Indians, in my opinion, have been exposed to a whole lot of the outside world in the past few years. I'm not surprised that a person like you who has spent a fair amount of time away from India finds himself more out of place at "home" than ever before. I feel the same way about going back to India now that I've been away from India for over 3 years. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: suze EMAIL: s.sujatha@gmail.com IP: 202.177.159.37 URL: http://sine-qua-non.blogspot.com DATE: 10/26/2004 07:36:20 PM Why do you feel like a cultural misfit when there are large number of atheist, libertarian, traffic rule follwing, seatbelt wearing folks all around you? i think you make the culture you belong to.. and so you are indian by birth.. and how you choose to be is good enough to be indian. who said that "being indian" involves a rejection of western values, snake charmers, elephants or angst for bengali fish markets and communism? capitalist, succesful, libertarian, spiritual but not religious, atheist, jeans clad, sari clad, red-light-stopper and eater of beef. all of these things don't make you "indian" and don't make you "un-indian" either. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 10/28/2004 03:57:12 PM Yo there.. Thoughts worth pondering over.. but just by being what you are does not disprove that you are not an Indian.. SIGH... I shall take your word for it since you made a point... All said and done.. Culture in India has a broad defintion and well I like to pick and choose what applies to me and my personality... crowd, impatience, dirt, disregard for the law.. are just some of the stuff which many adhere too and many abhor and thats where the balance is struck.. For me being an Indian is connecting with the country in a major way.. say roots.. and food... and in that aspect.. i identify with it more than other country except maybe Egypt. Order cannot exsist without chaos and vice versa and we are right in the middle of it.. either we bend this way or that... and India is a classic example of having all shades of order and chaos... :) Am I digressing ?? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tushar Burman EMAIL: tburman@gmail.com IP: 203.199.82.174 URL: http://tushar.afraid.org/ DATE: 10/28/2004 05:30:58 PM No Pallavi, I think you're spot on. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: H Ramanujam EMAIL: koolshot@hotmail.com IP: 213.42.2.23 URL: DATE: 10/29/2004 02:12:11 AM By design or default you have embraced certain etiquettes & personal traits that are foreign to Indian culture of the present day & as a result you have have left behind/ aliented yourself from Indain culture & become a foreigner in effect. You should be amusing yourself like most foreigners do, looking at all this drama rather than getting pissed off. What pisses off people like you is the fear "what a foreigner would think of you if they had the experience of Indian culture?" rather than you getting pissed off about the reality on the ground. I am not saying you should walk into a clinic to treat yourself. But, it may be worth an attempt to live the life as you like it, let others live their life as they like it, ignore what others might say or think about you & stop getting pissed off about nothing. Sorry if I came across as a snob for it wasn't my intention. I only want you to see what you don't see. You don't want to see all the people in the world look alike & march alike, do you? Nevertheless, people like you are the forerunners in marking the beginning of the end of individual cultures across the globe. I mean cultural divide becoming blur & eventually leading to a seamless mega culture with just couple of languages left. Yes, we may not live to see it, but for sure in couple of hundred years down the line. I am sorry for your present day predicament, but you can take pride in being the forerunner in the destruction of individual cultures by choice or otherwise. At least I would like to reassure you that Indians are not alone in proactively submitting to this global cultural invasion. Lot of others are getting into it. Albeit, a bit slowly. Wherever & whenever possible (you rather create the opportunities), you do have fun flashing around a bit with your lingo & show others that they don't belong where you belong, don't you? You probably can't be complaining... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Swati Sani EMAIL: swati@sanisoft.com IP: 203.201.218.250 URL: DATE: 10/29/2004 08:52:16 PM Not debating any of your points, just stating mine here ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hari EMAIL: hkodungallur@hotmail....com IP: 66.124.9.33 URL: http://www.bhavane.com DATE: 10/29/2004 10:04:58 PM MadMan, why dont you leave india and move to the west, where you are not likely to be a misfit? (P.S.: if you did not answer "WTF?" and tried to answer that question honestly, then that answer might tell you whether you have any "indian" left in you, i think) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@spamblock.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.195.50 URL: DATE: 10/30/2004 12:10:34 AM why dont you leave india and move to the west, where you are not likely to be a misfit? Because it's not that easy to migrate. Countries have rules and regulations for immigration. ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hari EMAIL: hkodungallur@hotmail.com IP: 63.250.183.170 URL: http://www.bhavane.com DATE: 10/30/2004 01:46:13 AM Do they? I thought you could just board a plane and move to anywhere in the world. :) Jokes apart, I am sure you might have had enough chances to migrate (if you really wanted to) since you were in IT and studied outside India. Well, I was just saying (which I am sure you guessed) that many stay back in India, even if they had an opportunity to migrate. Some are drawn to their roots/families, some like the madness, some just want to contribute their bit to India etc. And that reason pretty much defines their Indianness. And I am not trying to unearth Indianness in you. If you do not have it, then you do not have it. Simple. And finally, if you did want to migrate to a place which you could identify with, and could not do it because of the rules and regulations, I am sorry! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Suman EMAIL: suman@sumankumar.com IP: 61.2.70.81 URL: http://sumankumar.com DATE: 10/30/2004 01:42:43 PM Arun: What's wrong with the name Kuppuswami? I am not able to watch movies in Bangalore. They wont release them. Where's the 'we are Indians' line? And if any NRI talks about patriotism and the need to preserve Indian culture here, I will pay a visit and slam your head with a hardbound Unix manual. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gaurav EMAIL: sabnis@gmail.com IP: 203.200.201.2 URL: http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com DATE: 10/30/2004 04:13:16 PM madhu, most of the points you have mentioned would make you a misfit in most "cultures". The funda of a "culture" is a lot of horseshit, if you ask me. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: world leaer pretend EMAIL: anotherateya@yahoo.co.in IP: 202.88.181.40 URL: http://www.ateya.blospot.com DATE: 10/30/2004 11:49:54 PM I think that this feeling of wondering if one is indian, is created by this false pan indian national identity promoted for the sale of india as a commodity in foreign locations. Why do we feel such a need to define what it means to be Indian? I think it is a partly due to the fact that i am part of the elite of a developing nation, whose cutural trends are highly borrowed from developed nations. on the other hand i think this feeling of being lost is just part of our generation. to quote McKenzie Wark "We no longer have roots we have aerials. We no longer have origins we have terminals." My point is that i don't think i need to define indian or fit some random definition of 'indian' to lay claim to being able to talk about india, or not talk directly about india in an 'indian space' like the blog mela. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Prashant EMAIL: mullickprashant@gmail.com IP: 130.126.228.237 URL: http://prashantmullick.com DATE: 10/31/2004 02:27:02 AM why dont you leave india and move to the west, where you are not likely to be a misfit? I would rather that the society where he lives accepts his beliefs and rationalizations and not shun them by asking him to ship off elsewhere. Why? My simple answer is that if a society begins shunning anything different, it runs the risk of decay. Fresh and new ideas form the basis of a society that progresses positively into the future. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Karthik EMAIL: metlin@gmail.com IP: 24.98.177.242 URL: http://metlin.blogspot.com DATE: 10/31/2004 08:20:55 PM Jesus H Christ. Some of the posts in this thread make me want to cringe. Arun -- Using bad American teenage-girl spellings is not "hep". You do realize that there are enough logical fallacies in that post to make an eight year old kid feel smart, right? Blockquoteth RS -- "Were you American I would point you to the DLC/NDN wing of the Democratic party as the refuge of post-libertarians." Dude, first off it's spelt libertarian. And secondly, present day American post-libertarians will make GWB look liberal. You're mixing Libertarian Parties (e.g. Michael Badnarik) and Libertarian Ideology (e.g. Dalai Lama, Gandhi, etc). And MadMan --- Coming back to your original post, it so happens that most Asian cultures are not particularly individualistic, while Western cultures are. Ofcourse, this brings about a lot of interesting complications when a particular generation realizes that it need _not_ necessarily do something the way it's asked to. Going by some of the posts in this thread, I suppose a lot of us have had to endure that. However, the problem is that no matter how much you believe you are individualistic, the cultural influences are a tad too deep to be disregarded lightly. You do not realize it right on, but down the line it gradually dawns upon you that although you are a lot more individualistic than the rest of the Indian crowd, you're a lot more societal than the rest of the crowd in countries which have individualistic societies, such as the US. This is too far complex a point to be argued upon - you're not a boolean variable, you're an individual with complex behaviour patterns and ideals, it's hard to categorize yourself in any one particular way. However you could perhaps say that you've more of an individual philosophy than the present culture in India allows for, and hence feel quite not at home - and I'll hand it over to you. :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Karthik EMAIL: metlin@gmail.com IP: 24.98.177.242 URL: http://metlin.blogspot.com DATE: 10/31/2004 08:56:16 PM Okay, I realized that I've used the word Western, although I'd intended not to. I merely meant that as a relative comparison of a society encouraging individualistic philosophies (such as Western cultures) to that of the Indian culture (which is largely societal). And that sentence is probably grammatically messed up, but I'm too sleepy to know any better. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Prashant EMAIL: mullickprashant@gmail.com IP: 130.126.228.237 URL: http://prashantmullick.com DATE: 11/01/2004 12:52:15 AM Karthik, True that Western societies are more individualistic. However, if the neo-cons have their way, individualism will be dead long before you know it. You really hit the nail on the head, that it really boils down to a clash of the two ideologies: Individualistic vs. Societal. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Abhishek EMAIL: adeydas4@yahoo.com IP: 61.3.129.194 URL: http://deydas.com DATE: 11/01/2004 09:38:14 AM Guys, India is third up the corruption scale in Asia, so its not the culture that's wasting us, its the corruption that's slowly changing our way of life. Some idiots don't tend to follow traffic rules because they know that paying a few hundred would get them scot-free (if they are caught, that is). Despite the ban, people play loud speakers 'celebrating' during festivals (and sometimes even on private occassions like marraiges, etc) and there is nobody to complain. A one man army can't do anything here. If you do something out of the mould, you will be looked with raised eyebrows by the two most respected tribes of the Indian Society (you know the 'gentlemen' and 'ladies' who does everything other than their own work), so I personally believe that in a society like this, its the best to stay to yourself. And frankly speaking, I myself follow some of the points you have mentioned in your post. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rushna Mistry EMAIL: rushnamistry@yahoo.co.uk IP: 220.225.32.162 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 02:39:03 PM Another thing that I find very annoying in India is that we have a very inflexible timeline of when to do things. Finish school at 17, graduate from college, preferably engineering or medical, by 21, get a job, get married by 25, produce kids before hitting 30, etc. Else, you are el freako. I also find it frustrating that our culture of promoting family above individuals makes parents devote their entire lives to their children and have nothing to do when they are old. I wish Indian parents would pursue their interests in life and not let their kids' lives subsume their lives and savings. There'll at least be fewer horror stories about kids abandoning parents. I envy my European friends who take time off from their regular life and travel around the world. Indians, I believe, would be greeted with complete disbelief by employers if they ever took time off from regular life, travelled for a couple of years and then tried to apply for a job. Madhu, you would probably be a misfit in a lot of places, not just in India. Individuality is not really appreciated everywhere. I'm not doing the our culture vs. western culture thing here but just giving you an example of what I mean. (America is the only other country I've lived in and so can claim to have some understanding of.) In India, I can talk positively about Osama and Saddam without the fear of being thrown in the lam for it. In midwestern and southern America, I'd need to be really careful about with my words unless I wanted Feds on my back. A friend was called in for questioning a few months after 9/11 just because he'd visited the Twin Towers a week before the crashes and had taken pictures and he was swarthy. Go-with-the-herd mentality exists everywhere. (I read somewhere that our reason for survival is because of the tendency to conform.) So, well, sometimes I feel that maybe the lawlessness and boorishness I see in India is acceptable because I can speak my mind. Sometimes, it is just tear-my-hair-out-in-agony type of aggravation at the way people and things function in India. I'm wondering if Europe (except Britain) might the answer - responsible citizenry and the freedom to live your life the way you damn well please. Oh, red lights remind me. Does this ever happen with you that the lights are red yet people are merrily breaking the signal and you get abused by motorists behind you because you are not breaking the law? I've often been at the receiving end of abuse because I didn't have "guts enough to break a signal". Think its gutsier standing up to traffic bullies :). ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.196.27 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 11/05/2004 02:57:49 PM Rushna, Thank you for your thoughtful comments. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rhyncus EMAIL: rhyncus@rediffmail.com IP: 82.128.3.24 URL: http://rhyncus.blogspot.com DATE: 11/08/2004 02:02:02 PM Culture is dynamic, incremental and an universal idea. The nation-state is a recent development and has a more rigid physical boundary. The two have been sought to be, but are not, congruent identities. Is there anything shared culturally by the peoples domiciled within the confines of the Republic of India, apart from maybe an intense interest in the state of the muscles of Mr.S.R.Tendulkar? (this could be rhetorical or an invitation to list down defining factors of ‘Indianness’. Choose.) You, Madhu, are a mish-mash of a number of things, most notably, your inherited DNA, your upbringing (where the dominant ‘culture’ of your habitat directly influences you), your experiences and your reactions to them (which is again influenced by the above factors). What you call and know as your ‘identity’ is a product of these. Culture is but one of them. That there are a number of others like you is evident from some of the comments above, yelling Eureka! while going through your list, deliriously counting off the traits they themselves possess. When there are enough of you who stop at red lights in the night, that will become one of the traits of the dominant culture of your state/district/village/geography, and maybe, forty years later, someone will lament being a misfit here, because everybody seems to stop at red lights, even at night. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Venkat EMAIL: venki@cyberdude.com IP: 192.8.73.3 URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/mangudi/ DATE: 11/10/2004 06:27:18 PM There is no single set of traits that make up an Indian. I think you are just fine as an Indian. The whole concept of societal versus individualistic is not new to India. If people are individualistic, they are labeled as selfish, self centred and as a person who is psuedo western although there is absolutely nothing western about it. In fact, I know many westerners who still live with their families despite all the things Hollywood depicts. Many people I know in the US pay more attention to family than "Indians". As far as the craziness that is Bangalore (breaking traffic regulations, uncouth behaviour, lack of civic sense etc) it is what makes up the diversity that is India. In my opinion it is just the natural course of evolution to try to overcome the perceived faults of a culture. Looks like you are among the few that are going to start a cultural revolution in India. However, for all the stuff we have posted/commented here, how many of us are actually willing to take it upon us to right these social/cultural wrongs? Do we take the time to analyse how to eradicate at least one of these? All of us talk about corruption. How many of us have stopped to identify what causes corruption? As one of the comments rightly say, a one man army to clean out corruption is a figment of a Bollywood story writer's imagination. But then, how does one overcome this stumbling block? Are we really a developing nation? Is the view of the rest of the world right when India is judged so, and the western countries (at least many of them) are considered developed? How does one measure the development of a nation? Is it purely by economic factors? If you think about it, a country rich enough, can virtually overcome all the issues associated with a developing country like starvation, education, corruption etc. I think that we need to look at a different way to measure a country's stage in development. I have digressed long enough. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dvf EMAIL: dvf@rediffmail.com IP: 203.129.195.138 URL: DATE: 11/19/2004 09:09:36 PM whatever!i love my india ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: arun kutti EMAIL: arunk@yahoo.co.in IP: 203.129.195.138 URL: DATE: 11/19/2004 09:21:16 PM hi guys, a good discussion on this topic.i am a mallu nri from dubai.i have been there for 15 years + a year in canada.and i returned to india 3 years ago. never missed a chance of roaming gulf countries.but i feel those are just physical phenomena.when i visited india atlast, i feel disgust for missing india for 16 years. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Coolie EMAIL: foreverspirit@hotmail.com IP: 206.130.170.11 URL: DATE: 01/11/2005 11:29:08 PM Yoo Hoo: Be grateful you are from an equisite, unique culture. Go to the West and get a couple of Paki's up your ass and you'll see how quickly you realize you are an Indian. An Indian is someone of Indian Ancestry...from India!! A love for a variety of foods, clothes, even silly hindustani movies. Check out the intricate patterns on the textiles. Check out the unique and mystyfing ancient temples, statues etc., Check out the amazing variety of beauty. Yes check out the foolish cultural taboos. Check out the inner strenth, character and innocent joy felt by so many Indians. I'm sure if you trace it correctly, you'll find a lot of foolishness was implanted/created by Europeans. Conquer and Divide. Assimilate everyone until they are pepsi drinking, skanky, Christina Aguilera , jeans wearing, zombies - befitting of the New World Order Agenda. Surely by now, you must realize if they didn't know how to cheat, steal, lie and make believe that all genius originated from them, they'd be nothing. Search out things and be proud to be an Indian. Continue to improve our lot by carrying yourself with class and dignity of many of our forefathers, so that other Indians who have lost their way, can remember their/our greatness!!! Eternal Love. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.192.93 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 01/12/2005 10:37:20 AM Wow, Coolie, you didn't read a thing of what I wrote, did you? Assimilate everyone until they are pepsi drinking, skanky, Christina Aguilera , jeans wearing, zombies Yes, because as we all know, somebody puts a gun to your head and makes you drink Pepsi while listening to Christina Aguilera. Search out things and be proud to be an Indian. You should write scripts for Bollywood movies! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: cardamomgirl EMAIL: vanbel88@lycos.com IP: 139.78.10.72 URL: DATE: 01/23/2005 12:44:36 PM word to that madman. Coolie is the epitome of everything that is hypocritical with "indians". The ability to make comparisions, the 'us' and 'them'. All 'us' is good and all 'them' is bad. The first thing which struck me, when I visited the US was the attitude of Indians living here. The closet mentality, the change in accent/diction, while speaking to 'white' americans, the racist comments about blacks (calling them kaloo)and others minorities.All this within amongst other so called 'indians'. It makes me ashamed. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anu EMAIL: radi4music@lycos.com IP: 131.107.0.79 URL: DATE: 02/25/2005 03:28:54 AM Indians, I believe, would be greeted with complete disbelief by employers if they ever took time off from regular life, travelled for a couple of years and then tried to apply for a job. Rushna, I couldn't agree with you more! Sorry, MadMan, I came a bit late to your VERY enjoyable blog. I totally agree with the points you have mentioned. Anyway, to get back to what I wanted to say: Its not just (Indian) employers who look askance at an Indian who has taken time off from regular life to travel the world... Try the (arranged) marriage market after you do that - a friend of mine, who I admire very much, took a year off from work to travel the world (and horror of horrors, he gave up his well-paying job and H1-B visa status to do it). I wish I could have gone with him, because he had a whale of a good time. He's a really nice guy, no doubt about that either. So now he's 30, has been ready for an arranged marriage for the past few years with a girl from his community (he's constrained by being the only son of VERY conservative Palakkad Brahmin parents), but NOT ONE - and I don't mean the girls' parents, but the girls themselves - of them is willing to overlook (?!) his chucking up a perfectly good job just to go gallivanting around the world (insert typical comments about "responsibility" here). I personally think those girls are missing out on a great guy (AND he's a fantastic cook too!) - if I were the marrying kind, I might even snap up the guy myself ;) He's the most responsible person I've ever met, the most stable and fun-loving. And intelligent to boot! I'll stop here - just wanted to add my two bits to this discussion :) - not turn it into a personals ad for my friend :P ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anu EMAIL: radi4music@lycos.com IP: 131.107.0.79 URL: DATE: 02/25/2005 03:48:42 AM Me again - just another thought on another comment up above... Re. Indians adopting different accents when talking to Americans: Here's one reason to do that - so they can understand what you're saying. How many times do you want to hear "huh?" or "I'm sorry, would you say that again, please?" Or worse, have somone completely misunderstand what you're trying to say? I had an Indian co-worker who wasn't very comfortable in English, and had her and our manager (an American) just automatically look at me to translate/decipher what one of them has just said. Don't think I'm disparaging my co-worker's tech skills - between her and the manager, they pretty much made me feel dumb at times. But it made me uncomfortable that they were both relying on my translations that were clearly affected by how well I understood what each of them was saying! I'm an Indian, have lived in the US for close to 10 years. When I'm among my Indian friends, I drop back into the comfortable accent I grew up with and that still comes easiest to me; when I'm in a work situation, I use language that I'm pretty sure everyone understands - NEVER talk in an Indian language in mixed groups (or even in just a group of Indians in a work situation); when I'm with my American friends, I use a mix of my "Indian" and "American" accents - the closer the friend, the more likely I am to use Hindi or Tamil words (making sure I explain the meaning) and the more likely I am to simply speak comfortably. There's nothing ruder, IMO, than to speak in a language that not everyone in the particular conversation group can understand. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anu EMAIL: radi4music@lycos.com IP: 131.107.0.79 URL: DATE: 02/25/2005 03:57:52 AM Oh, and about Indians' racist comments ("...the racist comments about blacks (calling them kaloo)..." by cardamomgirl up above) - I don't hold with that and never have. When I come across anyone (Indian, American, Martian!) who does that, I immediately point out that it is racist, and call them on their attitude. If they can then continue to feel friendly towards me, I continue to be friends with them (with the particular boundary that they are never to use racist comments against anyone in my hearing). I have no control over what they do when they're not with me, but then again, I don't WANT that control! I just make sure that I don't appear to agree with their comments/statements by remaining quiet myself. This policy of mine applies equally to Americans and Indians and any other nationality/planetary origin that I might come in contact with. Doesn't result in many close friends for me, but the ones I have, I treasure :) Personally, I have a policy that I like a particular person (or dislike them, as the case may be) - NOT their entire racial group! I dislike plenty of Indians too - does that make me a racist? :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sm EMAIL: lifesaver_sk@yahoo.com IP: 71.98.74.172 URL: DATE: 04/07/2005 04:56:41 AM Rest assured you are not alone. And at the risk of you getting pissed off at me for making assumptions, I will take the liberty of saying that you too are afflicted with the "torn between two worlds" syndrome. Almost all my immediate family lives in America. I love this country and would like to live here for the rest of my life. But I remember my days in India. Without reiterating all the points you mentioned let me just say that I agree with each and every point of yours. Somehow from the earliest day that I could remember, I always had a strange almost a Neo-esq feeling of being in the wrong place. Nothing about the culture or the country made sense to me. I enjoyed a game of cricket every now and then with my friends but was unable to take part in their endless ramblings about Bollywood Movies which I thought were more standardized than McDonald's Hamburger. In addition I was aghast at how blatently and shamelessly Indians used the word 'BollyWood' to describe the Motion Picture Industry. I mean how difficult is it to come up with a name for the so-touted 'Biggest' movie industry in the world...the word is 'Ingenuity' folks, have some. I get irritated when my family members here get so teary eyed at the culture they left behind and the richness of 'whatever'. Even when I was a kid I could see the clear markings of a country plagued by hypocrisy. A culture having no less than half its Gods as females and with the concept of respecting women as one of its cornerstones is notorious for the sheer number of women climbing into the crispy wives club and the innumerable female infanticides every year. The actresses in the movies wears hipsters before the marriage and is somehow transformed into a pious Indian-Wife after marriage appearing in nothing less than than a saree draped on her head. And I really don't miss the rituals and festivals either, there never was a point anyway, other than to maintain the Brahmins' coffers by making offerings to God(read Brahmins). For my part I am convinced that Indian culture is rooted in ultra-deep pedantic symbolicism which minimizes the concept and contribution of the individual or his intellect. I find this unpragmatic and very short-sighted.I believe that rebelliousness is not only healthy but essential in a culture to maitain its vigour. I also think that success of any culture or philosophy is very much dependent of their spatial and temporal expression. Gandhi's philosophy wouldn't have worked agaist Saddam Hussain in Iraq but nor would have the Kurdish rebellion worked against the Mighty British in Victorian India. Indians should stop trying to obtain wisdom from sages and dead men. It is time for the individual to think for himself and decide his/her fate. It is time to rewrite the rules on living ones life. There is no standard for how an individual should act in life. If you don't feel Indian inside then you probably aren't. But you aren't a misfit until you've experimented with all the cultures and philosopies in the world or come up with one for yourself. Religion as my family followed it was definitely not my cup of tea. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kiran EMAIL: ksamvedi@yahoo.com IP: 202.156.2.58 URL: DATE: 04/20/2005 05:41:50 PM I'm 48, not a compulsive contributor of posts. This is my first post and will not visit ur site again. Just happened to read while searching some information on India and I can see myself 30 years back when regarded myself very western and didnot like very much being an Indian. During one of the heated discussions my father asked me to start defining religion , tradition and celebrations scientifically and methodically. he asked to write what I liked, disliked and why. It looked quite simple at first but took me an year to actually put it all down there. By the time it was all done, there was this great understanding of my religion,traditions and also whats gone wrong , why. and believe me pl. there was this great peace. Biggest surprise was that my western outlook was here hidden and lost in ancient history. Now, I was not a rebellious Indian, not an ashamed Indian but a very sad one to see so much good philosophy and individual freedom , lost maybe forever. habit of mixing the current state of festivals/social habits/infrastructure and political setup was lost forever. I dont stay in India any more but whenever anyone asks me about my religion , just tell that as a hindu you maynot pray the whole life time and yet be a hindu. you maynot believe in God and yet be a Hindu and always they are amazed! So maybe do what my late dad made me do. With the internet , its easier. You dont need to read books after books to put down a reason or search a definition as I needed to do. Surf, research , understand and feel good ......... good luck!!!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ritu EMAIL: ritu@brightentheworld.org IP: 203.187.243.77 URL: DATE: 04/28/2005 10:27:42 PM I have a list that is almost identical to yours, and I used to spend a lot of time wondering if I was 'Indian' or not. At least after my mother told me I was 'very Indian'. I am not sure what the phrase means, if it means anything more than knowing a bit more about a culture, people, country and its history because of where you were born. But the answer I came up with was this: if love counts, then I'm definitely an Indian. I may be a misfit here, I may not understnd a lot of things, and be actively repelled by lots more, but I'd really be a misfit here than anywhere else. If I get tired of griping, I can try and make our society conform to my views of 'ideal'. But until then, I am happy to be here. And the reason is rather sentimental, I'm afraid. Y'see this land is mine, the way no other land could ever be. Its sights and smells, its colours and seasons, sounds and tastes, its history and myths, its warts and annoyances - these are the threads of the tapestry of my life. And I don't think I would ever find a combination more to my taste than this one.... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ZZ EMAIL: zbabelbrox@yahoo.com IP: 129.46.173.107 URL: DATE: 09/20/2005 07:29:24 AM "Coolie", and many others try to advise the author to "Be proud of being an Indian". Some try to bring out ills/wrongs of the "west", Americans, Europeans etc. (while no one was denying those in the first place, nor is pointing out their "flaws" an excuse to state Indians have fewer or none). Considering this global era, this strange plea of being proud of any regional/cultural identity we happened to be born into, seems to me a surprisingly parochial view. Ofcourse no culture/people are perfect. That isn't the point of this article. Madman has just listed the daily things he experiences and finds annoyingly at odds with the identity plastered over him without his consent. On a lighter note -- people who love Bollywood movies, please don't bother to waste bandwidth/storage space for posting a comment on this blog. You just don't get it, do you! ;-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jan EMAIL: sqishieears@yahoo.com IP: 71.101.200.65 URL: DATE: 08/28/2006 07:47:05 PM I think people of INDIA, are beautiful people!. They have such nice Beauty, & there Culture is so unquie. I am an American Female, & just wanted to say, what I feel. JAN! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: B2b EMAIL: infob2bnospam@msn.com IP: 59.144.200.172 URL: http://www.b2b-guide.org/ DATE: 11/13/2006 01:36:01 PM good site http://www.b2b-guide.org/ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kaushal EMAIL: kaushalspeed@rediffmail.com IP: 117.197.19.138 URL: DATE: 11/04/2008 06:55:09 PM hey mad man! all you are doing here only to popularise your restaurant. you clever true indian. it's embarrasing to stay at your page any more...... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anchal EMAIL: aanchal_bhatia@live.com IP: 99.247.72.98 URL: DATE: 12/10/2008 06:47:30 AM What does it mean to be Indian...? Hmm it seems i found this page looking for this very answer as i am apart of a student exchange and representing the Indian Culture. Born in Indian but lived in Canada for most of my life, i do consider my self Indian. But when it came to this question i wasn't positive how to answer it. What truly makes an Indian, i know its more then the religion, the movies, the music the corruption and nonsense that seems to exist there, but then what makes an Indian? I couldn't fully understand how to express what makes me Indian, or what makes any one else living here Indian, or what makes the people living over there Indian, the simple answer would be that we all come from the same country, but somehow that wasn't deep enough for me...and as i search and pondered i came to this site and what you said is very interesting and to some extent very relateable i doubt that everyone is 100% into the common beliefs of Indian, i think that being Indian is just a stupid label a categorization and yes we are unique from other cultures and thats what makes us Indian because we are proud of our heritage and those beliefs ( even if we dnt agree everything) because we are proud of what our ancestors have done for us, and what we have achieved can achieve and will achieve one day( but that doesn't mean we cant be disappointed in those acts and actions that were wrong and are wrong) and we are proud at our differences and the uniqueness that we share we are proud of our diversity and our differences and that pride in ourselves and what we are brought up with makes us Indian, other then that we are all humans and truly being Indian is just a small categorization that is broad enough to be include everyone who wishes to truly be apart of it..for whatever the reason being Indian is just that...and im not sure if i have effectively expressed my idea of being Indian but i hope you have some idea... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: namaste EMAIL: rasantiago68@yahoo.com IP: 114.31.162.212 URL: DATE: 10/24/2009 02:07:11 AM it's highly likely that some of us at one point or another have felt the same way as madman, regardless of ethnicity, upbringing, political/religious views, residence, etc. it is not so much a question of being indian as it is being human. humans constantly swing between oneness and separateness. what provides balance is the awareness of it all. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ANKIT KUMAR GARG EMAIL: ANKIT.ACHEIVER27@GMAIL.COM IP: 122.163.103.178 URL: DATE: 11/26/2009 01:25:58 PM hELLO i donn't think so it is really right. these are the lines assumed to be given by anti indian. and also i feel most of the comments are been given by the nri ie non reliable indian(that doesn't mean i didn't know the correct full form).and u have said that u have been living most of the time in india but instead of making the good to india by discouraging all the bad of india or making it perfect as u dream of u gets to the nerve of the every indian including me because an indian would do anything but not displayed the discouraging factors like this on the international stage i.e.internet. i am not convinced by u. u have only explained the prblem but my madman please also told the solution for the same if u have done so much snslysiis of india. donn't take it personal it is the truth which i feel about the topic bye ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Meghana Mukerji EMAIL: meghana_mukerji@yahoo.ca IP: 67.70.162.97 URL: DATE: 12/28/2009 03:11:44 AM I agree with namaste. This is a question of belonging that all humans ask. I am a Canadian, who can't even speak Hindi. English is my first language, and I share western values about respect being earned, not given by default. I respect above all integrity and selflessness. I have only been helped in my career and personal life by non-indians only while Indians have actually denied me opportunities. I am marrying a white Canadian. The ONLY things I think India has got right is food and yoga (which by the way more Indians need to do because the concept of exercise is not popular in India for some reason). ----- PING: TITLE: The Meaning of Being an Indian a.k.a Jobless. URL: http://nilakantanrs.blogspot.com/2004/10/meaning-of-being-indian-aka-jobless.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: The Maanga Reloaded DATE: 10/24/2004 02:57:36 AM I can understand Nationalism as the modern equivalent of the clan/tribe mentality, a way in which an individual gathers numbers just to feel safer. But once a person has enough sense to declare himself/herself a libertarian in the modern world, I wou... ----- PING: TITLE: The Misfit Indian URL: http://prashantmullick.com/wlog/archives/2004/10/31/the-misfit-indian/ IP: 64.246.54.74 BLOG NAME: Prashant Mullick's Weblog DATE: 10/31/2004 12:16:10 PM MadMan has a post in the recent Bharatiya Blog Mela where he talks about what it is that makes him Indian and how he thinks he might be a misfit. In response to his post someone commented, why dont you leave india and move to the west, where you are... ----- PING: TITLE: Is India really as corrupt as other nations? URL: http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/eai/leadership/archives/003646.asp IP: 66.179.234.42 BLOG NAME: Thinking Out Loud: Thought Leadership from an Enterprise Architect DATE: 03/28/2005 09:05:42 PM In a previous blog entry, a loyal reader of mines posted his sadness in that I had something negative to say about his country. For the record, I am neither pro-India nor anti-India. I am however, pro truth and am... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: More comment spam prevention BASENAME: more_comment_sp STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 0 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Technology CATEGORY: Technology DATE: 10/30/2004 02:51:33 PM ----- BODY: These spammers are a relentless bunch. The more spam-prevention measures you add, the smarter their bots get. For instance, Movable Type's spam prevention for email addresses was merely changing the "@" to its HTML entity code of "%40" and has long been circumvented by spambots. Even installing MT-Blacklist only reduces your burden; it doesn't eliminate it. (Though checking my MT Activity log tells me that it catches a LOT of comment spam.) The fuckwits have now started comment spamming with legitimate urls like "www.fda.gov" to get you to accidentally blacklist non-spamming sites. The only feasible solution is to put in what's popularly called a "captcha" - a security code verification that needs a real human to manually enter a random number into a box before posting a comment. So that's what you will now see on this site. To make it easy, I have used only a 4 digit code. This will change each time you load the page. The captcha system is easy enough to install if you're a techie though it involves some mucking around in the MT code itself. It's only ineffective against manual comment spam but most spammers don't bother with that. Also, it doesn't work well with MT-Blacklist and you'll have to disable MT-Blacklist if you want the captcha to work. (Yes, I found this out the hard way after about 30 minutes of cursing.) Lastly, this means that blind readers won't be able to comment on your site, but I'm not particularly worried about that since this is a personal site. Update (15 November): To all the people who've mailed me asking me to install it on their web sites, please go RTFM and do it yourself. I have neither the time nor the inclination. Personal note: The Hindu has done a full-page story on three people who have made a career shift to the food business and yours truly is one of them. (The full-length version of that photo is here.) Of course, they mangled some of my words. For instance, the lady asked me if I cook in the kitchen and I told her that like most executive chefs, I am not into hands-on cooking regular food every day. This got twisted to make it sound as if I'm not involved in the kitchen. Also, I've been cooking for 15 years and I didn't learn it from just one dude. Oh well, you take what you get... I've also written a two-part article for Rediff.com on how to start a restaurant. (Part 1 and Part 2). Actually, I wrote the article way back in August. Then the person handling the new career section left Rediff and the section resurfaced only 3 months later. Unfortunately, the editor saw it fit to inject some of her own editorial "style" into my article, which pissed me off royally, especially since I edit myself ruthlessly. Rediff also does the "follow Jakob Nielsen blindly" dance and chops all paragraphs, regardless of continuity, into no more than two sentences each to "improve readability". Whackos! ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandip Bhattacharya EMAIL: sandip@lug-delhi.org IP: 210.7.86.22 URL: http://www.sandipb.net DATE: 10/30/2004 10:08:09 PM This rich text editing stuff caused a JS error in my Firefox 1.0PR. Maybe you should turn it off for non-IE browsers. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilu EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com IP: 130.127.42.47 URL: http://www.nilakantanrs.blogspot.com DATE: 10/31/2004 04:57:03 AM I hope to make a similar shift one day - I seriously want to open a strip club in Madras. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Niket EMAIL: nkaisare@gmail.com IP: 130.207.77.165 URL: http://kaisare.net/ DATE: 11/01/2004 09:24:45 PM Great to read the rediff and hindu articles. And nice recipes and tips at your chef's corner too! BTW, did Hindu quote your right when they said: "I was pained by the fact that a company could sack one-third of its employees overnight." That statement jeopardizes your position as a cartel member :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.194.43 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 11/01/2004 09:43:22 PM Niket, Actually, it's both a mixed-up quote as well as some misinterpretation on your part. ;) The reporter asked me about my previous life as a techie and how I quit etc. I told her about my last full time job as a department head of user experience at a certain web solutions company. This company laid off a third of my department one night without asking or telling me about it, after many assurances that nobody would ever be laid off. When they did that, I was damn pissed off and walked out of that company the next day on principle. I'm not questioning, however, the right of a company to hire and fire whoever it wants. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anita EMAIL: anitabora5@rediffmail.com IP: 61.95.192.234 URL: http://www.anitabora.com/blog/ DATE: 11/03/2004 06:18:29 PM Testing secure commenting system :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jitendra Chaudhary EMAIL: jitu9968@gmail.com IP: 168.187.129.238 URL: http://merapanna.blogspot.com DATE: 11/03/2004 09:55:13 PM Congrats Madhoo, for your new Venture. All the best..... But do not forget to write your blogs. I thing u must start another category now....on Restaurant Life. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: yazad@yazadjal.com IP: 202.177.152.108 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 11/05/2004 07:52:44 PM Jitendra, Madhu has a food blog as well!Bangalore's latest hang-out spot is The Forum, a 450,000 acre shopping complex in Koramangala. This is the first mall of its kind and size in Bangalore, so of course Bangaloreans are flocking there to check out this shopping paradise.
Like any decent mall, The Forum too has a food court, and unlike some of the other icky food courts in town (yes, Bangalore Central, I'm talking about you), this one happens to be quite decent. The restaurant-loving Bangalorean, who is now trying to match the Bombayite at being adventurous about food, has plenty of variety to keep herself occupied. In the food court, you'll find Thai food, Chinese food, South-Indian dosas, biryanis, Subway, etc. It's a pretty good spread if you ask me. Obviously, when it gets busy, the place gets chaotic because the average Indian does not know how to stand in a queue and actually wait his turn. But I digress...
And guess which food outlet gets the most traffic? Thai food? Subway?
No, ladies and gentlemen, the answer is none of the above. It is... [drumroll please] the spanking new McDonald's that has just opened its first outlet in Bangalore. Amidst the numerous cuisines on offer at The Forum, the queue outside McDonald's stretches for a long, long distance. Can you believe this? Bangalore has restaurants that serve food from 20 countries, yet the public is willing to wait ages just so they can get a taste of a lousy Maharaja Mac.
What is wrong with us? I'd understand if it were some exotic food not available elsewhere, but this is Mc-fucking-Donald's. This is the place that serves mediocre food consistently all over the world. In USA and most parts of the world, McDonald's is cheap-ass food where you can feed your family for $10. That's about all there is. There's no "ambience", the chairs are uncomfortable (intentionally), and the food is average but same-same everywhere. Why are we worshipping places like KFC and McDonald's as if they were some holy grail of gourmet food? As if this weren't enough, I tore my hair out when I opened my Friday copy of the Times of India. I flipped to the food review section hoping to find some new exciting restaurant in town (because one opens every other day in Bangalore), and I was horrified. Believe it or not, the food critic had reviewed the McDonald's at The Forum. I shit you not! Where else in the world would a McDonald's outlet be reviewed like a restaurant? It happens only in India.
If ever you wanted to see an example of crazy worship of Western icons, this would be it.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chirag EMAIL: chirag.rathod@gmail.com IP: 148.87.1.170 URL: http://chirag.revise.org DATE: 11/07/2004 05:14:09 PM I think Indians like McD just because it is American! Anything that is American is considered 'IN' in India! You can get the full list of "not IN" things here:- http://www.livejournal.com/users/hapuchu/47055.html ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Amol Hatwar EMAIL: amol@hatwar.org IP: 220.224.46.28 URL: http://hatwar.org/epilogue/ DATE: 11/08/2004 01:04:53 AM I think it's just a fad Madman. I observed the same phenomenon in Navi Mumbai. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilu EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com IP: 130.127.42.47 URL: http://www.nilakantanrs.blogspot.com DATE: 11/08/2004 01:57:45 AM I heard people in India take their 'Date' to McD's and KFC's! I only wish women in Clemson were such low maintenance material! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jax EMAIL: xavier@xavierroy.com IP: 210.18.114.3 URL: http://xavierroy.com DATE: 11/08/2004 10:30:01 AM I believe the KFC at the Forum has lost its crowd to the big Mac, ;-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: yazad@NOSPAM.yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 11/08/2004 11:44:06 AM One "problem" with a free market is that some people prefer junk. You've just observed one example of that. Well, there's nothing you and I can do except grin and bear it! De gustibus non est disputandum! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sid Carter EMAIL: sidcarter@gmx.net IP: 156.153.255.202 URL: http://fotomoto.net/ DATE: 11/08/2004 12:20:51 PM I don't think McDonald's cheap food doesn't mean it is bad. It is cheap that is why it sells. The fact that there are huge lines at McDonald's at Forum is because people want to go back and tell their friends - "Ooh, I ate at McDonald's. Did you ? Neener Neener Neener.!!" Kinda stuff. McDonald's has a brand and huge one at that. And considering it just arrived in Bangalore, this was going to be so obvious. McDonald's joints elsewhere are much better I understand. At least, the one I saw in France was good ( and quite decent ). Have yet to see the one in Forum. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 11/08/2004 02:41:11 PM well I guess its a question of having heard so much about it and trying it... its a fad which will die down... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tarique Sani EMAIL: tariquesani@gmail.com IP: 203.201.218.250 URL: http://tariquesani.net DATE: 11/08/2004 03:20:40 PM Apart from what Sid said I would like to add that McD and KFC add a bit of familiarity to what you know. Before we got adventurous with our eating in foreign places the first thing which we would hunt out was one of the branded things. It was only much later we realised what we were missing and now avoid these at all costs - (unless Aasim our son insists) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Radhika EMAIL: radhikam@hotmail.com IP: 195.137.21.199 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 09:28:57 PM I observed the same long queue (and this from a nation of non-queuers) when the first McD opened at Mumbai. Way back in 1996/97 I think. And some friends from my hostel actually wanted to go there an eat. Of course, I ate at the pani puri stall opposite, while they queued up. well written MadMan. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Berna EMAIL: delikiz@gmail.com IP: 209.219.209.72 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 11:40:38 PM I too, want to believe, that this is a fad Madman. When the first McDonald's opened in Istanbul, it was the same thing. It was THE place in town, and we're talking about Istanbul here, where, as you describe Bangalore, the possibilities are endless. People took their dates there, met there, held meetings there, birthday parties there etc... It has 10 cashiers, hence 10 line-ups, and all 10 of them would be out the door around the sidewalk. About 10 months later they opened another McDonald's about 10 blocks away from it. That one too got very busy. It took a couple of years before it got less and less crowded. I believe they have about 5 McDonald's' in Istanbul now. But, I must say, McDonald's usually always is IN for the teenage crowd overseas. Just because it's American. Your article was very well written! :o) Apparently missed reading your writing in the past few years... ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vaffanculo EMAIL: Vaffanculo@comcast.net IP: 69.244.175.97 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 06:17:44 AM Just what does "Micky D's" serve in India? But if its really crappy fast food that you want then you need to check out White Castle. This is a chain of burger joints that serves greasy 3" X 3" square burgers with holes stamped in them. They taste like motor oil, or at least what I imagine motor oil would taste like. You can now get them out of the cooler at Seven Eleven and toss em in the micro wave eweeee! And Talk about big spenders, I have a picture of a wedding party in Detroit, Michigan, USA standing outside one! I'll see if I can find it and email it to you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Atanu Dey EMAIL: atanudey@gmail.com IP: 202.63.183.157 URL: http://www.deeshaa.org DATE: 11/14/2004 02:55:27 PM Often it is a close call whether to rummage through the garbage looking for something to eat or eat at McDonalds. The only fast food burger that I can imagine eating is "In-N-Out" burgers. Yumm. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tushar EMAIL: tushar@vsnl.com IP: 220.226.58.233 URL: DATE: 11/15/2004 02:07:58 AM That said, I can possibly understand why people in Bangalore would queue up to have a McDonald's burger the first time - with the number of people in Bangalore having heard of places like McDs from sons/daughters who've been abroad (yep, the IT industry plays its part here too) - one can imagine people would want to check it out too. Why one would want to go there a second time/take a date there is a totally different thing - beats my average Indian head, I suppose. Great Dinner tonight, Mads. Tushar ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kingsley EMAIL: kingsleyj@hotmail.com IP: 156.56.81.74 URL: http://kingsley2.com DATE: 11/23/2004 11:25:41 AM Maybe its because McD's is exotic to India. Isn't "exotic" a relative term? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kirti EMAIL: kirtigupta@yahoo.com IP: 129.46.75.138 URL: DATE: 12/09/2004 04:50:20 AM I can't shake off the cheesy smell of cheap McDonald's food so reminiscent of the road trips on lonely highways when all you get on Exits is McDonalds. And then I visit India and see signs that boast "McDonalds: The Family Restaurant"! It was quite amusing! I took pictures of it and shared it with friends here in U.S. Hats of the Americans for successful penetration of even the worst of franchise empires...and to the unsuspecting blokes all around the world to actually adopt it! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Brijwhiz EMAIL: brijwhiz@gmail.com IP: 61.1.104.150 URL: http://brijwhiz.blogspot.com DATE: 01/20/2005 01:53:42 AM I remember when McD's opened up in Pune. People used to go to McD's all decked up in their fineries. Families used to have lunch parties here. Thankfully I did not notice the same trend in Bombay. In Pune I was happy as it gave a chance to us bachelors to have good food at the normal restaurants which normally used to be filled up by the food-loving Puneris:) Having said that I must confess that when I am on the expressway the easiest thing to gulp is the Mac especially since they have positioned one of their drive-through right at the beginning of the Bombay=Pune Expressway. As an aside- Pune has got over the McD's and the Pizza Huts and now people are flocking to speciality restaurants and lounge bars. It is indeed a great place for the food-lover :D (Beaten only by Bombay in variety) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: andy EMAIL: olena_datsenko@mail.ru IP: 195.149.90.73 URL: DATE: 12/30/2009 01:01:45 PM glad you speak about it http://www.madmanweb.com ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: GMail down: yes, it does happen BASENAME: gmail_down_yes STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: User experience CATEGORY: User experience DATE: 11/08/2004 08:50:57 PM ----- BODY:This, kids, is why you should never use Beta software for anything critical. Not even if it's good ol' Google.
Thankfully, I have three separate backup email addresses, all on different domains. It is very unlikely that all of them will be down at the same time so I'm generally reachable at all times.
Update (16 November): To the scumbag who's trying to guess my GMail password and clicking the "forgot password" link so many times - give up, doofus! I used to be a sysadmin, so my passwords all look like "rj87iy90l" and I can actually remember them. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tarique Sani EMAIL: tarique@sanisoft.com IP: 203.201.218.250 URL: http://tariquesani.net DATE: 11/09/2004 09:23:05 AM Large webmail boxes are good only for one thing - collecting p0rn ;-) I have seen this before and I am sure we will see it more, that said, there is NO web mail service where I have not seen a similar notice - why single out GMail? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 11/09/2004 12:00:12 PM ok i never faced this problem but the service being beta its considerable... heck even Yahoo gives me wierd messages.. sometimes ... LOLOL ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: The one who gets tempted EMAIL: onepairofhands@yahoo.com IP: 202.88.152.245 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 10:09:36 PM Gmail is also so transparent. Depending on the mail, you get ads on the right. I was looking at the Shiok newsletter, and to the right there was ads on different kinds of cuisine. Then I checked out some other emails as well. Wierd I thought! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dr.P EMAIL: makkymania@yahoo.com IP: 68.63.127.213 URL: http://www.thebelljarred.blogspot.com DATE: 11/12/2004 10:56:44 PM I took the gmail account because I kept getting invites. I only use it to invite other people to gmail. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Liquid Sky EMAIL: hghg@hotmail.com IP: 207.81.252.5 URL: DATE: 02/05/2005 02:13:53 PM Gmail rocks turds dude. Kepone is a super ghost who drinks lots of beer and is super intelligent. Rock on! LS ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: HopeSeekr of xMule EMAIL: i@wont.give.a.valid.address IP: 68.94.126.90 URL: http://www.xmule.ws/ DATE: 02/27/2005 10:44:39 PM Um... Is gmail down right now for any one? (11:15 CST) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: cantreadmy spam EMAIL: venture333@gmail.com IP: 216.183.184.253 URL: DATE: 04/08/2005 02:20:30 AM gmail is acting like yahoomail the past few days...today it is 349pm and i still havent been able to log on. it has been like this for 34+ hours. thanks alot sergei!!! worthless piece of shi@@@@!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: loose diamonds EMAIL: master@texas-holdem.co.uk IP: 83.144.86.218 URL: http://ty2j.com/loose-diamonds.html DATE: 03/30/2006 06:20:27 PM loose diamonds Probaly you should read this. loose diamonds Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy loose diamonds now ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: The future of matrimonial classifieds BASENAME: the_future_of_m STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Technology DATE: 11/15/2004 12:22:17 PM ----- BODY:
I noticed something interesting the other day as I walked into the offices of the Times of India to place a classifieds ad for some waiters for my restaurant. As I was handing in the form to the lady at the counter, a sign on the side caught my eye (mostly because I saw a "10% off" screaming from it.) Unfortunately, I wasn't carrying my digicam with me, so I'll have to paraphrase what the sign said.
Here's how it essentially read: "If you place a matrimonial classifieds ad and do not specify any religion, caste, or regional criteria, we will give you a 10% discount on the ad. We are doing our bit for the betterment of society and eliminating bigotry."
I was quite pleasantly surprised to see an initiative like this from an otherwise morally bankrupt publishing group. We "educated" middle-class and upper-middle-class Indians love to tell others that the caste system does not have a strong grip in this country, yet we are unbelievably hypocritical when it comes to marrying off our own sons and daughters. "We don't believe in the caste system, but my Sanjay can get married only to a [some language] girl from [some caste] caste."
Speaking of matrimonial classifieds ads, I think that the growing popularity of online wedding sites like shaadi.com will mean the slow death of the print classified ads, at least in English newspapers. They will do what the spread of cellular phones did to the pager industry (yeah, remember pagers in India?) It won't happen immediately, but I give it about 3 years. The print medium has severe limitations: you can't write more than a few lines, which have to as short and sweet as possible, giving you only enough space to write a bunch of numbers and abbreviations. Here's an example: "Smart beautiful homely [caste] girl 25/157/6000 seeks [caste] qualified well-settled boy. Contact Box no..." Now this could fit almost anyone, giving you very little info to go on. Online, however, you don't have any space restrictions, and adding more fields isn't that complicated. It also allows you to easily build databases that can be searched on various criteria. What's more, it has that most important bit of information - a photo!
When I mentioned the above Times of India signboard to one of my friends, he pointed out to me that one of the matrimonial sites, instead of leading the way, was actually being regressive in its approach. BharatMatrimony.com, that advertises heavily on many sites, has an annoying "feature" that's also a bug. If you want to search for a bride or groom, one of the parameters required is "language". This isn't a multiple choice thing; you can only select one language. It then redirects you to one of its language-specific sub-sites where you can search away. However, if you are slightly more modern and don't particularly care that your prospective partner come from a particular state, you're out of luck. There is absolutely no way to specify "any" as an option or even to search through more than one language. If you want to check out women from all over the country, you just have to conduct 29 different searches. Isn't that amusing?
Lastly, I must mention an interesting conversation I had about our matrimonial ads with John Rhodes (he runs webword.com - a usability site) who was visiting Bangalore for some business. He pointed out some differences between personal ads in the USA and over here. He found that the most important criteria here seemed to be the person's caste, religion and family, while in USA, people would put their interests and partner requirements. He was amused to note the classifieds were divided by language. I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "well, it will take another couple of generations to get rid of our deep-rooted prejudices."
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: desi EMAIL: bipolardiary@yahoo.com IP: 64.229.28.88 URL: http://www.bipolardiary.blogspot.com DATE: 11/15/2004 04:59:26 PM i enjoyed reading your blog! I'll definitely be visiting Shiok when I come to Bangalore. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Prasenjeet Dutta EMAIL: bulk@chaoszone.org IP: 203.197.136.234 URL: http://www.chaoszone.org/ DATE: 11/15/2004 05:01:33 PM IIRC the ToI has been doing this forever -- IIRC putting "caste no bar" in an ad got you a 10% discount. Incidentally, while classifieds in papers may become less important with time, I'm reasonably confident the Times Group will not suffer -- apparently matrimonial ads in their own online portal is a big revenue generator for them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Roopa EMAIL: primitive.lyric@gmail.com IP: 202.88.152.245 URL: DATE: 11/16/2004 05:50:22 PM Two weeks ago,someone rang up my dad telling him about an ad in the newspaper. He insisted my dad would be impressed, and my dad was. The ad was about a 29-yr-old with amazing degrees(IIT,IIM),a great job, great salary,bigger perks, and great family.Even my dad who is not easy to impress,was impressed.He thought someone with these credentials would be perfect for me.So he picked up the phone and called the number. Then we found out that the number was from an agency.They put up fake ads,so they'll know about prospective brides. Then ads for these brides are put up,after pocketing a sum from the bride's father. Big sham. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilu EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com IP: 130.127.42.47 URL: DATE: 11/17/2004 08:07:52 AM he pointed out to me What's next ? - "Return back" ?, use of 'can' and 'able' together?, or have a discussion "about"? The Libertarian passion for good English is losing steam. This pleonasm is unexpected, especially from those who pride themselves on "less is more" ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 11/18/2004 06:21:24 PM nice :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kirti EMAIL: kirtigupta@yahoo.com IP: 129.46.75.138 URL: DATE: 12/09/2004 02:54:19 AM Hilarious! So the TOI group does a little more that publishing fake news and semi-porn on their website? They actually provide a "service" to some (and entertainment to others) in form of matrimonial ads?! I agree with your post. Having interacted folks of various nationalities in the U.S., I will have to say Indians carry a bigger baggage of racism and caste prejudice than most. It is unbeleivable how in today's modern world, there exists a huge so-called educated mass in thw world's "largest democracy" completely run down by bigotry, prejudices and shall-i-add superstition. Hopefully the more progressive Indian generation on the net will slowly change these ways. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Niket EMAIL: nkaisare@gmail.com IP: 130.207.77.165 URL: http://kaisare.net/ DATE: 12/10/2004 07:14:11 PM A friend of mine --- PhD, working for a well known company, $100K + salary, only 26 years old --- posted an ad which said caste/language no bar. To his astonishment, a number of people enquired if there was something wrong with the guy (handicapped etc), since his surname clearly shows that he is a "high class brahmin" (sic). Most matrimonial ads go on and on about the bride/groom's father, mother, brother, sister (who happens to be married to someone settled in US... hint hint), uncle, aunt, dog, cat, elephant (oh I got carried away)... but nothing about the bride/groom her/himself. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kozz EMAIL: kozz@rediffmail.com IP: 61.95.201.155 URL: DATE: 12/17/2004 11:02:56 AM My sentiments exactly!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MyMatch EMAIL: mymatchindia@gmail.com IP: 210.211.252.27 URL: http://www.mymatch.in DATE: 08/28/2006 09:19:40 PM Yes, we agree on the matrimonial Classifieds scenerio. Hence we ae MyMatch Matrimonial Classifieds for Indians and NRI are comming out with a very different type of matrimonial Classified Portal, that will chnage the way in traditional matrimonial advertising. Reasonable cost and vast mileage is our motto. Know more about it on www.mymatch.in Get free registration and save on money. Its going to be a genuinely genuine matrimonial classified Portal ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sanjay tiwari EMAIL: sunit_nehal@yahoo.com IP: 144.5.224.142 URL: http://www.SuperShaadi.com DATE: 03/26/2007 09:26:55 PM There is one new matrimonial web site for Indian community, but there is a difference that they say its 100% FREE. What is SuperShaadi.com? SuperShaadi.com is a matrimonial website professionally developed for People searching for their Partners. This Portal gives people the opportunity to place their profiles on the Internet with secured collaborative tools like Notify and Send Message along with Profile Forwarding. The main aim of our Portal is to provide matrimonial services through Internet. The site is functional and user friendly. Its features are built to process the information logically and present effectively. SuperShaadi.com enables you to Search for your matching profiles by using the Basic/Advanced Search features to view the most matching profiles. Save selected profiles to your personal Folder for future reference to view and respond subsequently. Activate Notify to receive future matching profiles sent to your email account as and when added to our database. Add yo ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: timematrimony EMAIL: contact@timematrimony.com IP: 173.79.234.14 URL: http://www.TimeMatrimony.com DATE: 08/22/2009 05:38:02 PM www.TimeMatrimony.com We never ask money from you! Its always 100% FREE! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: TimeMatrimony EMAIL: contact@timematrimony.com IP: 173.79.234.14 URL: http://www.TimeMatrimony.com DATE: 08/22/2009 05:39:01 PM Only one Indian Matrimonial Web Site which is 100% FREE, i.e. www.TimeMatrimony.com We never ask money from you! Its always FREE! You can create profile, upload photos, edit profile, inittiate personal contact, exchange email address etc. for 100% FREE!, We never ask money from you! Its always FREE! Yes, we really mean it! Check into our web site, www.TimeMatrimony.com. Thank you. Wish you good luck! regards, www.TimeMatrimony.com team ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rohit atal EMAIL: faruddin@rediffmail.com IP: 122.173.254.68 URL: DATE: 08/23/2009 07:30:05 PM Dear Sir, I want to put an Advertising Matrimonial Advert in Newspaper in USA. What are the charges & procedure? rohit ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: lakshmi EMAIL: kala.lakshmi@yahoo.co.in IP: 122.166.17.105 URL: DATE: 08/29/2009 01:05:10 PM 'if i become a paid members can i get the detail list of members and also i want to know how many members are registering per day.' ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sreenivas EMAIL: ys151948@live.com IP: 117.200.113.65 URL: http://www.choosematrimony.com DATE: 12/04/2009 01:01:02 PM Choose your choice and chase your life. Find your Better half through one of the leading Matrimony services in India. visit www.choosematrimony.com User ID : Inet0503 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: James EMAIL: James@hotmail.com IP: 24.60.61.38 URL: http://www.mydiscreteplace.com DATE: 12/07/2009 02:13:56 AM Good article. www.myDiscretePlace.com (100% free online dating, matchmaking, social networking and matrimonial site) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sharad EMAIL: sharad@releasemyad.com IP: 122.161.166.144 URL: http://www.releasemyad.com DATE: 01/04/2010 04:24:11 PM Well you can now book your Times of India Classified Ads online at www.releasemyad.com . No need to visit a booking center anymore. Thought it might be relevant to add here! :) ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Links blog BASENAME: links_blog STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 11/19/2004 06:32:19 PM ----- BODY: In case you missed it, I have a web links blog integrated into this one. On the home page, just click the "show daily links blog" link and it will drop down for you to enjoy plenty of weird-ass reading on the Web. It will also give you a reason to visit more often even if I'm not writing longer articles. (Oh, and for the family and friends reading this, don't forget that 30 November is my birthday. My Amazon wish list is here, but feel free to surprise me with a BMW M5.) ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: mail@yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 11/19/2004 07:11:44 PM My birthday is exactly five months after MadMan's, but hey you can start planning right away. Here's my Amazon Wish List ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilesh EMAIL: mail@NOSPAMnilesh.org IP: 210.18.135.109 URL: http://nilesh.org/weblog/ DATE: 11/21/2004 10:50:57 AM Maybe, you could have the link blog visible all the time. Say placing it in the right side column (or creating a seperate column on the right side of the content) would make it more obviously visible. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.192.198 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 11/21/2004 11:24:45 AM Nilesh, I didn't want to add clutter to my design. (Plus I thought the drop-down thingy was pretty cool.) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.231 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 11/22/2004 01:24:44 PM BMW M5 ??? Hmm I would love a GMC Envoy ... or a Hummer or a Wrangler... SIgh the list goes on and on !! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: shub EMAIL: shubhere@vsnl.net IP: 202.56.254.194 URL: DATE: 11/24/2004 12:12:24 PM hey madhu...how come YOur blog is not linked on shiokfood.com...i've been a regular there, but this blog i chanced upon by sheer accident! PS: I HAD to add the YO after readinG YOur note! :-( ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sowmya EMAIL: sowmya.srinivasan@gmail.com IP: 202.144.91.163 URL: http://jlt-chumma.blogspot.com DATE: 11/30/2004 11:48:27 AM Happy Birthday ! ----- PING: TITLE: Amazon Wish List URL: http://www.yazadjal.com/mt/archives/000444.html IP: 64.21.80.5 BLOG NAME: AnarCapLib DATE: 11/19/2004 07:27:08 PM I'm going to follow Madhu's excellent example. My birthday may be five months away, but hey, you don't need an excuse to gift me a book from my Amazon Wish List.... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: New mailing list for food lovers BASENAME: new_mailing_lis STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Food & Cooking CATEGORY: Food & Cooking DATE: 11/26/2004 12:02:46 PM ----- BODY:Lavannya has started a new mailing list for food lovers. I'm copying and pasting her announcement:
Just started a new Yahoo group for all food lovers in India...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chilliesandchutney/
I finally thought we need a proper discussion platform for our palate. Lets bring together our common love for food.
Come join this group and lets discuss recipes, tips, eating places, in Bangalore and beyond.
Let us all get together.... and vent out all our food thoughts and ideas. Lets share our experiences with food, our likings and dislikes.
All are welcome - the excellent chefs and the beginners, the new wives and the bachelors who are tired of eating Maggi and puffs everyday... those who want to cook a quick and healthy meal and those who want to make an elaborate menu as a treat.. those who hate to eat out and those who just love restaurant hopping..
Lets all pour out our ideas and knowledge... and we can have some experts and absolute novices all exchanging thoughts.
--
So if you're interested in food, please do join.
BSNL, our wonderful government telecom provider, has of late been putting out big newspaper advertisements touting its great new broadband service called DataOne. These ads are remarkable in that they contain absolutely no information except that they're introducing a new service. That, and their web site URL is all.
A couple of weeks ago, there was absolutely no information on their web site either - all very perplexing at the time. Today, there was yet another ad about DataOne, but once more no information about plans or cost. After today's ad, I checked their site again. Now they even have an FAQ about the service.
So does it help? Nope, that's basically a page about what ADSL is. The two most important things you need to know are completely missing: available throughput and pricing. Here's what the page has to say about it:
How about Broadband Plans and Pricing?
These will be declared very soon. Meanwhile you can fill up the registration form so that we can work out the logistics for your connection.
They even have a form you can fill up to get a connection even though you don't know what you'll get and for how much. (The form is an image. Wow!)
It contains the helpful clarification:
* Tariff will be most competitive in the industry
** Data rate of 256 kbps and above
That sure tells you a lot, doesn't it?
According to Kingsly, who has spoken to some BSNL folks, they have yet to decide on download speeds and tariff, and the service is supposed to launched only around 15 January. So why on earth are they wasting money on advertisements if they haven't worked out any of the important details yet? Who knows? Somebody on the india-gii list thought that it was because they wanted to use their ad budget in this financial year. Ah, that explains it all, doesn't it?
I'm waiting to be pleasantly surprised by BSNL giving us a 512 Kbps unlimited
connection for about 2000 bucks a month. I'm currently on the Touchtel
Airtel Broadband 128 kbps DSL
plan which costs approximately Rs. 1450 per month with all the fine print
charges included. It's already saving me about 5000 Rupees every month, but I'd
love to have some higher throughput. That 128 Kbps is called
"broadband" in this country is downright shameful.
(Also see Metafilter discussion about this.)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: suman
EMAIL: suman@sumankumar.com
IP: 203.200.30.3
URL: http://sumankumar.com
DATE: 12/27/2004 12:18:10 PM
I think you can't forecast seismic catastrophes. And I am not sure the time lapse between the 8.9 Richter motha F***** and the Tsunamis hitting the coastal areas. If it were only a few hours, India should be a member of a Global Tsunami warning system, for us to do any 11th hour damage-control.
Also, NDTV woke up to the need of reporting the calamity only around the afternoon. I wouldn't blame CNN.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: amit
EMAIL: amitblogs@gmail.com
IP: 219.65.66.55
URL: http://indiauncut.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/27/2004 06:01:05 PM
Guardian Unlimited's main headline, at the time of writing this, is "Tsunami death toll rises to 23,500". Below that are two straps: "11,000 perish in Sri Lanka". And "At least four Britons dead".
Excellent post, btw. Dilip D'Souza also unleashes a nice rant here.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sumeet Singh
EMAIL: singh.sumeet@gmail.com
IP: 206.126.161.15
URL: http://www.sumeetsingh.net
DATE: 12/27/2004 07:09:23 PM
I think Indians are too lazy and casual for anything to shake them up.
According to the recent news, Australia already dispatched tonnes of relief material, and Indian government is yet to even blab out about any relief than 1 lakh rs that will be paid god knows when.
Moreover i think what they need is clean water and some blankets. And surely not a bank balance that they know will never exist
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Atul Arora
EMAIL: atula@netzero.com
IP: 63.160.128.162
URL: http://rojnamcha.blogspot.com/
DATE: 12/27/2004 09:51:45 PM
I am trying to divert the attention to a different issue but when we are debating "India should be a member of a Global Tsunami warning system", let us see what we are doing to our eco system. Utrrakhand governmnet is turning a deaf ear to warnings from ecologist/social forums/religious leaders and trying to open Badrinath /kedarnath for all around the year. As per ecologist and religious leaders, keeping those places closed for six months, gives the nature a rest from a lot of different types of pollution. But this secular government is adament on developing the state on the cost of destroying the eco-system. When will we learn to hear the mother nature. Although the signals are clear from her.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sameer
EMAIL: super_sam5@yahoo.com
IP: 203.124.156.99
URL: http://www.opti-mystic.net/blog
DATE: 12/27/2004 10:25:28 PM
Well... what do you think could have been done if the government would've sounded the alarm? In the absence of a functional crisis management strategy, countless departments within the government would've passed on the responsibility of handling evacuations to each other till the tsunamis hit the indian shores. On the other hand, the lack of drills to train people would've meant largescale panic in the cities... even those cities that were ultimately spared the destruction.
About the media coverage, I have nothing to say... except that it sucked!
Two groups that should've worked together to warn people... i.e. the government warning the people through the media... were caught napping... 100%!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sumeet Singh
EMAIL: singh.sumeet@gmail.com
IP: 206.126.161.15
URL: http://www.sumeetsingh.net
DATE: 12/28/2004 03:02:51 AM
Sameer I think rather than accepting the fact that Indian system is overloaded with red-tapism and countless departments that pass-the-buck on, we need to realise that we aren't as bad as we think we might be.
If we couldn't avoid such large scale destruction, we can surely help at the right time, with right things.
India is sending divers and naval ships across as part of international community to Sri Lanka. What about our own people?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: alpha
EMAIL: ahydroxy@yahoo.com
IP: 198.91.8.10
URL: http://alpha.blogdrive.com
DATE: 12/28/2004 04:19:24 AM
Great post and it reminds me of radio stations here that will cover the news only if an American celebrety were to be stranded somewhere.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sameer
EMAIL: super_sam5@yahoo.com
IP: 203.124.156.99
URL: http://www.opti-mystic.net/blog
DATE: 12/28/2004 03:03:36 PM
Sumeet, we aren't bad at things... in fact we're downright ridiculous at some things! Crisis management is one such thing. Repeated calamities and disasters, natural or man-made, have pointed to the need for a fully functional crisis management system. But is there one? Well... one could argue that it exists. And it swings into action to co-ordinate relief and rescue after the tragedy has claimed its victims. The need is for far better co-ordination with various early warning systems and putting in place a well-drilled evacuation plan when the alarm bells start going off. And I cannot stress enough the "well-drilled" aspect of crisis management.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: MadMan
EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com
IP: 61.246.56.8
URL: http://www.madmanweb.com
DATE: 12/29/2004 01:32:34 AM
Sameer, if even one life could have been spared by sounding an early alarm, it would've been worth something, don't you think?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sowmya
EMAIL: sowmya.srinivasan@gmail.com
IP: 202.144.91.163
URL: http://jlt-chumma.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/29/2004 03:39:18 PM
Madman
I agree with you.. Some of these news channels were pathetic in their coverage. Sun News was really the limits.. The anchor seemed almost thrilled to say that the number of people dead is around 1000 according to their estimates and not 500 as the government had said. I switched over to Jaya TV and this was even worse.. They were showing food packets being distributed and how the government has started helping people.
I felt they were more bothered about making their parties look good / bad and not about actually helping the people
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rushna
EMAIL: rushnamistry@yahoo.com
IP: 220.225.32.162
URL:
DATE: 12/29/2004 05:25:10 PM
Not only does Times of India feature hot babes right below a picture about the devastation caused by the tsunamis, it has images of balloons and streamers around its masthead.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nilu
EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com
IP: 130.127.42.47
URL:
DATE: 12/30/2004 02:05:04 AM
So what?....a self confessed Libertarian now expects morality from others, and that too on his terms?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: MadMan
EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com
IP: 61.95.196.194
URL: http://www.madmanweb.com
DATE: 12/30/2004 10:18:02 AM
a self confessed Libertarian now expects morality from others, and that too on his terms?
Which part of being libertarian means abandoning all morality and regard for human life, Nilu?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Yazad
EMAIL: yazad@yazadjal.com
IP: 202.88.213.38
URL: http://www.yazadjal.com
DATE: 12/30/2004 01:42:26 PM
Nilu confuses morality with good taste and consideration.
MadMan was sickened by the appalling lack of taste and consideration byt the websites. Was it immoral or moral? I think it was devoid of any moral judgement, i.e. amoral.
Plus he did not ask for the stuff to be taken down or the site to be banned. So even if he thought it was immoral he was not trying to impose the morality on others. He simply registered his protest. Which is the libertarian way to do it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Yazad
EMAIL: yazad@yazad.com
IP: 202.88.213.38
URL: http://www.yazadjal.com
DATE: 12/30/2004 02:00:57 PM
if even one life could have been spared by sounding an early alarm, it would've been worth something, don't you think?
I disagree. Examine what you mean by "worth". An early warning system is not without cost. Rs. 125 crores according to this article.
The govt of India would have to take the 125 crores from somewhere. It might save the one (or more lives), but the transfer may possibly be from an area which needed it more (hospitals etc) and might lead to a loss of life there.
No easy solutions -- I feel the early warning system was (and is) not necessary because there has been no history of tsunamis hitting India.
Yes, this does go against the touchy feely notions that we need to redress stuff now. But I fear the bottomless pit of government spending.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Yazad
EMAIL: yazad@yazad.com
IP: 202.88.213.38
URL: http://www.yazadjal.com
DATE: 12/30/2004 03:03:13 PM
The Guardian's blog has a piece which echoes your main point.
What kind of god would do this?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: gaurav
EMAIL: sabnis@gmail.com
IP: 203.145.156.130
URL: http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/30/2004 07:02:24 PM
I don't see how any warning could have been given even though the tsunami took a couple of hours to hit us. A tsunami travels very inconspicously. It's not a 20-metre high wave travelling continuously for a thousand miles. if so, capsizing boats and sinking ships would have sounded the alarm.
a tsunami picks up force only when it is too close to the shore.
now given that there is almost no record of tsunamis in south asia, it is unrealistic to expect that the administration would have prepared for it, even after knowing that there was an earthquake of 9 richter scale.
Like the American guy from the Pacific tsunami centre said "Even if we had managed to get through to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, what would we say? That a disaster which has never occured in your area, is headed your way, and you should go on war footing and vacate millions of people??? He would have gone back to sleep, and if I was in his place, so would I."
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: gaurav
EMAIL: sabnis@gmail.com
IP: 203.145.156.130
URL:
DATE: 12/30/2004 07:05:20 PM
i meant "evacuate" of course, not "vacate". :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nilu
EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com
IP: 130.127.42.47
URL:
DATE: 12/30/2004 11:15:31 PM
Which part of being libertarian means abandoning all morality and regard for human life, Nilu?
None, but the part where you rant about their lack of morality with a tone that suggests you are disgusted makes me wonder why you don't appreciate Yazad's question for me sometime ago(.....on commeting).
My point was and is - you cannot(for want of a better word) as an individual accuse another of acting "immoral/amoral", for you don't get to decide what is and isn't moral.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sumeet Singh
EMAIL: singh.sumeet@gmail.com
IP: 167.1.162.102
URL: http://www.sumeetsingh.net
DATE: 12/31/2004 03:16:02 AM
Yazad, I agree with your views on Early Warning. With the way Indians handle such disasters its evident how India will invest 125 crores on early warning but still will lack the way evacuation needs to be done.
And Nilu, about who decides if things are moral or immoral, i think lets trust Madman for his sanity in this case. Who in anycase says showing babes with death toll is moral? This is not something debatable but rather should be accpeted for what it feels to all.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sameer
EMAIL: super_sam5@yahoo.com
IP: 203.124.156.99
URL: http://www.opti-mystic.net/blog
DATE: 12/31/2004 03:30:34 PM
MadMan, yes it would've been a great thing if someone could've been saved by some sort of a warning.
I agree with Gaurav that a tsunami does not travel like a huge wall of water rushing towards the shore ready to crash down upon it. Its more like a huge tide rushing inland from the sea.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: MadMan
EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com
IP: 61.95.193.223
URL: http://www.madmanweb.com
DATE: 01/05/2005 09:34:26 PM
Gaurav and Yazad,
I agree that 125 Crores is a lot of money, and I wasn't saying the government should've invested in an early warning system.
However, I did say that when an earthquake of such magnitude hits, it isn't entirely unexpected that a tsunami may follow. Somebody in the government should've been alert to this.
Even if they weren't, the tsunami hit Andaman and Nicobar first. After that, it took 90 minutes to hit the east coast. At least after it hit the islands, people could've been evacuated from the beaches. It would've saved lives. Could it have saved all lives? Probably not, but saving a few thousand lives is still worth it, don't you think?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Yazad
EMAIL: yazad@yazad.com
IP: 202.88.213.38
URL: http://www.yazadjal.com
DATE: 01/10/2005 11:03:04 AM
MadMan, you've shifted goalposts. Your earlier comment you said "even if one life could have been spared" (emphasis yours!) now you talk of thousands.
As the numbers change so will the meaning of "worth it". I find more to agree with in your later comment (Jan 5)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: crisgona
EMAIL: fugly25@hotmail.com
IP: 64.167.236.53
URL:
DATE: 01/16/2005 05:38:53 AM
Why would the amount of people change the meaning of 'worth it'? As the numbers change, rescuers continue in their strenuous quests to find a particular member of any family; whether they are able to save 100 people or only one-its still 'worth it'. The fact that the death toll is increasing doesn't in anyway change tha meaning of 'worth it'.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: gambling addiction
EMAIL: pokermain@free-online-poker.org
IP: 219.26.150.108
URL: http://ty2j.com/gambling-addiction.html
DATE: 03/30/2006 05:53:40 PM
gambling addiction Probaly you should read this. gambling addiction Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy gambling addiction now
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B2b
EMAIL: infob2bnospam@msn.com
IP: 59.144.200.172
URL: http://www.b2b-guide.org/
DATE: 11/15/2006 01:48:05 PM
good site
http://www.b2b-guide.org/
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PING:
TITLE: A Worse Tsunami
URL: http://sandeep.vesana.com/mt/archives/000205.html
IP: 64.21.80.5
BLOG NAME: s.a.n.d.e.e.p.
DATE: 12/27/2004 12:46:33 PM
MadMan's anger is justified. He blames official apathy as the cause for not being able to save hundreds of lives by raising alarms in advance. Which is true. Apathy yes, but more importantly, the attitude of chalta hai, which seems...
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PING:
TITLE: Tsunami shakes up the Govt.
URL: http://www.varnam.org/blog/archives/2004/12/tsunami_shakes.html
IP: 63.247.129.26
BLOG NAME: varnam
DATE: 12/27/2004 11:50:21 PM
If there were warning systems in place, many lives could have been saved. But then it takes a disaster of this magnitutde to realize how far we are behind in terms of technology or even common sense. But now the...
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PING:
TITLE: Tsunami Pictures and Plea to Donate
URL: http://jdk.phpkid.org/index.php?p=1126
IP: 64.156.222.124
BLOG NAME: Notes from a desi geek.
DATE: 12/29/2004 10:57:59 PM
Here are some pictures which will give you a better idea of the havoc created by Tsunami.
If you can, please consider donation towards relief efforts. I found Amazon to be the easiest way to make a donation.
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PING:
TITLE: How Madder can it get?
URL: http://sandeep.vesana.com/mt/archives/000209.html
IP: 64.21.80.5
BLOG NAME: s.a.n.d.e.e.p.
DATE: 12/31/2004 12:19:19 AM
This is maddeningly hilarious; I mean, the reactions to the recent devastation caused by the Tsunami. While some people try to find a connection between the Tsunami and the Kanchi Seer's arrest, others are glad that they are atheists (because...
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PING:
TITLE: The waves of divine retribution
URL: http://www.yazadjal.com/mt/archives/000476.html
IP: 64.21.80.5
BLOG NAME: AnarCapLib
DATE: 12/31/2004 01:27:18 PM
One of the first thoughts that passed through my mind on hearing of the Tsunami was "more evidence that God does not exist." Every disaster leading to a huge loss of life reinforces my atheism. Natural disasters, of course, are...
-----
PING:
TITLE: M8.7(maximum aftershock/causing earthquake) SUMATRA Indonesia. We predicted and warned this Earthquake as 65 % of occurrence percentage.[EarthquakeAlert]
URL: http://earthquakealert.cocolog-nifty.com/global/2005/03/87maximum_after.html
IP: 61.121.100.52
BLOG NAME: EarthquakeAlert SeismeAlerte
DATE: 03/30/2005 12:13:25 PM
We predicted and warned the earthquake 8
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--------
AUTHOR: madman
TITLE: Blog Mela: Call for entries #2
BASENAME: blog_mela_call_1
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: __default__
ALLOW PINGS: 1
PRIMARY CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism
CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism
DATE: 12/27/2004 10:39:21 AM
-----
BODY:
Ladies and gentlemen, our beloved Yazad Jal, who blames the viruses for his inability to post his Blog Mela on time, has now created a cascading wave of schedule changes to the darn Mela (I think I won't use the word "tsunami" at the moment.) Since his mela was a week late, my Christmas edition shall now be the New Year edition Blog Mela (apologies to Nilesh.)
I'm sure you're familiar with the rules, but here we go anyway:
(Welcome, Instapundit readers. Get yourself a cup of coffee, and set aside some time for reading all these posts.)
It's Blog Mela time again, as we present the best posts from Indians and about India/Indians. This is also the first Blog Mela of the new year, which is of course a meaningless statistic.
As you would expect, this week's reading is heavy on Japanese 101, as the word "tsunami" is introduced to thousands of people who had never heard it before.
This past week, bloggers have supplemented the regular and mostly repetitive news coverage with their own account of the disaster, and some of these have been more revealing than what the newspapers dished out.
Sameer has an overview of what a tsunami is.
While we don't typically accept whole blogs as nominations, Amit Varma's India Uncut has tons of reading, written while visiting the tsunami-affected areas.
(Update: Amit is churning out reports faster than I can read them. Some outstanding writing there.)Amit's travelling companion, Dilip D'Souza, too has plenty to report. I recommend you set aside a big chunk of time to read everything they've written.
Kiruba, who normally sticks to very "bloggy" stuff on his site, changes gear to write long accounts of the relief efforts. He also takes photos, which is helpful.
Suman Kumar, who has suffered a bandwidth tsunami on his site due to being mentioned in the New York Times (with a little help from yours truly), is trying to do his bit with the relief. He has a tsunami site of his own.
Alpha is upset over the loss of life, but is more upset at the lack of news coverage in the USA.
Patrix disagrees with Alpha. He thinks the media is being particularly insensitive in its relentless display of dead bodies and suffering people.
Sandeep blames the government's apathy for the deaths in India. As did I earlier.
Rhyncus has a strange rationalisation of why God is needed because two tectonic plates causing the earthquake is not satisfying enough as an explanation. In part 2 of his article, he says he's got a rock which he calls God, and it's an extension of his parents.
Yazad has some thoughts on depression caused by the tsunami.
Ramanand thinks the media is being unfair in its criticism of cricketers for supposedly not doing enough towards the relief effort because they make an easy target.
And now, on to the non-tsunami stuff...
After the silly MMS "scandal" where Avneesh Bajaj was arrested by police for no fault of his, Sandeep lashes out.
Anand Vivek draws some parallels between Don Quixote and the Nasruddin Hodja legends in the middle-east.
Manu Sharma says "A human edited product news feature is never going to happen at Google" because he thinks Google is primarily a technology company.
A lady known only as "Medium Latte" says that she prefers not to accept help given just because she is a woman, although it's tempting.
That's it for this week, folks. I know some Hindi blog entries were nominated, but I've left them out of this mela, not because I'm a snobbish bastard, but because:
1) I studied Hindi for 10 years at school, and speak the language fluently, but haven't read any big chunks of Hindi since 1990. So my reading speed has reduced to a crawl.
2) The thin strokes of the text coupled with the low resolution of a PC monitor made it even harder to read the entries.
3) Some of the spelling mistakes (mostly misplaced matras) didn't help either.
My apologies to you all. Perhaps we should start a Hindi version of the Mela soon. Shanti, what do you think?
I'd like to remind you that my web links blog, in addition to being on this page, also has a separate page of its own. Even if I don't write longer entries, the links blog is still updated almost daily. Check back often.
The next Mela will be on Nilesh.org
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: The Bharteeya Blog Mela - showcasing the best writing from the Indian blogosphere. This edition is dedicated to coverage of the tsunami that hit Asia last week. ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Manu Sharma EMAIL: manu@orangehues.com IP: 203.101.8.43 URL: http://orangehues.com/blog/ DATE: 01/05/2005 09:09:51 AM Thanks for nominating me Madhu. Just feeling a bit lonely out there with all those tsunami posts around. I struggled inside for a few days about whether to write a post on the tragedy or not. I even started writing a draft [yes, I write drafts before making a post!]. Like everyone else I was moved by the news as well. I don't mind writing an off-topic post on the blog occasionally but the main reason I didn't write was because there's so much already being written about it everywhere, I didn't think I had anything new to say. I think a big positive outcome of the tragedy is how it brought everyone together. How people/companies/nations came forward in large numbers to offer relief to the victims. I heard they raised close to $2 bill in about a week's time. That cannot bring anyone back but it stands testament to fundamental human goodness... in an increasingly cynical world. PS: nice blog, Madhu. Also like the one at your restaurant. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: suman EMAIL: suman@sumankumar.com IP: 203.200.30.3 URL: http://sumankumar.com DATE: 01/05/2005 03:12:56 PM Gracias! Senor! More than NY Times, I am glad I find mention in your highness' blog. You may want to read a report by Dr.Shilpa on http://sumankumar.com Riveting. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Satyaveer EMAIL: ssatvat@hotmail.com IP: 203.197.234.177 URL: DATE: 01/05/2005 08:22:05 PM I agree that hindi blogs should have a different blog mela. It is better to keep regional languages at a different forum. Unlike english blogs it is trouble to download fonts and read a language you have forgot before ages. And if hindi posts are allowed in english blog meal then why not tamil,teulugu,marathi and so on... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John in AZ USA EMAIL: jtfaz@aol.com IP: 208.38.238.2 URL: DATE: 01/06/2005 02:43:30 AM Visiting from USA via Instapundit. May I ask an innocent question, hoping for an illuminating answer. I have surfed the websites of what I imagine are large mainstream Indian news outlets (Pioneer, Statesmen, Telegraph, Times of India, Tribune, Hindustan Times, etc). I'm surprised at how little coverage some of these outlets are giving to the effects of the tsunami. Are these the key newspapers in India. Do you recommend any other sources Regards ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Indiblogger EMAIL: indibloggies@gmail.com IP: 199.89.64.37 URL: http://indibloggies.blogspot.com DATE: 01/06/2005 09:13:47 AM Satyaveer: I don't think any of the Blogmela hosts would object to or would restrain from hosting other indic language posts IF they were nominated. Remember that few events ago even Hindi blogs were not included, I am glad the hosts in the past were visionary enough to include the Hindi posts nominated. BTW interesting to note that Hindi is a "regional language". I can certainly foresee other Indian language posts being nominated in forthcoming Melas, if the blog mela wishes to be "Bharteeya" in the real sense of the word. Be informed that most of the Indic blogs (I know of Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Malayalam, Bangla and Hindi blogs) are Unicode encoded which means that if you even have a single Unicode compliant font on your machine you can read any such blog, if you are on XP you are lucky otherwise just download the Code2000 zip from here and you would never need to download any other Indian Unicode font ever. This is much much easier than downloading site-specific fonts on every-site, the thought that scared you at the first place perhaps :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Manu Sharma EMAIL: manu@orangehues.com IP: 203.101.8.94 URL: http://orangehues.com/blog/ DATE: 01/06/2005 08:17:44 PM John, these are the main national Newspapers though most are circulated mainly in North or western India. I can speak of Hindustan Times [one of the two biggies] - it has been covering the tragedy very comprehensively for the last ten days. There was nothing else on the front page except these stories. It's only in the past couple of days that other stories have started appearing. For most of the first week they even moved the city section from page 3 to page 5 to cover tsunami stories. I believe the coverage has been very comprehensive. I'd imagine The Hindu, which is based at Southern India where the tragedy ocurred, to still be devoting large space to tsunami stories. You could also try the News channels like NDTV or the web portal rediff. Most websites have dedicated sections on the tragedy that feature complete coverage. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Manu Sharma EMAIL: manu@orangehues.com IP: 203.101.8.94 URL: http://orangehues.com/blog/ DATE: 01/06/2005 08:26:44 PM Rediff's complete coverage ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Atosh Bhardwaj EMAIL: dhamma@yahoo.com IP: 69.197.250.40 URL: DATE: 01/06/2005 09:40:40 PM If Bharteeya blog mela has to look Bharteeya, why it has to be done in Hindi" English is an international language, it does not belong to England anymore. Thousands of NRIs (inlcuding Hindi speaking people) have got jobs offshore because they speak good english. Thousands of them are working in non hindi states because their beloved Hindi heartland (BIMARU states) have nothing to offer in terms of good jobs. So what is the problem in expressing your thoughts in english when you earn bread and butter from this language. If a bunch of people want to read and write in their regional language they should keep it confined to their web sites. By sneaking into greater disopera like BBM or english blog writers, by leaving nice comments at our sites with their URLs pointing to their hindi sites, they want to lure us to read the material written in hindi plagiarized from english blogs. And dear indiablogger, what a pity, looks like you are pushing some sort of Hindi agenda from your blogger awards too.You have managed to make two jury members who have hindi blogs, you have managed to get 3 sponsors including Microsoft for hindi blogs (except Sidharth Sivasailam ). I doubt there are any other nominations from any regional language except hindi. Are there no Marathi,tamil,teulugu blog writers. Why 9 other juries only speak and think in english? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Indra EMAIL: indra_awasthi@hotmail.com IP: 146.197.27.16 URL: http://theluwa.blogspot.com DATE: 01/07/2005 01:19:03 AM "Thousands of them are working in non hindi states because their beloved Hindi heartland (BIMARU states) have nothing to offer in terms of good jobs." Atosh, If someone was born to parents who did not have much to offer becuase of limited means, should he or she desert them when he or she moves to greener pastures. "hindi plagiarized from english blogs." - Do you have any proof for this? Or are you just saying this pro0ving yourself more cathloic tahn pope. My friend, my mother tongue is Hindi and I still can think, speak and express myself better in Hindi. And FYI, Hindi is also international languages and is spoken in Pakistan (they call it Urdu), Fiji, Mauritius, Guyana and there are many parts of the world where English is not understood. I support Indiblogger's Bharateeya agenda. And I will also provide link to my post. (and this is because posting comment requires this) You are free not to read them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Brenda EMAIL: brendajreeves@msn.com IP: 216.161.10.42 URL: http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/asiantsunami.html DATE: 01/07/2005 04:10:47 AM Won't you please take a moment out of your busy schedules and visit the Asian Tsunami Memorial that we have created? There is also a guest book for you to sign and to leave flowers or a candle. Here is the link: http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/asiantsunami.html Please allow it to load - it has music and photos. Feel free to share this link with everyone that you know. Please take good care, Brenda Reeves ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Atosh Bhardwaj EMAIL: dhamma@yahoo.com IP: 69.197.250.40 URL: DATE: 01/07/2005 07:38:12 AM I second shanti's opinion to keep hindi blog mela seperate. This would help in following way. 1. Keep trouble of font download away. 2.We won't have to read translated news twice. 3.We don't have to read whining of people who like the dollars but don't like dollar land and sound like a dog. 4.We don't have to read why some people on hell bent on translating well written systems like wordpress etc 5. More whining ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jitendra Chadhary EMAIL: jitu9968@gmail.com IP: 168.187.129.238 URL: http://jitu.info/merapanna DATE: 01/07/2005 11:29:20 AM Interesting to know that HINDI is regional language! how about changing the name of this place "INDIAN BLOG WORLD" Why are u using word "BHARTIYA" OR "MELA"? I would not comment on the people, who spoke something foul about hindi but would definately say one thing. "जिस पेड़ के तने पर बैठे हो उसको आरी से काटने की कोशिश मत करो." regarding translation of Wordprss... this is called localization...whole world is doing. if u do not want to use,stay away, stick to english. But Why are u abusing others? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@NOSPAMmadmanweb.com IP: 61.95.195.252 URL: http://madmanweb.com DATE: 01/07/2005 11:45:52 AM OK, please stop this bickering on my site or I'll delete all your comments. I have given my reasons for not including Hindi posts in this mela and they don't have to do with the content of the posts. It's merely difficulty reading the stuff. If somebody nominated a Telugu post, I would have the same problem, but on a different scale. For the record, Hindi is one of the 18 languages officially recognised by the Constitution of India. It is neither higher nor lower in the heirarchy. One-third of this country still doesn't speak the language. If you want to fight about the indiblog awards, go do it on that site. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Indra EMAIL: indra_awasthi@hotmail.com IP: 24.22.118.226 URL: http://theluwa.blogspot.com DATE: 01/07/2005 01:23:45 PM Madman, It is like having the cake and eat it too. You said: "One-third of this country still doesn't speak the language." You shuld also ask yourself : What is the %age of the people that even understand english in India "FOR THE RECORD"? Again, I am not trying to put down English as language. And Atosh babu, it is freedom of expression that so-called dollar land great. We can whine/ praise whatever you/ we like (like you are whining about Hindi blogs). It could be dollar-land or it could be the paisa-land. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Indra EMAIL: indra_awasthi@hotmail.com IP: 24.22.118.226 URL: http://theluwa.blogspot.com DATE: 01/07/2005 01:29:09 PM Madman, It is like having the cake and eat it too. You said: "One-third of this country still doesn't speak the language." You shuld also ask yourself : What is the %age of the people that even understand english in India "FOR THE RECORD"? Again, I am not trying to put down English as language. And Atosh babu, it is freedom of expression that makes so-called dollar land great. We can whine/ praise whatever you/ we like (like you are whining about Hindi blogs). It could be about dollar-land or the paisa-land. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.195.252 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 01/07/2005 01:32:39 PM OK, this thread is now closed for comments. Go fight somewhere else. ----- PING: TITLE: Tsunami Memorial Blog Mela URL: http://www.yazadjal.com/mt/archives/000480.html IP: 64.21.80.5 BLOG NAME: AnarCapLib DATE: 01/04/2005 05:59:29 PM The first blog mela for the year is up at MadMan's Web. The main focus simply chose itself. This is the first time that entire blogs have been nominated. Go on and read thru to get a feel of what's... ----- PING: TITLE: Blog Mela URL: http://www.madhoo.com/archives/003191.php IP: 63.247.140.138 BLOG NAME: Dancing with Dogs DATE: 01/04/2005 10:05:33 PM The tsunami/New Year’s version of Blog Mela is now up at MadMan’s blog. Check it out - good entries galore as usual and a lot more introspection and anger than ever before. It is an emotional Mela, this one. As for a Hindi version of the Me... ----- PING: TITLE: 120 URL: http://silflayhraka.com/archives/006039.html IP: 63.247.137.230 BLOG NAME: Silflay Hraka DATE: 01/05/2005 11:04:04 PM The 120th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities is hosted by Vessel of Honour this week. Also new today, Carnival scion Bharteeya Blog Mela, with a Tsunami Memorial. The latest Carnival offspring is the Carnival of the Families, dedicated... ----- PING: TITLE: 120 URL: http://silflayhraka.com/archives/006039.html IP: 63.247.137.230 BLOG NAME: Silflay Hraka DATE: 01/07/2005 09:34:11 PM The 120th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities is hosted by Vessel of Honour this week. Also new today, Carnival scion Bharteeya Blog Mela, with a Tsunami Memorial. The latest Carnival offspring is the Carnival of the Families, dedicated... ----- PING: TITLE: Bharateeya Blog Mela: Calling for Entries URL: http://nilesh.org/weblog/2005/01/bharateeya-blog-mela-calling-for-ent/index.html IP: 69.93.129.4 BLOG NAME: Nilesh's Weblog DATE: 01/12/2005 12:50:57 PM Sorry for the interruption. Calling for nominations of the Bharateeya Blog Mela! The rules are here again - Posts must either be made by Indians or must focus on India or Indians. Send in permalinks to the individual blog entries only, not just the UR... ----- PING: TITLE: Blog Mela 2005 Issue #2 URL: http://nilesh.org/weblog/2005/01/blog-mela-2005-issue-2/index.html IP: 69.93.129.4 BLOG NAME: Nilesh's Weblog DATE: 01/12/2005 01:10:36 PM The year saw a great start for the Bharateeya Blog Mela. The Tsunami special moved slightly away from the tradition with nominating complete blogs instead of just posts. Now that's a good 'value addition'. Unfortunately, the response for the second mel... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Vote for me in the Indibloggies BASENAME: vote_for_me_in STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 01/10/2005 08:55:53 PM ----- BODY: We interrupt our regular schedule of quality programming to bring you this message. We've been nominated for the IndiBloggies, which comes with 25 cartons of Ego Boost as the prize. (And some other miscellaneous stuff, none of which we're really interested in.) OK, so I've been nominated not once, not twice but three times for my two blogs - this one and my chef blog. Shiok Chef's Notes has been nominated for best topical blog, and hey, anyone who's read my detailed recipes and seen my gorgeous photographs has to vote for me. The only competition I can see is from Yazad, whose blog AnarCapLib has also been nominated. Actually, I write over there too, so this is a fight between me and 25% me. :) If that weren't enough, both of my blogs have been nominated for the best design award. Yes, both MadMan's Web and Shiok - Chef's Notes are going heads up against each other. This makes me happy but also sad at the prospect of the vote being split. I'll make this simple for you. Vote for Shiok as the best topical blog, and MadMan's Web for the best design. My chef's blog has exhaustive useful content and this blog is filled with design doo-dads. I've combined two blogs (the links blog and the article blog) on the same page without crowding the place. My nav bars slide out of side if you want to read my articles on a smaller monitor, and my text is well spaced and readable. Heck, even my comment box expands if you want to write a ton. There's a whole bunch of usability thingamajigs too if you look closer (try hovering your mouse over some text box or label some time.) I deserve this award over the other contenders, some of whom don't even live in this country. (Update: I see that Ravikiran and JK are now accepting bribes for their votes. I'm far too honest for that. Besides, I have l33t rigging skillz.) ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kuttan EMAIL: st_itty@hotmail.com IP: 63.165.91.2 URL: http://kuttan.blogspot.com DATE: 01/10/2005 10:00:10 PM Madman: I did my share in blowing up your already blown up cheeks with those added 25 cartons of ego by voting for you in the best blog category. Keep up the good work madhu. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mujib EMAIL: mujibmk@hotmail.com IP: 212.138.47.11 URL: DATE: 01/11/2005 10:34:39 AM "... read my articles on a smaller monitor ..." Luckily, I have a bigger monitor. Let me go vote now. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gaurav EMAIL: sabnis@gmail.com IP: 61.8.138.20 URL: DATE: 01/12/2005 09:27:06 PM How can one vote for the Bhartiya Blogmela if the comments section is closed? :-S ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.59.88 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 01/13/2005 12:07:45 AM Because Mr. Sabnis, the vote is not for the Mela, but for me in the IndiBloggies - a different event altogether. :p ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Radhika EMAIL: radhikam@hotmail.com IP: 195.137.21.199 URL: DATE: 01/13/2005 12:10:12 AM done. and i see u r leading the polls.... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MK EMAIL: exclubiz@gmail.com IP: 195.229.128.3 URL: DATE: 01/15/2005 12:14:12 PM Hi, Done - restaurant site in best design and best topical categories. Regards, MK ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shyam EMAIL: peteandshammi@aol.com IP: 202.177.160.135 URL: http://shyamram.blogspot.com DATE: 01/17/2005 12:05:55 PM Hi, I've voted for both your blogs, so I'm officially your diehard fan. In fact, I've even recruited more supporters in the form of my family and friends, who are all now in your camp as well. Arent you thrilled? :) Good luck for winning every "Best" title going - you deserve it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tan EMAIL: tanmathur@gmail.com IP: 203.199.55.24 URL: http://chronicledlife.blogspot.com DATE: 01/18/2005 09:30:25 AM Even though I have my own foodblog, I'll vote for you! Sid, my husband, introduced me to Shiok and I totally loved it! :-) Btw, drop in at my foodblog sometime and leave your comments. --Tan http://tancancook.blogspot.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MK EMAIL: mk@exclubiz.com IP: 195.229.128.3 URL: DATE: 01/26/2005 01:06:22 PM Congrats!! for winning both your entries. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gambling addiction EMAIL: bill@acroduke.org IP: 220.33.140.11 URL: http://ty2j.com/gambling-addiction.html DATE: 03/30/2006 02:42:09 PM gambling addiction Probaly you should read this. gambling addiction Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy gambling addiction now ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: narky EMAIL: narky_hs@hotmail.com IP: 89.146.137.205 URL: http://www.msn-klan.co.sr DATE: 10/09/2006 01:13:42 AM HELP!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rechtsanwalt Strafrecht München EMAIL: webmaster@anwaltskanzlei-strafrecht.com IP: 85.181.0.127 URL: http://www.anwaltskanzlei-strafrecht.com DATE: 05/02/2007 12:04:25 AM MadMan, congratulations. See you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: linhanyi EMAIL: han-yi-good@163.com IP: 59.58.175.182 URL: http://www.uggboots-space.com DATE: 12/24/2009 07:16:33 AM Winter is coming ,many people are afraid of cold,especially the feet.then you must something to keep warm,I think you need a pair of snow boots,made of wool.such as UGG boots,tall boots,short boots or mini boots,Very warm to wear them.And the style ,the color also the material,the quality are very good .Walking in the fashion front. welcome to my web http://www.uggboots-space.com ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Stealing content for your web site - The [name deleted] way BASENAME: stealing_conten STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism DATE: 01/22/2005 01:19:18 AM ----- BODY:Update - 16 March, 2007: I have decided to remove the name of the person involved because I think that enough has been written about him, and it's been a couple of years since the original incident. Since I'm ranked high on Google for his name, I don't see the need to let it stay that way. The hyperlinks to his site have also been changed to example.com
I know we all have writer's block from time to time. It's not easy to keep writing on your blog regularly. Some people wait a while, take a break, and come back when they have something worth writing about.
But not [name deleted].
Because Mr. [name deleted] thought that rather than write something original of his own, it would be oh so much easier to simply steal articles from others (Shanti has more) and reproduce them on his site. No, this wasn't with anyone's permission of course. He simply copied it word for word and posted it on his blog. To give it an air of originality, he even copied the comments from the original sites and posted it on his site. Hey, you gotta give him marks for thinking this through.
What was Mr. [name deleted] trying to do? We don't know. But after Amit Varma brought it to the attention of some of us, we decided to send an email asking him to remove the posts and give him 24 hours to comply. Well, we didn't get a response from [name deleted] so he's about to feel some blogger wrath from us. Next time somebody does a Google search for his name, he may get a little bit about [name deleted]'s blatant plagiarism.
Amit's article on plagiarism also talks about writers in major publications stealing large chunks from others. Having worked in the IT media in India, I know from first hand experience that this is common in the IT publications too. I have seen plenty of people do it, and I've worked with some of them. Some at least tried to paraphrase it. Many didn't bother. It was amusing to watch someone with no clue about SQL Server, for example, write a full article on the full-text search feature. It was clear they didn't exactly learn it all in two days. Plagiarism was so easy that it came naturally.
As a writer, I absolutely hate it when others rip off my work, and it's something I can never imagine doing. But hey, when the Slimes of India takes its page 4 Hollywood gossip directly from the Internet every day without any editing, and nobody bats an eyelid, you know that the problem is serious. It's not a crime if you don't get caught, right?
Well, Mr. [name deleted], you have been caught, and the Indian bloggers have
something to say about it. Here's your 15 minutes of fame
notoriety, mate!
Update: Ravages has sent an email pointing out further theft on [name deleted]'s site. But don't believe him; compare for yourselves:
http://www.example.com/2003/10/web-process-design.html
http://blogs.mit.edu/chsakda/posts/388.aspx
http://www.example.com/2003/10/query-against-uddi.html
http://blogs.mit.edu/chsakda/posts/389.aspx
http://www.example.com/2003/11/bad-art-night.html
http://crossimpact.net/archives/2003/11/17/bad-art-night-ex-votos/
http://www.example.com/2004/03/sun-ldap-provider.html
http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/chrismay/entry/sun_ldap_provider_sucks/
http://www.example.com/2004/05/accessing-utk-ldap-server.html
http://blog.maisnam.com/archives/000062.php
http://www.example.com/2004/11/tomcat-in-high-volume-sites.html
http://www.jroller.com/page/carlossg/?anchor=tomcat_in_high_volume_sites
http://www.example.com/2004/12/open-source-identity-management.html
http://www.manageability.org/blog/stuff/single-sign-on-in-java/view
http://www.example.com/2005/01/collaboration-technologies-and-portals.html
http://jroller.com/page/portlets/20050202#collaboration_technologies_and_portals
Yahoo likes to talk a lot about its oh-so-cool tools to fight spam, but just how effective are they? I have a yahoo ID that I use only for instant messenger chatting. Of course it has its own mail account too which I stopped using a few years ago. Of late, however, Yahoo has started letting a lot of obvious spam through its "protection".
Don't believe me? Here's a screenshot of my in-box the last time I checked mail on the yahoo account.
Apart from the first one which was legit mail (I've blurred it), the other messages are clearly spam. They aren't even the more deceptive ones that have benign subject lines like "hello", "how are you doing", or "I forgot to tell you".
Yet Yahoo fails to classify them as spam. They need to tweak their algorithm a bit, I suppose.
(And before somebody asks, yes, the "SpamGuard" option is enabled on my account. I checked twice.)
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: anya EMAIL: animaha@hotmail.com IP: 67.167.57.63 URL: http://www.animaha.com/blog DATE: 01/31/2005 03:13:58 AM well, as you use the account only for IM use, you might have given out the email id to a lot of sites for registration purposes. If you guard your id from such sites, you hardly ever receive spam. Many people now have an id just for this purpose (which incidently, is the id they use just for IM). It is true, however that a decent email filter should weed out all such msgs. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.95.194.30 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 01/31/2005 03:19:15 AM No, I never give out that address. I just use Mailinator instead. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron Zeno EMAIL: ronz@despammed.com IP: 67.164.72.130 URL: http://ronz.blogspot.com DATE: 01/31/2005 12:30:51 PM I get the same garbage in my yahoo account. I stated suspecting that most of these spam filtering efforts are not being maintained like they used to. I'm using Earthlink's spamBlocker, which requires senders to authenticate if I don't pre-authorize them. It's a pain sometimes, but works. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Prasenjeet Dutta EMAIL: bulk@NOchaoszoneSPAM.org IP: 81.157.9.42 URL: http://www.chaoszone.org/ DATE: 01/31/2005 02:13:47 PM <aol>Me too</aol>. On the other hand, my Hotmail address gets something like 3 pieces of junk a day, all caught by the junk mail filter, despite being used for domain registrations. And don't even get me started on the bloat in Yahoo Messenger... :-( ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sathish EMAIL: coolsatz@gmail.com IP: 194.237.142.21 URL: http://coolsatz.blogspot.com DATE: 01/31/2005 02:14:33 PM I'm using the Yahoo for some years.. it's really gud in filtering SPAM.. once in a week i get some spam into my INBOX.. rest all goes to Bulk Mail.. Did u enable Bulk Mail option? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 203.101.53.129 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 01/31/2005 04:25:20 PM Satish, I wrote the last line of my blog entry just for you. :) Prasenjeet, Yahoo messenger is so bloated that it just starts eating more and more system resources. Check the "GDI Objects" in Task Manager. It's a hog and a half. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Srikanth EMAIL: sriturl@yahoo.com IP: 61.95.164.75 URL: http://sriturl.blogspot.com DATE: 01/31/2005 05:08:42 PM Your mail account is supposed to be disabled if you donot use it for a while. Its their way of keeping it alive :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sumeet Singh EMAIL: singh.sumeet@gmail.com IP: 219.64.146.118 URL: http://www.sumeetsingh.net DATE: 01/31/2005 05:23:35 PM I agree with Madman. Yahoo definately needs to improve this. And so is the case with Rediff. They even have a system of reporting the email to so called administration as spam. I created an account and sent out contents copied from an email classified as spamm many times. To my surprise, it still delivers in Inbox. I think its high time now email systems also start with something like Captcha ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Niket EMAIL: nkaisare@gmail.com IP: 128.175.117.153 URL: http://kaisare.net/wlog DATE: 01/31/2005 09:15:11 PM I get 50 spams per day on Yahoo, but only 1-2 end up in my inbox. Strangely enough, this morning, "Laptop Giveaway" and "soulmate" emails landed in my junk mailbox on yahoo, and not in the inbox like your case. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandip Bhattacharya EMAIL: sandip@puroga.com IP: 210.7.86.22 URL: http://www.sandipb.net/blog/ DATE: 02/01/2005 04:19:42 PM I have abandoned my yahoo mail account long ago. It is practically unusable for quite a while due to the amount of spam I receive there. Besides, having my own dedicated server means that I dont use free mail accounts much nowadays. I however use Gmail frequently to check mail problems on my server. My guess of the inefficiency of Yahoo is the fact that it expects its users to train their own personal spam filter. So to have effective spam control, you need to log in regularly and train their filter by reporting spam. Those who use Yahoo regularly and report spam faithfully, have told me that Yahoo anti-spam works for them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sathish EMAIL: coolsatz@gmail.com IP: 203.145.156.130 URL: http://coolsatz.blogspot.com DATE: 02/02/2005 11:28:33 AM Hmm.. me dumbo!! anyways It works well for me :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sathya EMAIL: sathyacrt84@yahoo.com IP: 210.212.194.30 URL: http://techwiz.rediffblogs.com DATE: 02/08/2005 09:27:30 AM hi mm, me a firstie visitor to ur page...needless to say blown over by the template... ya yahoo mail spam filter is slowly loosing sheen...but somehow i find myself not deleting them....call it the perils of having 250mb storage space... hiyaa me too from bangalroe sathya ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sameer EMAIL: super_sam5@yahoo.com IP: 220.225.32.238 URL: http://www.opti-mystic.net/blog DATE: 02/23/2005 10:00:10 PM Well then I wonder why I do not get any spam in my Yahoo inbox! Nearly all of it gets routed to the Bulk Mail folder. Sometimes a solitary mail does escape the filters and land in the inbox, but thats perhaps one in 2-3 days. Here I can see that you're getting about 6-7 spam mails daily in the inbox! You think maybe it has something to do with the filters not being upgraded promptly on some mirrors? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shankari EMAIL: shankarimurali@yahoo.com IP: 203.200.10.83 URL: http://www.uthinksour.blogspot.com DATE: 12/08/2005 12:00:16 PM Again late but, my $0.2! OK, quite jobless today... I NEVER get junk in yahoo! Some spam yes. Hotmail is another story tho' :( But then my hotmail id is the one e.one has, so guess its not just me, its my *friends* who help me attract that fluff. Every morning I have to perform the daily ritual of sweeping through my accounts- ugh! it sounds as horrible as it is. Wish I were smarter to able to get it all in one place, but then as you say, it may crash and I be cold turkeying all day! Fell for your silly trap- was so keen to write and finally click on that link below to increase the size of the box, hahaha! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: toodor EMAIL: toodor.com@toodor.com IP: 80.191.132.98 URL: http://www.toodor.com DATE: 02/23/2007 01:19:12 PM in the name of god hi please visit ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Raptor EMAIL: raptor3D@hotmail.com IP: 71.145.163.212 URL: DATE: 05/03/2007 07:05:33 PM I have to opposite problem with Yahoo's Spam Protection. It keeps putting "friends" into the Spam folder, even though I repeatedly mark the Emails as "not spam". I'll get that one message, but then the next week it'll block again. It makes me have to examine my Spam (bulk) folder on a daily basis. I might as well turn it off. S ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jordan EMAIL: J19force93@gmail.com IP: 69.3.192.219 URL: DATE: 02/07/2009 08:27:28 AM I have gmail and no spam gets through. I get around around 150 spams a day. Nothing goes into my inbox ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Patch EMAIL: DogPatch1149@gmail.com IP: 66.227.230.8 URL: DATE: 03/07/2009 12:11:08 AM Even with SpamGuard enabled and filters in place (which are user-hostile to setup), Yahoo still lets in incredible amounts of spam, and yet...wait for it...sends legitimate messages to the spam folder. It's even worse than Hotmail USED to be, before Microsoft finally did something right with it. It isn't just Yahoo mail - Groups, 360, Messenger, and Personals all show serious signs of neglect or just plain "we-don't-give-a-rat's-ass" attitude on the part of their programmers. I hope and pray that Yahoo either gets back in the game, or gets off the field and lets Google or Microsoft buy them out. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Carlos Lopez EMAIL: archivos_sca@yahoo.com.ar IP: 186.18.15.65 URL: http://futurartbusiness.comyr.com DATE: 04/21/2009 11:21:52 AM I have arrived to the opposite conclusion: yahoo protects the spam much more that it does with what they consider regular email. I think that someway they're making big money with spam and thay don't want to end with it. Just make this experiment: go to the spam box and delete one of them, what happens? A window opens asking if you're sure that you want to delete that spam!! Now go to the regular inbox and do the same with any of the received mails: suprise!!! no window protects you from deleting them. Isn't it curious??? Come on, Yahoo, I know what's your business!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cheap Computers EMAIL: ssunderani01@gmail.com IP: 58.181.101.73 URL: http://www.electrocomputerwarehouse.com/ DATE: 05/28/2009 07:58:12 PM Hello, i am glad to read the whole content of this blog and am very excited and happy to say that the webmaster has done a very good job here to put all the information content and information at one place, i will must refer this information with reference on my website i.e www.electrocomputerwarehouse.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: online store EMAIL: onlinestore85@gmail.com IP: 119.153.141.122 URL: http://www.myonline-store.com DATE: 12/05/2009 12:54:19 PM The Best Online Store, buy a Computer, Camera & Photos, Watches, Wireless Accessories, Netbook, Cell Phones, Electronics, Books, Printers, Scanners, LCD Monitors, Wireless Accessories http://www.myonline-store.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Edward EMAIL: green5065@gmail.com IP: 195.149.90.73 URL: DATE: 12/30/2009 01:06:48 PM I have gmail too, but it's awful((( all my life I've been working with google and was quite satisfied. recently I changed my job and was "introduced" to yahoo...what can I say...if it wasn't for http://rapid4me.com search engine from which I usually download helpful soft and books that save me much time and efforts, I'd probably gone mad by now. no offence to yahoo fans, I'm just a bit disappointed by all those innovations ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mujeeb EMAIL: mujeebhunzai23@gmail.com IP: 116.71.80.96 URL: http://historicalplaceinpakistan.blogspot.com/ DATE: 01/06/2010 03:00:54 AM Social bookmarking submission has developed into a powerful tool for SEO experts. It involves linking sites within the various forums, blogs and message boards on social networking websites, blog sites and content centric sites like Digg. Considered a better alternative to submitting a website on blogs, manual social bookmarking is a simple, convenient and hassle-free way of making sure that your site is noticed and marketed in the right circle. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: cheap computers EMAIL: minu@pctechoutlet.com IP: 99.234.189.29 URL: http://www.pctechoutlet.com DATE: 01/18/2010 04:37:38 AM I am happy to read your blog and admit the webmaster has done a very good job. With reference to my website http://www.pctechoutlet.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: used computers EMAIL: minu@pctechoutlet.com IP: 99.234.189.29 URL: http://www.pctechoutlet.com DATE: 01/18/2010 04:38:14 AM I am happy to read your blog and admit the webmaster has done a very good job. With reference to my website http://www.pctechoutlet.com ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: NASA says there ain't no life on Mars BASENAME: nasa_says_there STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism DATE: 02/19/2005 12:43:43 PM ----- BODY: Remember that story about evidence of life being found on Mars? Yes, the same one that made front page news on our beloved Slimes of India. Well, it wasn't quite true. NASA just said so. But guess who broke the news before NASA put out its official release? It was the excellent astronomy-related site, BadAstronomy.com. To be fair, the Slimes of India was not the only one to pick up the news. News sources like MSNBC and Boston Herald carried it too. What really gets egg on the face of ToI is that they didn't bother crediting the original source, Space.com, for the story. In their usual style, they dispensed with the attribution, making it look as if it was their own story. If they had credited Space.com, they could at least have saved face and passed the blame on to them. Will ToI print a retraction or follow-up? I'm betting they'll keep quiet about it. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Arjun EMAIL: blogs@arjunprabhu.com IP: 61.95.192.254 URL: http://blog.arjunprabhu.com DATE: 02/19/2005 04:23:51 PM LOL!. Nice find. Slimes of India, Wake up. This may be just one of such cases. There might be hundreds of stories on ToI which have been lifted from other sources. Btw, we have to really appreciate their efforts in removing of some text (like, 'told space.com', etc, form the original. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: whocarez EMAIL: mayankk@gmail.com IP: 202.63.233.8 URL: DATE: 02/19/2005 08:06:58 PM As far as lifting the story goes, TOI was on slippery ground. But the article's content doesn't put it in a bad position as such. The very first line says "A pair of NASA scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here recently that they had found strong evidence that life might exist on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water." So, is the publishing newspaper at fault here. No, its just quoting a scientific source and that source shld have egg on its face. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sirius EMAIL: sirius@9lightyears.com IP: 212.158.120.46 URL: DATE: 02/19/2005 09:22:10 PM At last, there's at least one person who agrees that TOI is a scumbag paper. Add to that, the blog writer being atheist brings out the closet atheist in me. Good shot across the bows of the paper. Now if you'd only go back a few years & write about the vilification of the IT Dept. on the front pages over the Ashok Jain forex scandal, that would be a bonus. Always read the Deccan Herald, the Hindu, Penth...(oops sorry wrong 'un) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vijay EMAIL: vijay7@gmail.com IP: 202.144.79.126 URL: http://vmblog.blogspot.com DATE: 02/20/2005 11:23:10 AM Type slimes of india into google and the next page asks, "Did you mean Times of India?" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.229 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 02/21/2005 04:11:33 PM slimes = zzzzzzzzzz always.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Elvis Has Left EMAIL: elvis@rockingheaven.net IP: 70.17.54.22 URL: DATE: 02/22/2005 02:14:28 AM SlimesofIndia has for long been one of the blocked sites on my home PC and the work PC. I wish there was a blog that watched the bad writing and journalism on India's most beloved newspaper. That way, I could just read the bad bits and have a hearty laugh. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sambhav EMAIL: a@a.com IP: 202.68.151.98 URL: http://mediaah.blogspot.com/ DATE: 02/24/2005 09:08:15 PM Try Mediaah! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bajji EMAIL: rbalaji@gmail.com IP: 61.95.227.212 URL: DATE: 02/25/2005 08:23:45 PM I agree with you and TOI has been only an english version of many sensation seeking tamil equivalents. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: spider solitaire EMAIL: info@poker.ec IP: 80.59.86.100 URL: http://ty2j.com/spider-solitaire.html DATE: 03/30/2006 05:51:23 PM spider solitaire Probaly you should read this. spider solitaire Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy spider solitaire now ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Chidambaram's fly in the Budget ointment BASENAME: chidambarams_fl STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Business CATEGORY: Business DATE: 03/01/2005 10:55:44 AM ----- BODY: Our beloved Finance Minister, Mr. P Chidambaram, has a habit of generally presenting sensible budgets for the country, but always introducing some small measure which acts like a bad itch after a mosquito bite. While not that harmful, it tends to irritate the hell out of you anyway - the SAD (Special Additional Duty), the transaction tax on trades in equities, and yesterday, his imposition of a withdrawal tax of 0.1% on cash withdrawals of more than Rs. 10000 in a day. This is a silly idea for so many reasons. PC, as he's called, actually believes that his proposal will prevent tax evasion by leaving a "tax trail" on cash transactions. He wants to move towards a "cheque economy". PC, under which rock have you been living? You think this will flush the "black" money out of the system? All it does is piss off the regular middle class and salaried tax payers. Rs. 10000 is hardly a large sum of money to be withdrawn at one shot. Many people withdraw around that much for their monthly expenses. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Let's set aside the fact that this measure is double taxation. It's not the amount of the tax that bugs people; it's the idea of our oh-so-honourable income tax department keeping tabs on how you spend your money. As anyone who has ever had the misfortune of sparring with that illustrious wing of our government will tell you, the income tax department is one giant harassment machine. Giving them more ammo to torture us with is not a progressive move, PC! Moreover, we are incensed that once we've earned our money, you choose to tell us how much we can use at one time. That's too Big Brother-ish for most of us, thanks. Banks too, will be furious about the administrative hassle. Not only do they have to collect the tax and pay it to the government, but they also need to report all these gigantic withdrawals of Rs. 10000 or more. But what about checking tax evasion? Isn't there a need to keep a tab on people dealing in cash? Again, PC needs to get a reality check. First of all, very little of the "black money" is in the banking system. People who have plenty of it don't go and put it into a nice savings account in their banks. It finds other channels - property, jewellery, lockers, stuffed into mattresses... anywhere but in a bank account. What little of it was left in the system has been practically eliminated by two measures implemented by the previous government - requiring a PAN (your income tax personal account number) to open a bank account, and mandatory quoting of the PAN on cash deposits of Rs. 50000 or more. (Mr. Yashwant Sinha, former Finance Minister, is the bloke who introduced them. He is now being disingenuous in claiming that unaccounted money doesn't flow through the banking channels, yet it didn't stop him from thinking of those two measures that assumed it did flow through banks.) So, Mr. Finance Minister, you can see that the only people whose money you are trying to track are regular joes like us, who have been paying taxes and don't have much black money to show for it. (Ever tried buying a TV, fridge, mobile phone or music system with a cheque, Sir? Not many shops accept cheques, so please don't try and force a cheque economy on us.) Second, the way to eliminate unaccounted money is not to try and track it down, but to remove the causes that lead to it. Much of this money originated in the tyrannical regime of the Indira Gandhi government, where tax rates were at such ridiculous levels that only the most saintly people in this country (all five of them) would pay up and lead a completely honest life. You want to get the black money out? Liberate it by lowering income tax rates to such a level that it is no longer economically sensible to evade the tax. If you can't abolish income tax altogether (I have argued for this many years ago), follow the lead of countries like Hong Kong and Singapore. Bring the rates down to a flat 10% on all income above Rs. 2.5 Lakhs per year. Keeping black money is not without its costs. To route it through various channels and keep it in circulation carries a cost of about 5-6%, but people prefer it to paying rates of 30% and above. Bring the rate down to 10%, and it's suddenly not too attractive to hoard money on the side. Lastly, much of the reason for the existence of corporate unaccounted money is to pay all the "incidental expenses" ("bribes" for the rest of us) incurred in getting government sanctions, licenses, signatures, certificates, and into the giant bureaucratic mess that is the Indian system. (I'll write more about this and my own experiences as a businessman in another article.) Reduce the need to pay so many bribes and you'll reduce the money that goes unaccounted. Unfortunately, dismantling the babu system and the licence raj (which still exists; don't be fooled into thinking it doesn't) is a far more ambitious challenge. Do it, however, and the country will take giant steps forward. Cut the government machinery down to 10% of what it is, and you may find out what "liberalisation" actually means. (This article was going to talk about the silly "fringe benefits tax" too, but we ran out of space. :) ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bijesh EMAIL: bijeshv04@yahoo.com IP: 203.123.182.26 URL: DATE: 03/01/2005 12:19:31 PM Agree with you cent per cent madman. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Arjun EMAIL: blogs@arjunprabhu.com IP: 220.227.179.5 URL: http://www.arjunprabhu.com/blog DATE: 03/01/2005 01:53:25 PM Stupid move by the FM. My rants on this can be found @ my blog. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: chikuado EMAIL: matrixunwired@hotmail.com IP: 203.199.211.113 URL: http://adrenalinrush.blogspot.com DATE: 03/01/2005 02:45:49 PM i dont know.. it's a lot simpler and more sensible than the previous one. yes, the 10k withdrawal sounds demented, but the whole point of this budget is focussing on rural efforts - i think he played a good game out there ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sriram EMAIL: s005@indiatimes.com IP: 143.166.226.19 URL: http://onua.blogspot.com DATE: 03/01/2005 03:38:18 PM A good point was buying white goods. Most of the dealers give discount when you pay the entire money in Cash. So, If I have to buy a home theatre system for 50K, I should start putting trips to the ATM everyday and draw Rs 9,900. In 5 days I will have the money. Not everybody would be fortunate enough to have an ATM in office. If you drive down to the ATM the petrol bill will offset the savings from tax, so most people will probably not take the headache to do such stunts and would rather pay up to PC. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Akshay EMAIL: akshaym@gmail.com IP: 219.65.89.77 URL: http://trivialmatters.blogspot.com/ DATE: 03/01/2005 05:58:44 PM I agree with you, the measure is totally frivolous and will in no way actually make any difference in deterring black money. But I don't think it would stop people from withdrawing 10k and above, really. So all and all if government spends the money wisely well it seems ok in the end. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: madhavan EMAIL: mrmadhavan@yahoo.com IP: 202.156.2.58 URL: DATE: 03/01/2005 07:20:27 PM You missed the habit that PC has of "creative accounting" or Enronitis. In his "dream" budget of 1997, he had neatly removed the grants that the central govt makes to states from the "small savings" collection -- arguing that this should be not part of central finances; this helped cut the fiscal defict number by over a per cent; not wrong accounting but completely misleading when the no. is compared with the previous year's without the adjustment. This year, 29K crore of the plan expenditure will not be financed by the centre but directly by the state. This shifts fiscal deficit worth 0.8% of GDP from the centre to states. If the states stay at the same level as last year, consolidated deficit rises by 0.8% of GDP. Or in other words, an honest FM would have explained that without a change in accounting method, fiscal deficit has risen from 4.5% of GDP to 5.1% (instead of the claimed 4.3%). This is a rewind button, not a pause button on the FRBM act. -- Madhavan btw: I have also been called "madman" for the last 15 years but you are the blog senior! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ramnath EMAIL: ns.ramnath@timesgroup.com IP: 203.199.196.228 URL: http://ramz.blogspot.com DATE: 03/01/2005 07:38:37 PM Chidambaram cant be that stupid. Swaminathan Aiyar: "Some will call this the face of the blunderer. Others will call it his Machiavellian face, deliberately creating a financially meaningless rumpus that diverts flak from other imposts....." emphasis mine, more here ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ram EMAIL: ram.seshadri42@gmail.com IP: 155.198.116.104 URL: DATE: 03/01/2005 08:45:31 PM A cash economy is just a total nonsense and there is no need to use it. People need a kick up the backside to move into a cheque based economy. In the UK here cash is a somewhat foreign concept and black money is much reduced ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: parthakrish EMAIL: parthakrish@indiatimes.com IP: 69.138.203.100 URL: http://earlydays.blogspot.com DATE: 03/01/2005 10:41:10 PM Hi madman: U R not a bad man! U said it right on P.C.But one thing not all the 3 Gods can draw all tha black money into Govt kitty. As U rightly said it is an itch.We have myriads of ointments and we R used to itches and stitches , Parthakrish a 75 year old blogger from Wahington D.C area ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: brijwhiz EMAIL: brijwhiz@gmail.com IP: 59.95.0.147 URL: http://brijwhiz.blogspot.com DATE: 03/02/2005 12:32:39 AM I wanted to write this comment for two reasons. 1. Madhu, how does your trackback work? I wanted to trackback to your post and clicked on the trackback button. However I did not get any edit box to add my url too. I use Blogger. I would leave my site address in the comments but just thought I would get you permission first. 2. Ram speaks about UK having a no-cash economy. I do see the plus points. However there is one very important ingredient in a non-cash based economy - TRUST. If you want to convince Indians to move into a direct-debit/cheque based economy companies have to come forward and convince the people that this is in their benefit. They have to convince them that they their transactions are secure and when something goes wrong it is the onus of the company to prove fraud and not of the consumer to prove his innocence. Only when the consumers can trust the fact that the system is on their side will they stop depending on a cash-based economy. I do have more to say on the matter but do not want to use Madhu's real estate for the same:) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.58.83 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 03/02/2005 12:38:02 AM Brij, Blogger is a sucky product and doesn't support trackbacks, so you can't send one using it. Perhaps they'll implement it after they implement trivial things like post categories. :) Actually, you can read up the trackback implementation documentation which tells you how to ping the site. But if you're not so inclined, Haloscan.com now offers trackback for Blogger sites. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: brijwhiz EMAIL: brijwhiz@gmail.com IP: 59.95.0.147 URL: http://brijwhiz.blogspot.com DATE: 03/02/2005 01:22:19 AM I know that Blogger sucks regarding trackbacks:) I used to have haloscan, however I prefer the comments on Blogger to the comments on Haloscan. Nonethe less my understanding of trackback was that I need to add my URL to your trackback. Guess I got confused!!! Regarding categories hope they never implement it. :) On a similar thread I am thinking of moving onto a rented server with Wordpress1.5. Still working out the pros and cons!!! Maybe i will check in with you sometime if it is covenient for you?(I may be in Bangalore this weekend - in Indiranagar actually) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Prasanna EMAIL: prasanna.blr@gmail.com IP: 203.200.39.194 URL: DATE: 03/02/2005 10:18:36 AM I totally agree. I am in the process of buying a consumer appliance and PC's idea of "keeping a tab on black money" was like a tight slap. I am furious that he sits there with a smug smile on his face and tells us that he doesnt know what the fuss is all about. The worse point of it is, its not just withdrawals from your Savings a/c, but pretty much any account - deposit or otherwise from the bank. If I really had to pay a tax to the government to use my money, wouldnt I rather keep it with myself than in a bank? after all the measly interest is much less than the inflation anyway! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Venky Krishnamoorthy EMAIL: venky.krishnamoorthy@gmail.com IP: 12.34.23.5 URL: http://venkatkrish.blogspot.com/ DATE: 03/02/2005 10:27:51 AM Hey, Did you read PC's i/v in rediff.com. He still could not understand why there is so much noise on the 0.1 levy on the 10k withdrawal. It is so funny. Check out my blog, for my thoughts! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 202.62.80.229 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 03/02/2005 03:25:14 PM paying tax for the money we withdraw everytime is bullshit policy.. our hard earned money which we are already paying tax.. to top it all if we want to send money home we pay tax too... too much.. not happy with the budget... some parts are good but the rest is silly and illogical to say the least.. by the way.. loved the Chicken Mee Goreng and Singapore black prawns yesterday.. wanted to celebrate so went to your place to have a quiet early dinner ... :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: cray EMAIL: cray@noname.lava.ext.sg IP: 137.132.3.11 URL: DATE: 03/02/2005 05:07:29 PM http://server1.msn.co.in/sp05/budget/headlines/fmsoft.asp There might be rollback of the 0.1% tax. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Madan EMAIL: madn@rediffmail.com IP: 210.212.161.2 URL: http://phdstudent-india.blogspot.com/ DATE: 03/02/2005 11:10:39 PM Buddy, Fringe Tax..Now that makes it more complicated. I wish our politicians explain this to us. They are the once who have zero salary, only benefits. My views on this fine print is posted in my blog http://phdstudent-india.blogspot.com/ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lalith Narayan EMAIL: lalith@gmail.com IP: 210.18.114.3 URL: http://www.lalithn.com DATE: 03/04/2005 04:23:05 PM step freaking out people.. i think this is a move in the right direction, couldve been even better. wrote about this on my blog. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jay EMAIL: NoEmail@NoEmail.com IP: 71.97.12.177 URL: DATE: 03/05/2005 10:56:55 PM hi madman, The tax is just 1% of the money they are drawing from the bank.This won't hurt that much.What is the problem?.I am seeing lot of people opposing this tax.If this does not work,FM will shift the tax to some other place. The idea of blocking the spam regarding the comments are good. Is it your idea!!!!!. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.60.131 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 03/06/2005 12:43:07 AM Jay, It is not the tax amount that's the problem, but the idea of being watched by Big Brother and assumed guilty till proven innocent. My article explains it in more detail. Our income tax department is full of crooks, and honest people don't want to be on their radar. The CAPTCHA block is my idea for this blog, yes, but I can't take credit for inventing it. Lots of people before me have done it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jay EMAIL: noemail@noemail.com IP: 71.97.12.177 URL: DATE: 03/06/2005 02:24:02 AM hi madman, I accept your point "being watched by big brother".There is a minor(serious) error in my previous post.It is 0.1% not 1%. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: karthik EMAIL: kats1@eudoramail.com IP: 67.111.137.94 URL: DATE: 03/06/2005 09:51:56 AM Great analysis of the budget, madman! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: DoesItMatter EMAIL: Why@IsItRequired.com IP: 24.118.186.227 URL: DATE: 03/07/2005 02:32:48 AM Well, in US banks do charge people after certain "free" withdrawals. Yes, the withdrawal fee is not a percentage but a flat value (which is better). People usually do not cry while giving money to business, but when it comes to Govt. the dams just burst loose :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: shankar EMAIL: shankar.nrao@gmail.com IP: 24.0.157.5 URL: http://nshankar.blogspot.com DATE: 03/08/2005 01:39:17 AM Going for a non-cash economy in India is highly laughable. There is so much distrust and threat perceived at the consumer and retailer side that people would rather feed PC than go through all the hazzles. All said and done, as Madman pointed out, the black money rests happily in the mattresses and lockers while the hapless taxpayer now bears the brunt of shelling out money to use his own hard earned money. I guess nobody is laughing all the way to the bank, atleast not the middle class salaried community. Madman, would have loved to hear your comments on "fringe benefits" :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: lavannya EMAIL: lgoradia@yahoo.co.uk IP: 202.4.189.166 URL: http://www.lavannya.blogspot.com DATE: 03/14/2005 11:10:25 PM but what else can the common man do but get pissed off!! ----- PING: TITLE: A 'dream-turns-sour' Budget URL: http://www.opti-mystic.net/blog/archives/2005/03/02/a-dream-turns-sour-budget/ IP: 63.247.135.3 BLOG NAME: The Opti Mystic DATE: 03/02/2005 05:57:03 PM The devil is always in the detail! P Chidambaram's budget proves this once again... ----- PING: TITLE: The weekly blogside view of the Indian economy (5) URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com/?p=1286 IP: 66.235.180.57 BLOG NAME: The Acorn DATE: 03/06/2005 09:18:23 PM Perceiving the Indian economy through bloggers, every week. ... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Old laws in India BASENAME: old_laws_in_ind STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Society & culture DATE: 03/20/2005 08:06:43 PM ----- BODY: As most Indians who have been through the Indian courts for a legal case will tell you, the Indian justice system is not famous for its speed or efficiency. The backlog of cases is in the order of millions of cases, and it is not at all uncommon for cases to languish in our wonderful courts for decades, making you wonder if the justice system should really be called "the injustice system". For libertarians like me, a strong and effective judiciary is vital if we have to enforce property rights, resolve contract disputes, and make tort laws effective. (And if you ask Yazad, he will probably say that only private arbitration bodies are required.) Over on The Examined Life, Ravikiran makes a case that legal options for regular folks like us are not desirable because our complicated laws actually favour large corporate groups with lots of money who can afford to wait around for years while the common man goes nuts waging his battle against them. Says Ravikiran:Our legal system is too slow because we have too many laws. Each law is individually vague and each individual action is covered by so many laws that there is no way to tell whether an action is legal or not till it is actually brought to court and a judge actually pronounces on it.Alas, this is all too true. I heard someone say on TV once that our Income Tax law is the longest in the world, having gone through hundreds of modifications over the years. But to add to what Ravi is saying, our big problem today is that the laws governing us are so convoluted simply because they are so damn old! We are governed by so many archaic, anachronistic, useless laws that just the interpretation of them ties up cases for years. Many of our laws are a century old; some even older. These laws have to be interpreted in a modern context to deal with the realities of this century, but they were written in an age when none of these issues were thought of. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Want examples? All the telecommunications and broadcasting regulations in this country are governed by the Indian Telegraph Act of - guess which year? - believe it or not, 1855. The Indian Penal Code that makes homosexuality a crime? That's from 1860. The same law also makes adultery a crime, though only the male who has sex with a married woman can be imprisoned. (No, I'm not kidding!) Indian Contract Act? As recent as 1872. The Official Secrets Act is from 1923. The Banking Regulation Act is from 1949 (and so ATM transactions are a grey area.) It's hard to believe that while we are living in the 21st century, we are still governed by laws from the 19th century. And as the years have passed, the government has added clauses that usually start with "Notwithstanding anything written in..." which added more crud to laws that were already complicated enough. It's time to bring Indian law into this century by starting with a clean slate and starting, as Ravi says, with principles. But who in the government is going to take the initiative? Atal Behari Vajpayee, our former Prime Minister, had taken a bold step forward in the beginning of his last term by announcing that he would rewrite laws that didn't make sense. Unfortunately, that was the only step he took. As is usually done in this country, a committee was appointed for this. And as with most things in India that get assigned to a committee, that was the last we heard of it too. Unfortunately, our dear Mr. Vajpayee was abducted by aliens some time after the elections last year, and has since disappeared from this planet. So he can't even offer any counsel to our new government. Maybe the aliens will return him after they've completed their research into painfully slow speech. P Chidambaram, the Finance Minister, recently announced that he would introduce a completely new Income Tax Act by the end of this year. It's a small step, but it's welcome. What about the rest of them? ----- EXCERPT: Indian laws are not only complicated, they are also incredibly old. This slows down our justice system so much that cases drag on for years, wearing down the average citizen. Serious law reform is required for this country's laws to fit the 21st century. ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilu EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com IP: 12.153.62.16 URL: http://www.themaanga.blogspot.com DATE: 03/20/2005 10:03:41 PM In my opinion, there quite a politically feasible solution here 1. Moving much of these "central subjects" to the states will be both politically expedient and practically effective(or not as the case maybe). 2. Moving away from Income Tax to sales tax. Why would the left raise an issue if the finance minister were to announce tommorrow that there will be no Income Tax ??...can't this beat the commies in their own game? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 59.144.39.42 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 03/21/2005 12:41:59 AM Nilu, If you moved it to the states, you'd just get even more variants of the law, just one for each state. So you might find that you can be gay in, say, Kerala, but not in Bihar. ;) 2. Moving away from Income Tax to sales tax. Why, I proposed exactly that many years ago. Why would the left raise an issue if the finance minister were to announce tommorrow that there will be no Income Tax ?? If you remember, the Left was actually asking for income tax to be raised to raise revenue for "welfare" programmes. The Left allegedly represents the "working class" who don't pay any income tax, unlike us middle class and higher people. So if you banished income tax, you'd be taking money away that could be used for the exceedingly efficient government welfare schemes to "help the poor". And we rich SOBs should pay tax because we make more money, damn it! Comrade Nilu, you have much to learn. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilu EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com IP: 12.153.62.16 URL: http://www.themaanga.blogspot.com DATE: 03/21/2005 01:10:19 AM Exactly my point Madman.If am not gay in Bihar, I might probably move there. This comparison might force states to reach the equilibrium of the minimum. And regarding the welfare programs and Taxation - can't the Finance minister indulge in political grandstanding and specious rhetoric to spin welfare on it's head??..I think it's possible. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: mail@yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 03/21/2005 04:30:22 PM There has been some work done in this area. Too little, too slow for my taste though. Here's Gurcharan Das writing on the progress last year.
Manmohan Singh is aware that eliminating unwanted laws or simplifying them is a powerful way to improve governance. Ten years ago when he was finance minister, he set up a group under Bibek Debroy precisely to examine this. The group made an exhaustive study of central laws and concluded that 1,500 out of 3,500 laws were obsolete. If they were scrapped or significantly modified the citizen's life would improve. Known as Project LARGE, the group brought out 30 reports and seven books that Allied published between 1994 and 1998. Arun Jaitley, as law minister, scrapped 350 of these laws. Now is the time, Dr Manmohan Singh, to follow through with the good work you began.----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Amardeep EMAIL: amardeep@gmail.com IP: 67.83.23.71 URL: http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/blog.html DATE: 03/21/2005 09:45:40 PM The age of laws isn't the problem, unless they become technologically obsolete. Nor is the fact that there are too many laws really an issue (every country has nearly endless lists of laws and regulations). If Parliament started passing laws to govern the kinds of issues that are becoming increasingly important in India right now, the length of the law books would be as long or longer than they currently are. But I agree that the justice system is way, way too slow. Why is that? I've never really understood why it takes 8 years to prosecute a case in India. If someone could cut out a lot of the red tape involved in bringing a case to trial, it would make a huge difference. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 59.144.39.42 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 03/21/2005 11:18:06 PM Amardeep, I can only refer you back to Ravi's original piece. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Abhijeet Singh EMAIL: abhijeetsm@gmail.com IP: 202.91.67.180 URL: http://www.abhijeetsingh.com DATE: 04/18/2005 01:31:57 PM The problem seems to be two fold - antiquated laws combined with lax enforcement. I am whole heartedly for fewer and more sensible laws that can be and ARE enforced! Correct me if I am mistaken, but I believe courier companies operated quite illegally for several years as under the original Indian Postal Act of 1898 private companies were not allowed to carry letters! This was corrected by an amendment after an appropriate delay (but of course) of several years, but there are some people who would love to go back to the good old days see ( http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=82901 ) for more. About bad legislation combined with poor enforcement - well internationally India is known to have one of the highest concentrations of illegal Small Arms/ Light Weapons in Asia. What does the government do about this? It keeps on making our already stringent firearm regulations even thougher. This of course has the wonderful effect of ensuring that it is usually difficult and often impossible for regular law abiding citizens to procure an arms permit and even if one does get a permit after jumping through more than a few hoops - the ban on legal civilian imports ensures that few can afford to purchase a (legal) weapon. As to the enforcement? Well Delhi Police admitted that in 2004 they were able to confiscate only 0.2% of the total estimated illegal firearms in the city - a total that keeps climbing each year. The figure for 2003 is even lower! Also, while the government has made it impossible for law abiding citizens to import weapons thus pushing up the prices of handguns to INR 200,000 and above - a similar weapon in the black market costs just INR 20,000! In essence our wonderful government is taking weapons out of the hands of the law abiding citzenry and putting them into the hands of criminals! I feel so much safer as I go to bed each night! :-P ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sunil desh EMAIL: snldesh@yahoo.com IP: 203.94.234.42 URL: DATE: 07/31/2005 01:43:51 AM The Indian polity is goverened by archaic laws of british era which were specifically framed by masters for their servants and probablly were not used to govern their own subjects (British) but the post independence leaders in a hurry to grab vintage posts and positions failed to note this aspect and since having got the taste of powers asociated with them are unwilling to bring in anew set of laws befitting a citizen and not a slave indirectly for a common man the ruler has changed from a European to one amongst natives,actually there should be a constituent assembly every 20 to 50 years so as to keep the system in line and in tune with the fast changing world and also to make it more meaningful and effective. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Raj EMAIL: rajendrathakker@yahoo.com IP: 220.224.41.8 URL: DATE: 10/11/2005 02:08:22 AM On the Supreme Court of India's website, can you find a single phone number ? Or email address/phone/fax of the Chief Justice ? Or any other designated officer to whom public can contact the Supreme Court of India ? Try searching for an email address of the Finance Minister or click on 'contact us' link of the Finance Ministry website.. it goes to some weird page instead of contact details. In their feedback form also I have asked them about the Contact information of the Minister or his secretariat but no reply is there, as usual. I do not see they can bring any momentum for Dr.Kalam's 'Vision 2020' if they have to keep hiding from the public like this and in the IT AGE they have not updated even the Parliament website for more than a year. Mr.Harin Pandya is dead. There is a link for him and his email is in the parliament contact pages. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: personal loans EMAIL: main@free-online-poker.de IP: 219.165.51.147 URL: DATE: 03/30/2006 04:39:37 PM personal loans Keyword doesn't matter ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: free solitaire EMAIL: main@pokersite.fr IP: 80.76.67.97 URL: http://lkj7.us/free-solitaire.html DATE: 04/02/2006 06:56:25 AM free solitaire Probaly you should read this. free solitaire Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy free solitaire now! God bless you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sports EMAIL: master@pokersite.ch IP: 163.20.116.132 URL: http://lkj7.us/sports.html DATE: 04/03/2006 06:46:58 AM sports Probaly you should read this. sports Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy sports now! God bless you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: loose diamonds EMAIL: web@pokersite.ch IP: 69.50.166.82 URL: http://yu7a.com/loose-diamonds.html DATE: 04/06/2006 02:39:35 AM loose diamonds Probaly you should read this. loose diamonds Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy loose diamonds now! God bless you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anando EMAIL: captainandy14@hotmail.com IP: 61.246.80.29 URL: DATE: 10/02/2006 02:33:19 AM Decent article, although my intellectuality at this moment has deserted me I do want to add another extremely stupid law which is there just to be broken. The punjac excise act or something of 1910 according to which no one under the age of 25 can consume alcohol in the state of Delhi. If you were to be say 21 and barely travel 50 kms in any direction out of Delhi , it is legal. So here is what we do I say, A married 24 yr old man earning a decent 20k a month should tell his father to buy some alchohol for him so that he can share a glass of beer with his wife. ----- PING: TITLE: Legislators being Punished for Legislating URL: http://themaanga.blogspot.com/2005/03/legislators-being-punished-for.html IP: 72.9.234.70 BLOG NAME: Recursive Hypocrisy DATE: 03/20/2005 10:21:34 PM This is the official website of the Lok Sabha. ----- PING: TITLE: The weekly blogside view of the Indian economy (7) URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com/?p=1321 IP: 66.235.180.57 BLOG NAME: The Acorn DATE: 03/21/2005 01:40:26 PM Every week some not always blind men from not necessarily Hindustan alone describe what they think is the elephant. Here are this week's perceptions.... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Off to Singapore BASENAME: off_to_singapor STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 03/21/2005 10:04:52 AM ----- BODY: I will be visiting Singapore from 29 March to 04 April, thanks to Indian Airlines' low fare. I would love to meet fellow atheist libertarian capitalist bloggers while I'm there. And even if you're a little less libertarian, atheist, or capitalist than I am, it might still work. ;) People I intend to meet: Ashwin Nitin Pai Anyone else in the neighbourhood who wouldn't mind sharing a jumbo Sri Lankan Chilli Crab at Jumbo Restaurant in East Coast Seafood Center? Use the form on the right and drop me a line, lah! ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kaps EMAIL: sambhar.mafia@gmail.com IP: 202.156.2.163 URL: http://sambharmafia.blogspot.com DATE: 03/21/2005 11:34:24 PM I'm interested in joining the quasi-bloggers meet. I am a veggie.......what will I get @ Jumbo? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 59.144.39.42 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 03/21/2005 11:44:14 PM Kaps, you're screwed! :p ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ashwin EMAIL: ashwinks@gmail.com IP: 137.132.3.12 URL: http://www.ashwink.net/blog DATE: 03/22/2005 12:36:54 PM >>meet fellow atheist libertarian capitalist I wonder which category I fall in? Jumbo Seafood Restaurant - I wondered if you had heard of it :) I had one nightmarish experience there, during my days of vegetarianism. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.61.50 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 03/22/2005 12:43:36 PM I wonder which category I fall in? You tell me. Take the test. Jumbo Seafood Restaurant - I wondered if you had heard of it :) Dude, this is not my first visit to Singapore. I'm fairly familiar with the place. ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pataka EMAIL: planetpixel@yahoo.com IP: 202.156.2.91 URL: http://www.filmframe.com DATE: 03/22/2005 09:28:22 PM sure will be nice to have a bloggers gathering in sg ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dammy EMAIL: thirdstar@gmail.com IP: 61.16.233.196 URL: DATE: 03/23/2005 11:26:02 AM Hmph I bet you keep telling everyone you are going for "research". Still led by your tummy eh bro? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: industrial music composer EMAIL: wickedthoughtzzz@yahoo.com IP: 71.98.160.235 URL: http://www.tsdf.net/ DATE: 03/24/2005 12:04:50 AM I would LOVE to visit there ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Uma EMAIL: uma_blog@yahoo.com IP: 212.29.185.122 URL: DATE: 04/03/2005 12:44:25 AM Weird, it shows me being lot more to the left that I thought I was! Left wing libertarian....hmmm ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: casino games EMAIL: main@free-online-poker.ec IP: 218.47.199.55 URL: http://ty2j.com/casino-games.html DATE: 03/30/2006 03:07:28 PM casino games Probaly you should read this. casino games Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy casino games now ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pregnancy EMAIL: welcomsandy@msn.com IP: 59.144.200.213 URL: http://www.pregnancy.net.in/ DATE: 11/06/2006 07:26:32 AM best site http://www.pregnancy.net.in/ ----- PING: TITLE: Carnival of the godless #9 URL: http://gollyg.blogspot.com/2005/03/carnival-of-godless-9.html IP: 72.9.234.70 BLOG NAME: yeah whatever DATE: 03/26/2005 07:50:08 PM Easter is a special time for the godless. We are reminded of the ridiculous idea that a god who loves all of mankind (for reasons unclear) and is entirely omnipotent requires his own son to die for the aforesaid mankind’s sins. Erm. Couldn̵... ----- PING: TITLE: The weekly blogside view of the Indian economy (9) URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com/?p=1340 IP: 66.235.180.57 BLOG NAME: The Acorn DATE: 03/28/2005 07:24:22 AM See what the Elephant feels like this week.... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: The corrupt and the religious BASENAME: the_corrupt_and STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Society & culture DATE: 03/24/2005 12:07:58 AM ----- BODY: Till recently, I was just a salaried bloke without much need to interact with various government agencies. I have learnt a lot in the one and a half years I have been running my own business as an entrepreneur. Firstly, those who tell you that the Licence Raj is behind us have never run a company that needs a thousand and one licences to actually get it off the ground. And of course each department wants its share of "performance incentive" fees to get things done. So I have been exposed to the ugly and sleazy part of running a business in India - a part I thoroughly despise. A curious thing you observe while visiting various government offices is the number of images of gods and goddesses that abound there. Yes, many of these government officials are very religious people. Every morning, Ganesh will be worshipped, fresh garlands will adorn the idol, and the nice people will pray earnestly. No business will be conducted in the Rahu Kaalam, the inauspicious part of the day (Saturn's evil influence, see) that usually (conveniently?) falls just after lunch time. I'm serious! We didn't get one of our licences in the afternoon, the official insisting that we wait till Rahu Kaalam had passed. We got it around 5 PM. I am an avowed atheist as most of my readers know, so these things don't concern me in the least. What I find baffling, however, is the fact that these same religious people have absolutely no qualm or shame in demanding and accepting dough for their "services". How does this fit in with their religious views? If you believe in an all-powerful, all-seeing deity that dispenses justice based on your actions in this world (a view that is part of most religions), then surely wouldn't you also believe that this deity sees your corrupt, despicable actions and will make you pay for your sins in the afterlife or the next life? Somehow, this doesn't seem to bother any of our nice government employees in the least, who merrily conduct large transactions every day at most offices. And yet the greedy, money-grubbing government lackey will make regular visits to Tirupati, Dharmasthala, and numerous other "holy" places to seek the blessings of the almighty. They must have missed their religion's lessons about leading a virtuous life. What a wonderful country we have... ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JD EMAIL: dkjariwala@gmail.com IP: 160.33.98.118 URL: http://jdk.phpkid.org DATE: 03/24/2005 01:19:00 AM I think they have 'compartments' for their religious beliefs and their 'practicality'. Basic problem is how we are brought up. From the early childhood, we see that our parents and others around us, doesn't follow the law. We see how they lie, how they bribe others, how they want to circumvent law at each possible opportunity. This is what struck me most when I came to U S of A. People here respect the law. Law is always mentioned as 'THE LAW' [note the article ‘the’]. Children, from the very beginning, see that law is something you must abide by and the culture propagates. If India needs to be developed country, we all need to start respecting and abide by the law. And as you mentioned in your earlier post, Indian government needs to make sure that law is not complicated and easy enough for every one to follow. JD ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: suchi EMAIL: suchi_tw@yahoo.com IP: 203.34.100.2 URL: DATE: 03/24/2005 03:25:42 AM I always wondered why I turned out to be an atheist despite growing up around fairly devout people. I think it was because I was repulsed by contradictions like these: the rude, selfish and sometimes plain mean relatives were the most devout; the houses where brahminical "achaaram" or practices of purity were observed were the most unclean, etc. Believing in an "all-powerful, all-seeing deity that dispenses justice based on your actions in this world" is very convenient if the only "actions" you have to perform are rituals. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilu EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com IP: 12.153.62.16 URL: http://ww.themaanga.blogspot.com DATE: 03/24/2005 03:54:21 AM I think being corrupt is almost expected of the people who expect divinity to help their lives in every minute detail. They are just normal humans who are greedy and do not want to turn away any source that may bring them wealth/power - be it mortal or otherwise. Conviction of religious belief and Moral uprightness are not interlinked as you expect them to be. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: arun EMAIL: a@b.com IP: 203.31.24.51 URL: http://www.arunwho.com DATE: 03/24/2005 05:37:12 AM They dont see it as being corrupt any more. its a way of life.. thats how it works - so its all fine. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shankar EMAIL: y@isthisneeded.com IP: 24.0.157.5 URL: DATE: 03/24/2005 09:15:19 AM Being corrupt is more of a down to earth humane thing and has got nothing to do with divinity. A person folding his hands in front of the Almighty does not mean that he has to be a saint all his life. Corruption is a totally condemnable act and has got more to do with greed, which I am afraid is all pervasive, be it an athiest or a believer. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Navin EMAIL: nevermind1980@yahoo.com IP: 203.197.252.77 URL: DATE: 03/24/2005 08:40:08 PM A shallow understanding of practice of religion,if I may put it that way. As also a convenient application/bending of whatever little they have absorbed. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: RJ EMAIL: rjmadmanweb@mailinator.com IP: 64.53.147.144 URL: DATE: 03/25/2005 09:06:16 PM Most folks who consider themselves religious, do not really know the meaning of religion and what it entails. The religion to them is a habit, imbibed into them by their parents' habits without question or reason. They utter the prayers, they sing the bhajans, they recite the chalisa. But in reality it may as well be 'Oops I did it again' by Britney Spears. Hence, in most people, their conscience or even religious concious does not bite, since in their minds they are not breaking any rules of guidelines due to the lack of understanding of their religion. Moreover, for a country like India, 'service charges' are a way of life, an unwritten rule of conducting any business, any transaction. Pocket-money, Dash, Back-handers, Incentives...whatever acceptable name it may be given. Yet again, this way of life has become a habit. A trend, a way of life, I dont see changing soon. Ciao, ~ RJ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.61.64 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 03/26/2005 07:48:34 PM testing ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: J. Srieedar EMAIL: bluegift17@hotmail.com IP: 165.21.154.10 URL: DATE: 03/27/2005 05:38:29 AM Let us not generalize and claim that all devouts are like that. I know of quite a number who earnestly seek to determine what their faults and weaknesses are, and eliminate them either through conscious watchfullness or mental reasoning (wisdom). Also, i feel that every person is a potential sinner, be they devout or atheist. Circumstance reveals the character. They were greedy all along, and when the opportunity came, they accepted bribes. It's okay if you have faults in you. Just be sure to genuinely destroy them overtime. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandy EMAIL: sandeep2504@yahoo.com IP: 203.190.147.148 URL: http://www.sandyinhell.blogspot.com DATE: 03/28/2005 01:53:31 AM I think it is to do with what I call "values of convenience". These are values which are tradable and come with a price tag attached. The sad part is that they are so low priced!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandip Bhattacharya EMAIL: sandip@puroga.com IP: 220.226.38.90 URL: http://www.sandipb.net/blog/ DATE: 03/28/2005 03:33:29 AM Being devout has got nothing to do with being good. It is about expecting God to cover your a** all the time. :) Come to think of it, even Phoolan Devi used to perform arti before leaving to get her kills - what do you think she was praying to God for? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Swaroop C H EMAIL: g2swaroop@yahoo.com IP: 210.214.123.158 URL: http://www.swaroopch.info DATE: 03/28/2005 06:36:06 AM Religion has become a front for despicable activities. Consider the case of the head of the temple now in jail for murdering others. Regarding the government offices, well, they have a culture of bribery, so they feel it is their _right_ to demand bribe. It doesn't matter whether they are religious or not. - Swaroop www.swaroopch.info ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gopal EMAIL: gopalms@hotmail.com IP: 220.227.218.144 URL: DATE: 03/28/2005 05:52:05 PM This is a free country. Theives are free to pray to any god they wish. After all they promise a cut to the lord above. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sowmya EMAIL: sowmya.srinivasan@gmail.com IP: 202.144.91.163 URL: http://jlt-chumma.blogspot.com DATE: 03/30/2005 11:30:09 AM Hey I remember my builder had put "Miscellaneous charges". When I asked him what was that, he said, we need to pay 1% as bribe.. So the rate is also fixed.. Its just unofficially official. Oh.. and by the way, considering that you are an atheist, its a real irony that your ads are so totally poitning to all religious sites ;-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ab EMAIL: ab@ab.com IP: 67.165.98.28 URL: http://ab DATE: 04/02/2005 07:29:00 AM you might be an atheist (if you even understand what that means), or you might be deeply 'religious'...this is not about religion or being secular or atheist...the corruption that you talk about is a culture that doesn't promote virtue and goodness..the praying to ram and shankar is once again culture...and it should not be confused with 'dharma'....living in harmony with nature and with respect and love for all mankind..that is what is the beauty of our great hindu religion..do not mistake corruption and prayers for 'religion'.... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.62.166 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 04/08/2005 08:09:03 PM The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Abi EMAIL: abinandanan@gmail.com IP: 203.200.43.195 URL: http://nanopolitan.blogspot.com DATE: 04/09/2005 08:39:15 PM In decisions regarding taking/giving bribes, only a sense of order and justice, and a sense of what is "due to you" are involved, and these are rather secular in nature; as others have pointed out, religion has nothing to do with them. Wasn't it a Singapore PM who once observed "if you pay peanuts, you will get only monkeys"? If you think you are some super-duper clerk / administrator who is under-appreciated and underpaid by your employer, and here comes someone who is willing to give you money, it is natural to get tempted, isn't it? Isn't this also why it is important to pay our government employees well? You might remember that the Fifth pay commission recommended (circa 1996) fairly hefty pay hike **and** some serious down-sizing. Guess what, the Government (Chidambaram, together with a couple of Cabinet colleagues) took the first recommendation (not fully, I might add), and dumped the second. BTW, some commenters seem to imply that corruption does not exist in the West; perhaps this sort of everyday corruption is not a serious problem there, but big-time corruption (remember crony capitalism, Enron and its auditors?) is alive and well (in the West, and elsewhere), and its effect on the common man is as insidious. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ck EMAIL: ck@ck.ck IP: 216.163.84.178 URL: DATE: 04/15/2005 02:28:44 AM Isn't Hinduism all about corruption and bribery? Look at the Mahabharata or the Ramayan - appease this god and he will give you a brahmastra, do a puja for this goddess and she will reward you. The whole religion seems to be based on on keeping various gods happy through bribery. The Gods themselves seem to have no particular notion of good and bad and seem willing to hand out weapons and powers to the highest bidder. Is it any surprise then that devout Hindus see no conflict between their religious beliefs and bribery/corruption. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Navin Harish EMAIL: navinh@gmail.com IP: 203.199.55.24 URL: http://www.navinharish.net DATE: 06/16/2005 04:23:29 PM Hi Madhu. You must have encountered more government officials than a salaried person but I am sure everyone, irrespective of their profession, would have met a lot of corrupt government officials. I have written a couple of times about them as well. Buy a driver's license is how the RTO can run as a business and An eye for an eye… is how we can punish some offendors, not just the govt. officials but every offender in general. ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.sandeepweb.com/2005/04/27// URL: http://www.sandeepweb.com/2005/04/27// IP: 204.11.51.228 BLOG NAME: Seriously Sandeep DATE: 04/27/2005 03:05:52 PM ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Blog Mela Announcement BASENAME: blog_mela_annou STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism DATE: 04/15/2005 12:48:28 PM ----- BODY: Yes, folks, yet another Blog Mela is being hosted at MadMan's Web. This one will be on 21 April. If you missed the last one, catch it at AnarCapLib. I'm sure you know how it all works, but here you go again: The Rules
Greetings, amigos. Please set some time aside for an eclectic selection of posts from the Indian blogosphere. This week we have 22 posts for you to sample, and as usual, I've taken some time to go beyond the nominated posts and find other noteworthy pieces of prose. I've even broken them into topics. So for instance, if you couldn't care less about cricket (like me), you can skip the sports section completely. Apologies for the minor delay in posting. There was a power problem at home. You'd think a UPS mated to a spike-buster would do the trick, but noooo...
On with the show, shall we?
Satya argues for liberalisation
of tertiary education (yet oddly enough not primary and secondary education)
and thinks the government should stop trying to regulate everything. In
another post, he points out that the Punjab government is opting for a
school voucher system after seeing a big drop in education standards. A model
for the rest of the country to follow? This is an interesting blog that the
Cartel will watch closely.
Patrix, in a post that rules him out as a libertarian, opines that individual rights can and should be subverted in a time of national crisis. Shocking! Somebody tell him about Indira Gandhi and her Emergency. ;)
In another post, Patrix ruminates about making safe career choices or leaving it all to do something one loves.
Harini talks about how Indians will marry anything and everything in as much style as possible. That includes marrying trees too.
Nitin Pai ridicules a foreign policy expert's suggestion to negotiate with terrorists in Kashmir. (Get proper permalinks, Nitin. :)
On Sepia Mutiny, Anna is miffed that a list of the best 50 restaurants in the world doesn't have anything Asian in it. (I want to make that list one day with my restaurant, but given how poorly Indians receive gourmet multi-course meals, it may not happen if it's in this country.)
Saket Vaidya, in a long post, details his concern for the poor and how he has fed many a poor person on the street.
Suhail Kazi has a meandering post on his journey and the trials and tribulations on his way to getting a Social Security Number in USA.
Anand reminisces about witnessing large rallies in Kerala, God's own country (how I hate that term!)
Fellow atheist Sybil, who lives in Melbourne, finds that most of her colleagues have tried some drug or the other.
Akshay goes on a train ride in Mumbai and tries to explain some of the local history.
Naveen, on the CCS blog, has suggestions for books that explain how markets work around the world.
Neelakantan takes pleasure in trying food from different vendors, grateful that he doesn't have to endure the standardised mediocrity served at McDonald's. He also thinks that ready-to-eat packaged food has more potential in India than ready-to-cook food.
Swaroop forgets to use the spell-check while writing that Saurav Ganguly's six-match suspension will help him get the break that he needs. To ignite a flame war, he even mentions the support for Saurav from some cricket-loving Cartel members. Could he possibly be talking about posts like this?
And Nandan thinks Sehwag is more like Don Bradman than even the legendary Sachin.
Selva is upset at Microsoft being granted a patent on a method to access emergency data.
Rajesh Jain believes that affordable bandwidth will lead the way in encouraging development of ASP-modelled software solutions for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises)
Gaurav has an excellent plan for eliminating all crime from Mumbai. It involves a strategic identification of all the hotspots of criminal activity, and then shutting them down one by one. Bravo!
Lastly, please don't miss this hilarious post on The Examined Life where a couple of Cartel members take on the mysterious Sudhakar Nair who appears unable to detect sarcasm, sardonicism, and irony. Well, maybe he's not so mysterious after all. His writing style and IP address bear more than a passing resemblance to a certain left-leaning socialist writer whom we all know and love. (Seriously, "Sudhakar", you're dealing with a bunch of very smart people who are even smarter when working together. Did you think we wouldn't find out? You need to do a better job of concealing your Clark Kent identity.)
Thank you for visiting folks, and I hope I've given you a decent selection to read. Posts with just a couple of lines and a hyperlink were left out, just for the record.
The next mela will be hosted at Selective Amnesia.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Satya EMAIL: satyanarayan@gmail.com IP: 202.54.130.194 URL: http://prayatna.typepad.com/education DATE: 04/22/2005 03:47:23 PM To set the record straight, while my post focussed on liberalising higher education, that's not to mean I'm not arguing for liberalising primary or secondary education. Everything I said in the context of higher education applies just as much to school education as well. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shivam Vij EMAIL: shivamvij@gmail.com IP: 220.224.16.100 URL: http://mallroad.blogspot.com DATE: 04/22/2005 05:22:43 PM Good mela, neat work, and the classification helps a lot! Thanks Shivam ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sumeet Singh EMAIL: singh.sumeet@gmail.com IP: 210.50.249.3 URL: http://www.sumeetsingh.net DATE: 04/22/2005 06:20:54 PM Hi Madman I though the link to "Swaroop forgets to use the spell-check" should have been under my name. Anyhow, ill keep the spell check on next time. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Patrix EMAIL: patrixblogs@gmail.com IP: 69.180.45.97 URL: http://ipatrix.com DATE: 04/23/2005 12:44:55 AM I didn't argue in favor of subverting individual liberties. I am against any censorship or state control. I merely pondered on the status of obviously guilty terrorists hiding behind the shield of "individual rights" when it is the question of national security. All said and done, I don't aspire to be a libertarian either. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sudhakar Nair EMAIL: sudhakar@easy.com IP: 219.65.49.27 URL: DATE: 04/23/2005 01:11:02 AM > You need to do a better job of > concealing your Clark Kent identity. Why? I fooled you, didn't I? Tell me about it sometime over dinner. Sudhakar Nair sudhakar@easy.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 59.144.37.82 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 04/23/2005 01:38:28 AM I didn't argue in favor of subverting individual liberties. Didn't you write the following:But as the Patriot act suggests, in times of national security crises, due process rights can and should be subverted.I merely pondered on the status of obviously guilty terrorists hiding behind the shield of "individual rights" If they're "obviously guilty", there is probably enough evidence to convict them. If there isn't, that is precisely why the justice system provides the checks and balances to prevent the tyranny of the State. All said and done, I don't aspire to be a libertarian either. :) Didn't you also write:
An otherwise libertarian me, I am undecided on this one----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 59.144.37.82 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 04/23/2005 01:39:18 AM "Sudhakar", Why? I fooled you, didn't I? Did you not read what I wrote? We know who you are, D-man! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Patrix EMAIL: patrixblogs@gmail.com IP: 69.180.45.97 URL: http://ipatrix.com DATE: 04/23/2005 02:22:16 AM Madman, I was ruminating over a TV series which threw up an interesting dilemma over urgency in interrogating crucial suspects which could lead to life-saving information (Watch 24's last episode instead of me rambling on. The judicial system choose to "wait till morning in order to comply with due process rights" of the suspect, which if done would have been too late. Conviction is usually done by the courts which do not operate at 1am. Should we wait for the courts to reopen in the morning and risk the country being nuked? regards being a libertarian, I am what Saket (Vaidya) calls himself, a half-libertarian. Pure libertarian values are not practically possible in today's world...the real one that is. Just my $0.02. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sudhakar Nair EMAIL: sudhakar@easy.com IP: 210.210.57.240 URL: DATE: 04/23/2005 01:55:41 PM "Madman", > Did you not read what I wrote? Of course I did. That is just the reason I asked, why should I conceal my identity? I fooled you, didn't I? And I see it's still happening. "Smart people", you said , "Madman"? Yes sir. Sudhakar Nair. sudhakar@easy.com (Sorry, I meant "Sudhakar" since you prefer that). ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: lavannya EMAIL: lgoradia@yahoo.co.uk IP: 202.4.187.13 URL: http://www.lavannya.blogspot.com DATE: 04/25/2005 06:44:30 PM haha haa....loved the Taliban single's link...hahahaa.... i am a man seek a woman, goat or a camel.. he he hee... damn it! really what do they do in reality? then again i suppose face doesnt matter to them..does it? What do i have to do to be on this blog list of yours??? ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nonblogger EMAIL: asdg@bnm.com IP: 131.107.0.88 URL: DATE: 04/26/2005 01:58:22 AM How are these mela selections made? Some of the inane ones have obviously not even been nominated. The humour section is crap. Please dont tell me Sabnis Samachar is even remotely funny. The worst post on alpha.blogdrive is better than this. And the other one is about some guys pulling another guy's leg in the comments section. Was this nominated? Or do you have a personal interest in it. Where is the humour? Whats with two Patrix nominations. Both of them are trite. And whats up with this repetitive reference to "cartel". When will this cartel thing stop? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 59.144.35.12 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 04/26/2005 02:32:39 AM Dear Microsoftie Nonblogger, Please seek some professional help for your anger management issues. The Blog Mela posts are always picked by the host, and that's how it's been for more than a year. If you had bothered to read the intro, you would have noticed the bit where I went beyond the nominated posts. If you had read the original announcement, you would see that any posts made in that week were eligible, which is why Patrix's two posts made it. I also admit to receiving $1 million in bribes from Ravikiran for linking to his web site. So yes, I did have a personal interest in the matter. As for the Cartel, it's a little Indian libertarian blogger thing, but for your reading pleasure, I linked to some help on the matter. Pity you didn't bother reading that either. And no, it will never "stop". It will only get bigger and worse. I suggest you immediately stop reading our blogs to preserve your sanity. Do it now! I am deeply sorry that you didn't derive any pleasure from this edition of the Blog Mela. We at MadMan's Web take customer satisfaction very seriously. I will immediately dispatch a full cash refund to you. Please mail me your address. (And next time, nominate what you think is noteworthy or funny.) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: lavannya EMAIL: lgoradia@yahoo.co.uk IP: 202.4.187.13 URL: http://www.lavannya.blogspot.com DATE: 04/26/2005 10:02:26 AM my my was that an angry as well as funny conclusion Madhu... loved it!! :))) *huge smile* But unfortunately i am the sole one who didnt get her query answered... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yazad EMAIL: mail@yazadjal.com IP: 202.88.213.38 URL: http://www.yazadjal.com DATE: 04/26/2005 12:41:49 PM As Madhu's enjoying himself playing with the trolls, let me answer Lavannya's question. It's simple, nominate a post of yours for the weekly blog mela. The next one will be held here. To keep yourself updated, just hop over to my blog and check out the Blog Mela section on my sidebar. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: eshwar EMAIL: eshwar_i@yahoo.com IP: 203.101.40.154 URL: DATE: 04/29/2005 05:41:24 PM I'd like to nominate the follg site for its great humor..... www.bloodybloggard.blogspot.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: diamond engagement rings EMAIL: master@pokersite.fr IP: 219.31.8.51 URL: http://ty2j.com/diamond-engagement-rings.html DATE: 03/30/2006 04:22:23 PM diamond engagement rings Probaly you should read this. diamond engagement rings Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy diamond engagement rings now ----- PING: TITLE: The weekly blogside view of the Indian economy (12) URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com/?p=1407 IP: 66.235.180.57 BLOG NAME: The Acorn DATE: 04/25/2005 02:42:49 PM Coverage of the Elephant's trajectory: observations from the blogosphere. (This week: nominate your favourite blog to be included in this series... ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Look ma, I'm on TV BASENAME: look_ma_im_on_t STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Random stuff CATEGORY: Random stuff DATE: 05/04/2005 02:29:27 PM ----- BODY: To all the fans of my gourmet cooking, you get to see me in the flesh, cooking drunken seafood (I hope they use that clip) on TV. My restaurant and I will be featured in a segment on Bangalore restaurants. It will air today (04 May 2005) on Zee Business at 5 PM (or thereabouts) and again at 8 PM. So please don't miss it. I will also try to record the clip and put it up here for the world to see. The segment is in Hindi, and I apologise in advance for fumbling a bit in my interview. While I speak Hindi quite well (grew up in Delhi, after all), my oratorial skills in the language died after school, which was 15 years ago. I had mentally prepared for an English Q&A, and had to quickly rework it in my head. But the food is all real. :) Update: Well, that was a quick one. They left out all the interviews so you won't see me speak, but you will see me smile and cook. (Since I don't smile at all, that part was very hard to shoot.) I've contacted a news monitoring service about recording the clip so I can put it online. It should be up in a few days, and by few I mean at least four. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Adel EMAIL: theradiohead@gmail.com IP: 212.138.64.173 URL: http://theradiohead.blogspot.com DATE: 05/04/2005 04:38:29 PM Hey, Congrats. Looking forward to see the clip. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Suman EMAIL: sumank@gmail.com IP: 203.200.30.3 URL: http://sumankumar.com DATE: 05/04/2005 04:40:38 PM Roll on! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: alpha EMAIL: adsja@adsk.com IP: 24.13.248.150 URL: http://alpha.blogdrive.com DATE: 05/04/2005 06:32:36 PM Congrats Madstuff! Any way us poor souls can see it in Amrika? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.62.224 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 05/04/2005 06:47:35 PM Alpha, I'll try to put up a clip in a few days. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: silverine EMAIL: anjalilila@yahoo.co.uk IP: 59.145.145.66 URL: http://poomanam.blogspot.com DATE: 05/04/2005 07:08:54 PM Congratulations!!!! I don' get Zee business so hoping to see the clip on your site. btw where is your restaurant? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JD EMAIL: dkjariwala@gmail.com IP: 160.33.98.118 URL: http://jdk.phpkid.org DATE: 05/04/2005 09:21:04 PM That's great stuff! Congrats! Btw, why you are not updating your chef blog? I would love to have some more recipes from the expert! :) JD P.S.:Whenever I visit Bangalore, I will surely have food at your restaurant. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: muthu EMAIL: muthuonline@gmail.com IP: 203.200.40.199 URL: http://muthuonline.com DATE: 05/04/2005 09:40:55 PM aha! now i can say i know a celeb. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ullas EMAIL: ubnambiar@gmail.com IP: 68.108.220.90 URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/mallu/ DATE: 05/04/2005 10:12:36 PM So you are one of the three IT-geeks turned chefs of Bangalore. And you have a blog too !!! Wonderful indeed. Congratulations on the success and wishing you all the very best in your endeavours. It is good to see someone (if not myself) follow their dreams and be happy doing it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nilu EMAIL: nilakantanrs@gmail.com IP: 59.92.13.155 URL: http://www.themaanga.blogspot.com DATE: 05/06/2005 02:15:26 PM Madhu, Is this the same thing that went on the other day when I was there?...if so am I there ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.59.128 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 05/06/2005 02:18:26 PM Yes, Nilu, it's the same one. You are there in passing. There's a shot of your friend enjoying his chicken satay, however. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ravi EMAIL: d.ravikumar@gmail.com IP: 219.65.109.202 URL: http://ravikumar.blogdrive.com DATE: 05/06/2005 02:23:19 PM Congrats, chef-extraordinaire! :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: rEEna EMAIL: reena1977@yahoo.com IP: 220.227.179.5 URL: DATE: 05/07/2005 02:36:21 PM hEy congrats ya! We were in office till 8 that night! missed it:( But i sent that message to all my friends :) rEEna ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: RR EMAIL: dontask@wontlie.com IP: 203.200.40.199 URL: DATE: 05/10/2005 02:44:54 PM Madman, did the journos pay for their meal? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMME.madmanweb.com IP: 61.246.61.212 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 05/10/2005 02:50:16 PM They didn't have anything to eat. They just filmed the place and talked to guests. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tushar Tyagi EMAIL: Tushar.Tyagi@gmail.com IP: 203.200.19.164 URL: DATE: 05/12/2005 04:20:35 PM Congrats... I saw the show, and later came to know, that it was yours. Let me tell you, food is really nice. I have asked my friends as well, to visit there once... I am sure, they will become regular on their own. :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aditya EMAIL: aditya2507@REMOVETHISgmail.com IP: 61.246.59.227 URL: http://truman.rediffblogs.com DATE: 05/12/2005 09:54:24 PM Probably a lot of people must have told you this by now, but You've got a very good blog going.. Came by through Anita Bora's blog and I read quite a few of your posts. Liked the Indya.com article too. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aditya EMAIL: aditya2507@REMOVETHISgmail.com IP: 61.246.59.227 URL: http://truman.rediffblogs.com DATE: 05/12/2005 09:55:53 PM And yes, congratulations for your Television appearence. I forgot to mention, your blog is mouthwatering.. you write so much about food!! :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ramya EMAIL: ramya_kannan@yahoo.com IP: 203.199.211.197 URL: http://ramyablogs.blogspot.com DATE: 05/13/2005 02:59:23 PM hey, first time here, but i should say i love blogs about food! and congrats on the tv show! liked one of your comments on the blog meet, so hopped by to say hi. and maybe take it further a little while later... but that's neither now nor here. will be back, though... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: rollerr EMAIL: rollerr@gmail.com IP: 64.53.145.170 URL: DATE: 05/17/2005 12:42:22 AM having seen your restaurant website, not one person who is remotely connected to bangalore escapes my very persuasive recommendations (or they wake up the next morning saying good morning to a horse's head!). And extremely eager to get a chance to sample Shiok myself!!!!;-) Would be great to see the clip on the site. Looking forward to it. Thanks. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: lavannya EMAIL: lgoradia@yahoo.co.uk IP: 202.149.58.7 URL: http://www.lavannya.blogspot.com DATE: 05/23/2005 02:04:44 PM hiya madhu, I got that message of yours..but unfortunately was on the road then... i hurried to make it for the news but arrive unfortunately only at 6 pm... sad i couldnt see it. Wish you can put up the clip would love to see it... :) And that food porn this is outrageous..!! man! what will they not leave aside now? But it does look sexy and hot! :P ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aditya EMAIL: aditya2507@REMOVETHISgmail.com IP: 59.145.145.66 URL: http://truman.rediffblogs.com DATE: 05/27/2005 06:23:39 PM Long time no update? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jagdish EMAIL: jagunair@gmx.net IP: 168.187.0.34 URL: http://www.rumbling.net DATE: 06/09/2005 02:28:07 AM Hello Madhu, Thats Great! I think we were at Shiok on May 4th Evening. Me , Christine & Simon and we enjoyed the Food so much that we came back for lunch the Next day.At the Dinner Delirium was being played on the Background and That Made Christine more happy. :)Christine would be mailing you the picture we took at Shiok. Take care and Keep up the great work. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 12.178.35.3 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 06/10/2005 05:09:33 PM Aww I missed it :( ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: shankari EMAIL: shankarimurali@yahoo.com IP: 59.144.40.42 URL: http://www.uthinksour.com DATE: 12/07/2005 10:16:34 PM Awww, we're neighbours! But due to my maakidaal obsessed kid, we go ONLY to kund. While I love the khaalis food there, it has been a lot!! Hope to meet you soon, Madman :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: poker tables EMAIL: info@pokersite.com IP: 61.111.184.248 URL: http://lkj7.us/poker-tables.html DATE: 04/01/2006 03:48:43 PM poker tables Probaly you should read this. poker tables Hope this helps. See you next life. 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God bless you. ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Book Tag BASENAME: book_tag STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism CATEGORY: Writing & media criticism DATE: 06/09/2005 03:58:01 AM ----- BODY:
Yazad tagged me with this book meme that's actually hopped from LiveJournal to the "other" blog world. Sorry, my response has been late. But getting the flu has at least one upside, and that is that you find some time to write stuff like this. You can't work even if you want to because your taste buds are shot, and without being able to taste food properly, a chef is pretty useless.
Here we go then...
Total Number of Books I Own: Like Yazad, I never counted. I estimate several hundred (at least 700 or so). I got them insured for Rs. 50000 which is much lower than what they're worth. The collection also grows faster than I can read them, so I have about 20 books still to be read.
Last Book I Bought: I spent many hours at bookshops in Singapore during my last trip a couple of months back (when I wasn't eating, that is), and the last book I bought was a double volume of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour.
Last Book I Read: Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps: How We're Different and What to Do About It. I borrowed this from a friend because the title got me curious. (I'm always curious about books on human behaviour.) It turned out to be mostly crap and I read only 3/4 of it. Does that count? If not, the last book I read completely was Frederick Forsyth's Avenger. It was entertaining but set off my "bullshit meter" far too often.
Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me: I can't possibly restrict it to five, but those are the rules, so let's give it a shot.
On Writing Well by William Zinsser: This book is invaluable to people who want to be better writers. When you read it, you will realise how much more you could be. I owe much of my penchant for simplicity and clarity to this man. It's affordable, so you should buy a copy too.
The Design of Everyday Things: If you think I bitch too much, you can partly blame this book. It opened my eyes to the world of design, and showed how poor design is responsible for product screw-ups. If you've wondered why people push a door when it's clearly marked "Pull", this book will tell you. (And it's a design problem, not a user problem.)
Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams: Every person who manages a team of professionals in the IT business should have a copy of this book, and even if you're not in IT, a large part of the management advice in this book will still be useful to you. Stuff like how overtime doesn't help in the long run, or how motivational posters actually have the opposite effect... here, read the sample chapter online.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion: Robert Cialdini has written a wonderful book on how we are manipulated by other people all the time. He describes these "weapons of influence", why they work, and how to protect yourself from them.
It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions and the Joys of Thai Cooking: Believe it or not, this book has only 30 recipes, but its value lies in the detailed way the author explains the principles of cooking and combining flavours. I'm a strong believer in teaching people how to cook rather than teaching them just recipes, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Read her pieces on balancing flavours, making curry pastes, and cooking to taste rather than blindly following recipes. This book closely competed with the far more formidable tome on Chinese cooking, The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking by Barbara Tropp. So why did It Rains Fishes win? Because Tropp's book is not in the least for the casual cook. It can be intimidating reading it if you're a novice, but a great learning experience if you're not (and I wasn't.)
Tag five people and have them do this on their blogs
Is there anyone out there who hasn't been tagged yet? People like Yazad have tossed their nets out to catch everyone. After much cross-checking, here are my picks:
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: codey EMAIL: codelust@_myrealbox.com IP: 203.122.61.30 URL: http://www.codelust.blogspot.com DATE: 06/09/2005 04:31:28 PM If you and Yazad were still on the same server, I'd have smugly claimed your new server is spreading the bug, damn! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 12.178.35.3 URL: http://jilmil.blogspot.com DATE: 06/10/2005 05:06:05 PM Just ordered a book .. Bugs on Writing today... :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anil EMAIL: anil.kumar@gmail.com IP: 69.91.21.52 URL: http://www.ecogito.net/anil DATE: 06/12/2005 04:13:34 AM Offtopic: I visited your restaurant website and I was pretty impressed by the whole story. I'd love to visit Shiok when I'm in Bangalore. Minor nitpicking: The menus on http://www.shiokfood.com/menus.html are Word files. May I suggest that you put them up as pdf files too, since Word is not the format of choice on all OSes. As a fellow geek, you would appreciate the benefit of putting it as a pdf which has lightweight viewers on all platforms. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Truman EMAIL: aditya2507@gmail.com IP: 59.144.36.92 URL: http://timesoftruman.blogspot.com DATE: 06/13/2005 01:09:03 AM Hi :) Thanks for the link to the "writing well" book. Am going to buy it :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gangadhar Ambati EMAIL: ganga.ambati@gmail.com IP: 210.214.104.148 URL: http://ambatigan.blogspot.com DATE: 06/13/2005 01:07:33 PM First time on your blog..i came to your blog through Pallavi's blog.. Nice blog ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cocentriccircle EMAIL: srivi@rocketmail.com IP: 198.208.223.35 URL: DATE: 06/17/2005 12:43:32 AM Stumbled on your blog through the article online at the Hindu.com. No kidding! Impressive! Your penchant for food and cooking is so heart warming!And the pics of your restaurant are very appetizing. I am going to be one regular visitor here. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kapil Bhatia EMAIL: kapil1312@yahoo.co.in IP: 61.12.32.151 URL: DATE: 06/19/2005 11:58:45 AM I am a college student.I visit different blogs.I find some real good "book- recommendations".I search the book on indian book selling websites or shops,and then the process stops. Take the example of "on writing well".It is available for 644 bucks on firstandsecond.com ! Now this is more than my monthly pocket money ! I just add the book on my wish list !May be one day I will buy these books and read them ! My list is growing ! Kapil Bhatia . ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Maitreya EMAIL: maitreyadasa@gmail.com IP: 209.77.236.78 URL: http://readthat.blogspot.com DATE: 11/03/2005 12:27:27 PM You have my favorite things in one place: food, literature, and humor.(Special to MadMan's Web)
Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh today lashed out at the media for harping incessantly about the poor infrastructure in Bangalore. Singh said that the media should paint a more balanced picture and not stress only the negative aspects of the city.
"If you believe only what you read in the papers, you will think that people are only getting stuck in traffic jams every day. Why does nobody talk about the reasoning behind the our potholed roads?", asked the furious Chief Minister at a press conference today. When asked to explain, Singh said that thanks to the potholed roads and impoverished infrastructure of the capital city, many human lives had been saved. Referring to the recently released statistics that death from road accidents had gone down by 12% from 903 to 791, Singh gave credit to the poor roads and constant traffic jams in city. "You media people should put more value on human lives. Earlier, people used to get hit by speeding vehicles. Thanks to our roads, we have eliminated the possibility of reckless driving. Tell me, how can you hit an innocent pedestrian or another vehicle when you're driving on potholed roads at 20 Km/hour or if you're caught in a traffic jam on Airport Road?", said the CM.
Dharam Singh added that apart from the fewer accidents, inferior roads were also an important part of stimulating the state economy because they generated valuable jobs for the poor. He earnestly requested the middle class and upper-middle class citizens to spare a thought for the numerous labourers and construction workers who made their living from jobs generated by the road repair and maintenance contracts that are being issued every year. "It is easy for the people driving their expensive cars to complain about the state of the roads. I ask these people to put themselves in the shoes of the poor person who works on tarring roads. These people live a hand-to-mouth existence. If there are no roads to repair, how will they feed their families?", asked Singh.
The CM said he would recommend the Bangalore infrastructure model to other states as well. He said that like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he too believed in infrastructure reforms "with a human face". "Like it or not, bad infrastructure saves lives", he concluded.
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: BangaloreGuy EMAIL: bangaloreguysblog@gmail.com IP: 221.134.173.56 URL: http://bombatbengluru.blogspot.com/ DATE: 01/07/2006 10:17:40 PM Maybe we can all sue him for our back problems and for suspension problems on the vehicles. Saying 8 million people have to suffer bad roads because a few thousand (exaggerated) people need jobs that are unskilled displays such haughtiness. I so hate the people who voted for Deve Gowda's Party. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: silverine EMAIL: silverine_1@yahoo.co.in IP: 59.144.35.51 URL: http://poomanam.blogspot.com DATE: 01/07/2006 11:17:41 PM All I want to do is slap the man !!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steve Portigal EMAIL: steve@portigal.com IP: 68.125.128.17 URL: http://chittahchattah.blogspot.com DATE: 01/08/2006 07:00:12 AM Hah! We'll be in Bangalore for the first time (well, first time to India at all) in less than 2 weeks; we'll be prepared to be bounced around a bit! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dipz EMAIL: dipz84@gmail.com IP: 203.101.18.250 URL: DATE: 01/08/2006 09:36:26 AM man i so believe now that minsters are scum of the earth..i mean falling to this level and promoting 'Bad infra' as a saviour of lives is way too much. i'm petrified that this intelligent creature called Dharam Singh might bann usage of medicines and promote unhealthy lifestyle to counter the bulgening indian population :-) damn these money hogging ministers r creatures of venality and deciet....god i really hate such futile people ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: TTG EMAIL: tarunpall@gmail.com IP: 203.101.4.193 URL: http://25worldcountry.blogspot.com DATE: 01/08/2006 10:49:10 AM If Dharam Singh knows how to read, please send him this: http://25worldcountry.blogspot.com/2005/09/censored.html ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jagu EMAIL: jagunair@gmail.com IP: 168.187.0.34 URL: http://www.rumbling.net DATE: 01/08/2006 11:07:06 AM :) Hmm he sure seems to be a competition to Bushie with regards to making sweeping & incoherent statements. Good to See you back Madhu.Cheers!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bima Dalal EMAIL: agentrant@gmail.com IP: 202.138.112.252 URL: http://agentrant.blogspot.com DATE: 01/08/2006 01:02:20 PM The latest blogger on the desi blogosphere, check out Rants and spits of an Insurance agent. And I don't solicit customers. This the personal life of an agent. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ajith EMAIL: ajith.at@gmail.com IP: 59.145.140.168 URL: DATE: 01/08/2006 01:37:17 PM Excellent Post MadMan!!! I was joking with my friends about the same thing yesterday.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMMEmadmanweb.com IP: 125.22.6.190 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 01/08/2006 06:17:04 PM Wikipedia link for satire. ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: salman EMAIL: smartsun_26@yahoo.co.in IP: 202.63.233.8 URL: DATE: 01/08/2006 10:35:02 PM ? do we live in the same mental sphere as this guy? bravo people ,for showing what a farce democracy can be,,and such people our legible representitives on the world front!! have fun.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron Zeno EMAIL: ronz@despammed.com IP: 24.23.183.225 URL: http://ronz.blogspot.com DATE: 01/09/2006 04:05:04 AM Happy New Year, Madman! Quality satire suitable for theonion or ridiculopathy! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jayanth EMAIL: jayanth.bagar@gmail.com IP: 61.95.225.122 URL: http://rovingthoughts.blogspot.com DATE: 01/09/2006 10:18:27 AM Utter nonsese The best way for Mr Singh to understand is we'll ask him to stay somewhere in Whitefield and then drive down to Vidhan Soudha on his own everyday, afterall he says potholes are a good thing. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shruthi EMAIL: shruthir@gmail.com IP: 164.164.97.81 URL: http://nychthemeron.blogspot.com DATE: 01/09/2006 02:39:42 PM Hi... I assume that you are joking, aren't you? :) I read the post, laughed long and hard. Then I read the comments, and felt, "Um, is this serious?" But no... I live in Bangalore and read the papers everyday, and such a thing, had it happened, would not have missed me! Anyway, good read :) - come to think of it, I would not be suprised if he really did say that ;P ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@DONTSPAMMEmadmanweb.com IP: 125.22.6.190 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 01/09/2006 02:47:14 PM Shruthi, I thought the satire would be obvious, especially since the news report was "special to MadMan's Web". I even put a link in the comments to the satire page on Wikipedia. But I can't believe how many people are taking this seriously! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: naveenroy EMAIL: naveenroy@gmail.com IP: 59.145.136.1 URL: http://naveenroy.blogspot.com DATE: 01/09/2006 03:33:04 PM Well, well.....such short-sightedness!! I really dont think that this guy is really thinking when talking....i mean, are u sure Madman, that you did not get this off Onion - the satirical online magazine??? http://www.theonion.com/content/ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: karthik EMAIL: drkarthik_1982@yahoo.com IP: 59.145.136.1 URL: http://drkarthik.blogspot.com DATE: 01/09/2006 03:57:42 PM Well..well..well... I dont blame Dharam singh for this. Cos he can only do what is possible for him.. We can find that he has used his brain to find an excellent excuse which cannot sound any more irresponsible. But I blame the Karnataka people for electing such a nobel Dumbass. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Zeon EMAIL: morphiusinmatrix@gmail.com IP: 59.145.136.1 URL: http://drkarthik.blogspot.com DATE: 01/09/2006 03:58:18 PM Well..well..well... I dont blame Dharam singh for this. Cos he can only do what is possible for him.. We can find that he has used his brain to find an excellent excuse which cannot sound any more irresponsible. But I blame the Karnataka people for electing such a nobel Dumbass. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pallavi EMAIL: pbaruah@gmail.com IP: 12.178.35.3 URL: http://www.bubblingbrooks.com DATE: 01/09/2006 06:22:03 PM Sometimes I think he is a nightmare come true.. SIGH.. heres hoping against hope that the INFRA improves.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kingsley EMAIL: kingsleyj@gmail.com IP: 66.57.44.103 URL: http://kingsley2.com DATE: 01/09/2006 09:06:15 PM I think naveenroy has found *the* most creative way to insult MadMan. Hey MadMan, want to look up satire on Google, the online search engine? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Muthuvel EMAIL: muthuvel@gmail.com IP: 203.99.195.1 URL: DATE: 01/10/2006 12:31:08 PM The thing is that we Indians have grown up seeing utterly stupid politicians so much so that the difference between reality and satire is not even hairline thin. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rohan EMAIL: rbp429@hotmail.com IP: 61.3.216.78 URL: DATE: 01/16/2006 12:37:24 AM "If you believe only what you read in the papers, you will think that people are only getting stuck in traffic jams every day" thats what all of you are cribbing about.. do all of you know that bangalore was once called a pensioners paradice. There are people here whov'e seen this city grow. don't blame him for not providing the infrastracture for you to drive in "your hire purchase new car to work" all of you, right now, calculate how many billion "India" makes from IT export and then find out how much the US takes as tutuion fees from foreign students. Regards ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: AntiDharam EMAIL: AntiDharam@patheticman.com IP: 203.200.13.10 URL: DATE: 01/16/2006 12:26:56 PM I just want to kill Dharam !! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: vasu EMAIL: vasudevanss@gmail.com IP: 61.95.206.20 URL: http://vazutheterrible.blogspot.com DATE: 01/17/2006 03:09:11 PM good read. Frankly, even I dint notice the "(special to madman's web)" starter. You are guilty of subtle satire my friend. Many of us have grown up on strong stimulants and things need to be more "in your face" (a.k.a bollywood masalas and the cullinary ones) good one madman. You had almost everyone fooled. vasu ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dinesh EMAIL: writetodinesh@gmail.com IP: 170.252.64.1 URL: http://dineshblogbuster.blogspot.com/ DATE: 01/25/2006 08:20:11 PM If potholed roads have saved life (which is a stupid reaction itself), it has taken lives of people battling for lives in Ambulances to reach the hospitals. An asshole of a politician, good for nothing. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: personal unsecured loan EMAIL: mail@plsea.org IP: 84.31.60.11 URL: http://www.sacyouth.org/personal_loan/best_personal_loans.html DATE: 03/30/2006 06:06:01 PM yes.this is my site http://www.sacyouth.org/personal_loan/personal_loan_unsecured.html Thanks. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: golf EMAIL: webmaster@poker.net IP: 193.65.36.4 URL: http://ty2j.com/golf.html DATE: 03/31/2006 12:01:44 AM golf Probaly you should read this. golf Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy golf now ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: christina EMAIL: charmspray@gmail.com IP: 202.163.102.160 URL: http://www.evision.com.pk/web-maintenance.html DATE: 07/21/2006 12:41:43 PM He did his best though its not his job to dealing with all kinds of pathole. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Abbas Ali.R EMAIL: abbasali.R@gmail.com IP: 203.145.179.2 URL: DATE: 09/30/2006 01:02:29 PM Cheating By ICICI bank. Dear Sir,, My name is Abbas staying in Bangalore. I have took a personal loan from ICICI bank of Rs 30000/-and that time the bank people told that Rate of interset is 2.5% but now they are charging 58% of Interset and i need to Pay Rs 64000/-. please get me the justice and help the people who are getting cheated by ICICI Bank. Thanking You. Abbas ali.R ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: SD Paul EMAIL: deepapaul235@gmail.com IP: 117.192.114.215 URL: DATE: 03/11/2009 08:20:14 PM Honorable Sir, Human Life is precious than any other or can be compared to cheaper than any development or material. Sir, I like to bring your notice that the present Govt have own eyes to look into the development to the state. It is clearer and seen that the present situation of road development. Many times, the case was referred to the proper channel to look into the needy place where is very essential and useable by the publics and safety their lives. But the authority is not still consider and pending. Once again it is requested that the case for fly over bridge between two bus stands near to Meckri Circle Training Command IAF and QACL complex is very essential for college and school going children. The children are compelled to cross the road to attend schools and colleges for availing the both side bus and by the both side populations’ to avail bus services. There is no other alternative way to cross busy road keeping their life in hands. You are kind enough to consider only one fly over near Meckri Circle infornt of Training Command IAF. Submitted. ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Tips on making a radical career shift BASENAME: tips_on_making STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Career advice CATEGORY: Career advice DATE: 02/14/2006 03:43:22 PM ----- BODY:Today's issue of Economic Times has a cover story on people who made drastic career shifts in their "High Flier" supplement. I'm one of the people featured in the story (how I wish I could actually find the darn article on their web site) because I moved from technology and started a far-eastern restaurant. The writer of the story had sent me a long list of questions a few weeks back, and I had written a mini-essay in response. Much of what I wrote didn't make it to the piece (ah, the size constraints of print media) but when I read it back, I thought that it would be good to post the whole thing here to help others who might be considering a career change like mine. So here goes...
1) What are the main reasons that provoked you to make a career transition
from being a software engineer to a hotelier?
I have been passionate about cooking since I was 13. I chose to go with IT as a
career, but by my mid-twenties, I had decided that in another 10 years, I would
have my own restaurant. So it was more about moving the plans forward by a few
years. I chose to do this because I was 27, single, and thought I could take
more risks now than if I were, say 35. Also, the IT industry was going through
its bust phase a few years ago, and companies were doing crazy things, including
laying off lots of people. I decided that it was the right time to move.
2) What emotions did you go through while making a major career leap?
Weren’t you a little skeptical of abandoning the career you did for so many
years for something very new?
It definitely wasn't an easy decision to make, and I'm not the impulsive type at
all. But several of my friends said I should give it a shot. Once I started
considering it seriously, I thought about it for a whole month to make sure it
wasn't just a passing fad. After I made a firm decision, I experienced anxiety
and apprehension about a whole new future, but there was also some exhilaration
about doing something I was so passionate about.
-----
EXTENDED BODY:
3) Did you go through the following emotions while you were considering a
shift from software:
--- "I'm sure there's something else I'd like to do. I'm just not
sure what it is." If yes, how did you cope with it?
Not really. I am a down-to-earth fellow, and I prefer to deal with things I
know, than worry about some ideal career that hasn't occurred to me yet. That
million-dollar idea may strike me one day still, but I'm not going to put
everything else on hold waiting for it. I prefer to instead keep my eyes open
for opportunities in the future instead.
--- "I know what I want to do, but I don't know how to make money doing
it." Too many of us want a certain career but hold back because we don't
think we can make a living at it. Did you think the same as well?
Well... many of us have lists of things we'd like to do if that pesky matter of
earning a living weren't an issue. I would have liked to do several things, like
being a cartoon voiceover artist (not much scope in India for English cartoon
voiceover work), start a no-nonsense advertising agency (not practical), start a
product-based software company (couldn't think of any product ideas at the
time)... a few more. But I ruled them out one by one. Idealism and optimism are
wonderful things, but they must be tempered with pragmatism.
--- "I dislike the job I have, but I'm not ready to give it up.” If
yes, how did you cope with it?
No. I liked what I was doing. I still miss it sometimes.
4) What were the major obstacles (consequential or inconsequential) you were
confronted with when you decided to shift from one career track to the other?
The biggest obstacle was my lack of experience in the restaurant business. I
only knew that I had a good product, and that was because I had confidence in my
own cooking abilities. Beyond that, there was a world of things to learn about
running a restaurant itself. But even before that, I was confronted with the
arduous task of designing and actually setting up a new restaurant in an empty
commercial space. It certainly wasn't easy, and two years later, I find myself
still learning things. Dealing with various government agencies, bureaucracy,
corruption, and the tons of paperwork was another learning experience.
I think one of the best decisions I made was to hire an experienced and
knowledgeable person as my manager. I firmly believe that one must do the things
one is best at, and leave specialised duties to the specialists.
7) After the career shift, how did you evolve not just as a successful
professional but also as a human being?
I have learned a few skills that I might otherwise not otherwise have picked
up. I work in a business with a very low tolerance for errors, and where the
word "deadline" means "in the next 5 minutes", not in the
next five weeks. It has taught me some unbelievable project management skills.
Work in a busy restaurant on a weekend, and you will truly learn what it means
to make resource management decisions in seconds without using an Excel
spreadsheet. You will learn how to best allocate resources when you have ten
tasks and only enough manpower to complete two in the next ten minutes.
Apart from that, I now feel the responsibility of being responsible for the
livelihood of 28 people, most of whom aren't that rich. They depend on me to
help feed their families, and that is an enormous responsibility. I follow the
management principle of "speak softly and carry a big stick" - tough
but fair.
Lastly, I have picked up a completely new set of people skills. As a fine dining
restaurant owner, I face thousands of people in a month, and they come with
varying temperaments and moods. I have to be polite and courteous to everyone
who walks through my door, even when they get upset, and even if technically
it's not our fault at all. Making sure everyone leaves happier when they walk
out the door is a tough task, but it's a challenge, and when they do, it is very
rewarding.
I get the chance to put a smile on people's faces, and it makes it all
worthwhile.
8) What advice will you give to people who want to chase their dreams of
pursuing their dream career but are little skeptical to do so?
I would advise them to persist with their skepticism. Yes, seriously. It is good
to dream, but not to day-dream. You need hope, but not delusion. That said, you
should realise that to boldly go where no one has gone before (please pardon my
Star Trek geek cliche) does indeed require a leap of faith and a hope for a
market that may not even exist yet (certainly true in my case.) Just be sure
that your decision is an informed one and based on solid research, not solely on
an impulsive moment. We have to deal with the constraints of the world we live
in, and one of those is earning a livelihood.
9) To sum it up, how would you describe your journey from one career path
to the other?
Disruptive, painful, anxiety-laden, thrilling, scary, and yet oh so satisfying
too. It's a cocktail of emotions. If you're not ready for the tumultuous nature
of the career shift roller coaster, you shouldn't go along for the ride.
(Special to MadMan's Web)
Move over call centres and data processing BPOs. The future of outsourcing belongs to another industry, if Indian Minister for Commerce, Kamal Nath, is to be believed. According to Nath, the next new wave of growth in the Indian economy will come from - believe it or not - the protest industry, now being referred to as SPO - Strong Protest Outsourcing.
Speaking at a news conference in New Delhi, Kamal Nath briefed reporters that he sees major business opportunities in getting Western countries to outsource their protests to India. Nath said, "the outsourcing business is about saving costs and increasing efficiency. Why should people in countries like USA and UK waste their time protesting over various issues? The per-capita income is too high to waste time on being offended. Instead, they can simply outsource this activity to Indian companies." Asked whether Indian companies were globally competitive in this market, Nath confidently added, "Can you think of any country better suited for this business? India is a diverse country with people of many faiths and beliefs. We have a rich history of being offended at every little thing, from western expressions of love like Valentine's Day to what someone names their dogs. I am certain that we can be the dominant player in this market in the next five years."
After the press conference, Kamal Nath granted MadMan's Web an exclusive freewheeling interview in which he talked at length about this new business opportunity, India's competence in this area, and the government's special initiatives to foster growth in the industry.
MadMan's Web: Mr. Nath, thank you for giving us this chance to interview you.
Kamal Nath: My pleasure. This is the Internet age, and blogs are fast becoming a powerful medium of disseminating information.
MW: Mr. Nath, could you please tell us a little more about this new opportunity for India?
KN: The world is far from a peaceful place. Every day, there are protests in Europe and North America over several issues. Part of being democratic countries is allowing people the right to protest against what they think is wrong. But protests also waste productivity. When people are protesting, they are not contributing to the economy of their nations. So instead of protesting themselves, they can simply outsource their outrage to Indian companies that will specialise in this area. They can then go about their daily lives, confident that their protests are in safe hands.
MW: Why are you so convinced that Indians are the best suited for this activity?
KN: Of course we are the best! First of all, Indians have been offended at pretty much everything over the years. If you've written a book that's even slightly controversial, there are sections that want it banned. If you make a movie that tackles bold themes, you can expect howls of protest about how it's corrupting impressionable young minds. If you wear a female tennis outfit just like everyone else in the tennis world, somebody will be quick to point out how you are no longer a good member of your community. So let me assure you, no matter what the subject of the protest is, we Indians are capable of delivering a strong protest. Our service standards are world-class and globally competitive. When it comes to protesting, we are the epitome of "unity in diversity"! With our wide range of religions, beliefs, and castes, we are champions at being offended and having our sentiments hurt.
----- EXTENDED BODY:MW: How did this great business idea strike you?
KN: If you remember, we have been making a strong push for India as the next global economic superpower at forums such as the World Economic Forum at Davos. Recently, when I was following the fall-out of the controversial Danish cartoons, I was stunned to observe how competent our fellow countrymen were at protesting over cartoons that they had not even seen. If our people are so skilled, can you imagine how good they can be at tackling well-known global issues?
MW: How will you convince foreign countries that there is a serious cost-saving in outsourcing their protests to India?
KN: This is simple. In fact, I had an opportunity to discuss this with US President George W Bush on his recent visit to India. If you want hard numbers, consider this: The per-capita income of USA is $40,100 per year. The per-capita income of India is just $530 per year. Is there really any reason for an American citizen to fritter away so much money protesting issues like teaching evolution in schools and allowing gay people to marry? Why not simply let us Indians handle that instead? While the Americans save money by working, we will do the protesting for them. We can carry placards, go on hunger strikes, block traffic for hours, and even torch buses and break shop windows if required.
MW: Can you give us a couple of examples what kind of issues could be outsourced?
KN: Sure. For example, we can protest gay marriage if the Americans want us to. We have laws criminalising homosexuality, so it's a walk in the park. The Bush administration wants to promote abstinence in USA, but why spend dollars on that? We have long been looking down at people having sex before marriage, and we even protested when a well-known actress said it was ok. We have proven competence in these things already.
MW: Do you really believe that SPO (Strong Protest Outsourcing) can be bigger than the regular BPO industry already in place?
KN: Definitely! The youth of India are in need of employment. BPO, while it has provided employment to many, also has to deal with two big problems: training and attrition. Employees need quite a bit of training to handle their jobs, and many of them keep switching jobs, leaving companies helpless. But look at SPO - it has absolutely no training needs. Unemployed people can be recruited by the hundreds of thousands, given some basic instructions on how to protest, and then unleashed to do their jobs. As for attrition, it doesn't matter in the least if some protestors quit. There are thousands more that can take their place. This industry could potentially solve India's unemployment problem. There are thousands of issues available globally where the protests can be outsourced.
MW: What steps is the government taking to encourage companies to handle protest outsourcing projects?
KN: The government is going full steam ahead on this. A committee, headed by Ravi Ali Joseph Singh, has been formed to identify volatile issues all over Europe and North America. Ravi Ali Joseph Singh is a veteran government official who belongs to four major religions and has suffered almost his entire life being offended by insults to his religions in this country. We believe he is best suited for this new foray. We will constantly keep the press informed of the developments in this matter. Meanwhile, if budding entrepreneurs want to explore this new opportunity, we encourage them to contact the Ministry of Industry in New Delhi and we will provide all the guidance we can.
MW: Mr. Kamal Nath, thank you very much for your time.
KN: Thank you.
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: amit varma EMAIL: amitblogs@gmail.com IP: 220.224.54.231 URL: http://indiauncut.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 12:10:52 AM I'm offended by your post and would like to protest. Can you tell us the number of the ministry please? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chandni EMAIL: chandni_dndukuri@yahoo.co.in IP: 71.97.237.34 URL: http://chandnid.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 12:32:48 AM Har..Har..Good one Madhu! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anil EMAIL: anilkt@gmail.com IP: 81.56.18.26 URL: http://mindofanil.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 04:46:52 AM Does the ministry provide venture capital? I am looking for seed capital to buy petrol, some flags and hire an effigy maker. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: condused EMAIL: sweet_maveric@yahoo.com IP: 68.44.6.138 URL: http://www.retritbutions.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 06:38:55 AM Hahaha, Real smart one. And yes I want the number too. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: confused EMAIL: sweet_maveric@yahoo.com IP: 68.44.6.138 URL: http://www.retributions.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 06:40:06 AM and that was confused. Lol ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gabrielle EMAIL: gabrielle-eden@yahoo.com IP: 71.32.22.174 URL: http://gofreenow.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 10:17:02 AM Thank you for the laugh. I was looking at new of the protests by the Pakistanis against American and thought "that's really scary. Look how we're hated."and then I read on to see that they protest the Danish and the cartoons and the this and the that....and it's like, they protest everything. That made me rest a little easier. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: rEEna EMAIL: chengappa.reena@gmail.com IP: 216.251.50.74 URL: DATE: 03/13/2006 11:10:16 AM Gosh! This was a riot! Monday is gona be smoooth :) rEEna ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Venu EMAIL: venusatuluri@gmail.com IP: 149.77.164.142 URL: http://underground-man.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 11:47:24 AM Great one! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: The Marauder's Map EMAIL: shrabonti@gmail.com IP: 219.64.176.77 URL: http://thebagchi.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 11:58:39 AM I finally see West Bengal re-emerging as a leading economic force in India. After all, protesting has been honed over the years to an art form in the state. Halelluia! The glory days of Bengal are back and once again, it has been proved that what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow! Incidentally, I think Kamal Nath must have contacted Mamata di -- she must be on board as special advisor to the Ministry of Protest. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dev EMAIL: udmallya@gmail.com IP: 220.227.179.5 URL: http://devzdiary.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 02:53:41 PM Hilarious, but truly feasible! :) My $0.02 - There should be a regulatory body - Ministry of Protest (MoP, for short), coz it could clean up, literally. :) Protestor skills should be harnessed, and improved through proper training. Another thought, if a baseball/basketball player in the US is left out of the side, we can always take up the issue in the Indian Parliament. ~Dev ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nitin EMAIL: painn@hotmail.com IP: 203.120.68.71 URL: http://opinion.paifamily.com DATE: 03/13/2006 03:10:24 PM Madhu, I was on the phone with Praful and Arundhati this morning, and they were fuming at this capitalistic encroachment on the rights of the poor people to protest against whatever their political leaders tell them to protest about. They felt that the right to drag people on to the streets must not be sold away to evil capitalists, and those imperial Americans. They said they're going to protest against Madhu Menon and Kamal Nath; in front of the glass panels of a certain restaurant in Bangalore known as a capitalist/imperialist hangout. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Zero EMAIL: hari.ns@gmail.com IP: 202.144.106.3 URL: http://infinite-circle.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 04:53:21 PM There is a key difference though. In case of the recent BPO boom, we perform so well because we don't have much of native demand for that kind business processing within India; which is hardly the case when it comes to SP, quite unfortunately (at the same time it is fortunate because that gave us a lot of domain knowledge). So, the foreign countries will have their own apprehensions to outsource their SPs to India. We will have to prove our competence by showing that our resources are aplenty and people are willing to put themselves into other domains of SP as well, apart from the native ones. I think that should be our next step. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sajid EMAIL: sajid_iitm@yahoo.co.in IP: 149.77.160.15 URL: http://www.billogger.blogspot.com DATE: 03/13/2006 07:37:52 PM Lovely post.Thoroughly enjoyed it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: malapati EMAIL: malapati@rediffmail.com IP: 61.11.8.178 URL: http://http:.//ruralindia.blogspot.com/ DATE: 03/13/2006 08:34:38 PM Good one. Keep it up. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: fonzter EMAIL: harry19@gmail.com IP: 59.94.247.214 URL: http://fonzter.com DATE: 03/13/2006 09:55:40 PM nice one! u got a great blog here! :D ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vimal EMAIL: vimalpannala@gmail.com IP: 203.99.197.2 URL: http://vimalpannala.blogspot.com DATE: 03/14/2006 07:26:11 PM Wow!! Can they outsource their President too? We can have Siddhu as the US President - Siddhuisms are even better than Bushisms ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aparna EMAIL: aparna@mallyas.com IP: 203.101.49.223 URL: http://apytime.blogspot.com DATE: 03/15/2006 10:22:23 AM What if we want to protest against this protesting arrangement? Will it be called SP against SPO? What if US or UK want to protest against us? Do we have to do it ourselves :O ? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ajith EMAIL: ajith.at@gmail.com IP: 59.145.140.169 URL: http://comingsoon.com DATE: 03/15/2006 05:24:45 PM Yeah.. and we can partner with China to make the necessary props.. like life-size effigy dolls, Danish/US embassy kits, Flammable Flags etc ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tony Thampan EMAIL: tony.thampan@gmail.com IP: 192.88.167.35 URL: DATE: 03/16/2006 04:18:38 PM nice blog Madhu .. i came here from a college mail group maintained by mujib .. had heard abut your restaurant from colleagues .. after reading your blog, must visit there and taste your food.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vijay EMAIL: wowvijay@dellmail.com IP: 219.64.130.175 URL: http://India-IT-Pulse.blogspot.com DATE: 03/17/2006 10:05:24 AM Too good..... SPO industry will be a juugernaut that will solve all our problems in a jiffy ..... VJ http://india-it-pulse.blogspot.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Crazy Genius EMAIL: crazygenius@gmail.com IP: 202.177.151.224 URL: http://indiaadreview.blogspot..com DATE: 03/18/2006 12:50:35 AM What an amazing idea! The best part about SPO would that the people in the US and UK, protesting against SPO killing domestic jobs would be able to use our services. So we would have people of this country who are protesting that the jobs should not have been outsourced to this country. That would be fun!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mathapan EMAIL: mathapan@hotmail.com IP: 82.148.96.67 URL: DATE: 03/18/2006 10:28:55 PM ivan aalu puliyaanu kaetoo ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kingsley EMAIL: kingsleyj@gmail.com IP: 85.195.123.22 URL: http://kingsley2.com DATE: 03/21/2006 05:35:44 AM Am I dreaming, or did you actually get NO serious responses to satire? India is changing. Wow. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Zero EMAIL: hari.ns@gmail.com IP: 202.144.106.3 URL: http://infinite-circle.blogspot.com DATE: 03/21/2006 11:28:33 AM Kingsley, mine was. Get out of your dream and hop over to my previous comment :). ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mind Curry EMAIL: mindcurry@yahoo.com IP: 59.93.34.110 URL: http://talkingimages.blogspot.com DATE: 03/26/2006 03:47:59 PM lol..very interesting blog madhu. loved it. p.s. hope you know the SPO capital. i love shiok even more. what a brilliant idea! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bvn EMAIL: bvndiaries@gmail.com IP: 12.10.219.37 URL: http://bvndiaries.blogspot.com/ DATE: 10/11/2006 03:57:35 PM hey man,found your blog thru Gaurav sabnis'....you guys are like veterans round here huh :)...btw pretty funny post...liked that farewell one too.will be back *will check out your taurant once bk in BLR*...caio ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Outsourcing EMAIL: scottnaxton@gmail.com IP: 59.183.20.143 URL: http://www.kpoasia.com> DATE: 11/16/2006 03:33:52 PM offshore kpo business will continue to flourish as long as US and other European countries outsource their highly domain based tasks to inda. You may visit at Knowledge Process Outsourcing to know more outsourcing business. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sumit EMAIL: sumitsaxena21@yahoo.com IP: 121.242.7.208 URL: DATE: 03/24/2009 06:01:55 PM There are few things which are hidden Who will be producer for protest outsourcing from USA and who will be the consumer from Indian prospective. Why US government will bother much about what is happening outside of the country against them , as long as their people are working, they even dont look at the protest no matter in which country it is happening. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sumit EMAIL: sumitsaxena21@yahoo.com IP: 121.242.7.208 URL: DATE: 03/24/2009 06:02:40 PM There are few things which are hidden Who will be producer for protest outsourcing from USA and who will be the consumer from Indian prospective. Why US government will bother much about what is happening outside of the country against them , as long as their people are working, they even dont look at the protest no matter in which country it is happening. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ugg boots EMAIL: nice@163.com IP: 59.58.175.182 URL: http://www.uggbootstribal.com DATE: 01/09/2010 11:26:43 AM uggs ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: uggs outlet EMAIL: liaoshengxiangjiay@163.com IP: 59.58.175.182 URL: http://www.uggbootshome.net DATE: 01/18/2010 12:23:11 PM As not of a poet, I can’t help but to express my pain, The pain of no love. How long can I watch others dwindle in each other? How long can I imagine my perfect one? Dance around with him in complete lonliness. Though it just a illusion I put upon myself, I wish for once fiction and non-fiction would swich for one day. ------------《Pain Of No Love》 ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Ode to a fallen warrior BASENAME: ode_to_a_fallen STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Humour CATEGORY: Humour DATE: 03/28/2006 05:08:25 PM ----- BODY: Why, oh why, do people shut down their blogs and wipe all traces of themselves out? First it was the great Jivha, and now it's another vocal member of the Indian blogosphere. For him, here is a farewell song. I apologise in advance to Phil Collins. (sing to the tune of Phil Collins's Against All Odds) How can you just walk away from us, When all we can do is watch you leave 'Cause we�ve shared the laughter and the pain and even shared the tears You�re the only one who knew the poor at all So take a look at your blog, oh there�s just an empty space And there�s nothing left here to remind us, Just the memory of your ways Ooh take a look at us now, well there�s just an empty space And you coming back to us is against all odds and that�s what we�ve got to face I wish we could just make you turn around, Turn around and see us cry There�s so much we need to say to you, So many reasons why You�re the only one who knew the poor at all So take a look at your blog, well there�s just an empty space And there�s nothing left here to remind us, just the memory of your ways Now take a look at us now, cos there�s just an empty space But to wait for you, is all we can do and that�s what we�ve got to face Take a good look at us now, cos we�ll still be standing here And you coming back to us is against all odds It�s the chance we�ve gotta take Take a look at us now... ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: alpha EMAIL: anyhroxy@yahoo.com IP: 198.91.8.10 URL: http://alpha-2.blogspot.com DATE: 03/28/2006 09:04:19 PM what are you saying, last i checked my blog is still intact. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@madmanweb.com IP: 125.22.9.181 URL: http://www.madmanweb.com DATE: 03/30/2006 05:56:33 PM Hehe, it isn't you, Alpha. ;) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Simon EMAIL: shorrocks@hotmail.com IP: 86.129.93.137 URL: http://www.skorohnomis.blogspot.com/ DATE: 04/04/2006 07:50:26 PM Yeah, man. That was just an excuse to paste Phil Collins lyrics into your blog. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jake EMAIL: arbclb40@yahoo.com IP: 74.137.149.201 URL: http://www.stephanieseasonings.com DATE: 11/19/2009 05:01:21 PM That's good! ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: How not to design a flyover BASENAME: how_not_to_desi STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Society & culture CATEGORY: Society & culture DATE: 07/05/2006 01:32:37 PM ----- BODY:The problems with Bangalore's infrastructure are well-known. Everybody knows we have pathetic pot-holed roads, more traffic than the roads can handle, and an administration that talks through the wrong orifice about fixing things. Heck, we can boast that we are possibly the only city in the country, and perhaps the world, that has a traffic light on a flyover, thanks to the wonderful administration's short-sightedness.
But apart from the "oh my gawd, we didn't foresee the hordes of people moving in" excuse, there are certain problems with the way infrastructure, is designed, that makes you wonder if we might indeed have better luck entrusting the planning work to a large group of chimpanzees, banging away at AutoCAD. For instance, at some places, you will find bus stops right after a traffic light. At others, you will find them around corners. This doesn't need some genius-level IQ to figure out, for cryin' out loud. Who in their right minds can't see that erecting a bus stop right after a damn traffic light is a sure way to cause a traffic block? Couldn't they move it, say, 200 metres ahead?
Another thing that the planners don't seem to understand is the concept of a "bottleneck". You simply have to look at Old Madras Road, where the 4 lane road is being widened to 8 lanes. Oh, that's a good thing, you think. Except that it's being widened only up to the point of a busy intersection, so all that happens is that the bottleneck shifts to another point instead.
Let me illustrate this in some detail with the example of the Airport Road-Koramangala flyover that's being constructed. This fine piece of work (I almost choked while writing that) was started in February 2003 and was supposed to be finished the same year, but of course, all kinds of bureaucratic problems (methinks somebody didn't get a big enough share of the "incidental expenses" pie) led to numerous delays and the first phase is apparently ready for opening in a fortnight - 3 years later.
The purpose of the flyover is to alleviate the congestion on Airport Road because the intersection of Koramangala Ring Road, Indiranagar 100 ft Road, and Airport Road is where three major streams of traffic meet. And anything that can ease traffic jams is good, right? Flyovers are supposed to help the smooth flow of vehicles without the problems of having a traffic light, aren't they? (Unless you're using the aforementioned Richmond Road flyover, of course.)
----- EXTENDED BODY:Well... not if you build them like the city of Bangalore does. When a layperson like me stands in front of the flyover construction site, it's glaringly obvious that all the flyover will do is to shift the bottleneck to another spot: the Indiranagar 100 ft Road.
Take a look at the diagram below. I have colour-coded the different streams. Vehicles coming from Koramangala are green, the ones coming from Domlur are red, and the ones going to Koramangala are purple.
The Indiranagar 100 ft Road is a 3-lane road both ways (and barely one at that.) The flyover looks like it will have two lanes both ways. This wouldn't be so bad, except for the small problem that a bypass from the Domlur side of Airport Road (marked by "Domlur turn" also ends at pretty much the same spot. Airport Road is already a busy road, so traffic from there to the Indiranagar side via the bypass will not be insignificant.
The result: you have four streams of traffic leading into a road that's only capable of handling three.
Well, what do you expect when this kind of situation occurs? Some stream will get blocked. The diagram below shows exactly where traffic will rapidly get choked (shown in grey.)
Hmmm, that's not good at all. Vehicles that are supposed to move fast over the flyover will slow down considerably, thanks to the choke at the end of it.
But wait, wait! There's more. Observant readers may have noticed that just 30 freakin' metres away from the termination of the flyover, there's a right turn. So you have vehicles coming from the Indiranagar side, wanting to turn right, and trying to negotiate their way into the right turn, not through speeding vehicles from the flyover, but through the traffic jam I described above. Take a look at the new scenario below. Vehicles turning right have been coloured blue.
If this is what happens, and keeping in mind the legendary Bangalorean driver's consideration for other drivers (cough, cough), the jam will go from bad to worse (see the expanding grey.)
Ironic, isn't it, that a flyover designed to make traffic flow faster will do nothing of the sort? All because some dolts didn't realise that making four-lane traffic flow into three lanes creates a choke point.
Let's take a look at some of the possible options to work around this problem and figure out how viable they will be.
Option 1) Put a traffic light at the right turn so the blue vehicles can turn without running into an existing jam. Unfortunately, this is what will happen:
Yes, if you make flyover traffic wait even 30 seconds for a green light, you'll have traffic piling up on the darn flyover itself. Oh, and on the Domlur bypass too. What fun, eh?
Option 2) Seal off the right turn so the congestion is eased. This may help a bit, but at peak time, say 6-7 PM, when traffic doubles or triples, you will see the heightened effect of four lanes flowing into three. Here's what you'll get:
You now get two congestion zones instead of one. Worse, you risk the Domlur bypass pile-up to propagate on to the main airport road itself, and that just puts us back at square zero.
Lastly, after all this, I guess I should point out that the numerous traffic light stops and intersections on 100 ft. Road will make it difficult for fast streams of traffic to progress, with the result that the entire 2 Km stretch will be perpetually jammed like Cunningham Road currently is. That is the domino effect, amigos.
Suddenly those chimpanzees using AutoCAD seem like a better proposition, don't they?
I am no road planner, but as someone who's done a wee bit of programming in the past, I have some understanding of bottlenecks and scalability. The Koramangala-Indiranagar flyover looks like a disaster waiting to happen when it's thrown open to the public on July 15. It's a pity that spending millions of rupees wasn't enough to get someone half-sensible to design the darn thing well.
(I hope to start a small series soon on how traffic jams are caused in Bangalore. This will hopefully bring me out of my blog drought, caused by life giving me a hard time from all corners lately.)
Update: It seems the stupid politicans have already started damaging the flyover
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: amit varma EMAIL: amitblogs@gmail.com IP: 220.224.10.197 URL: http://indiauncut.blogspot.com DATE: 07/05/2006 01:45:57 PM Nice work Madhu. Come to Bombay now. Fly down. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ravages EMAIL: chandrachoodan@gmail.com IP: 61.247.253.186 URL: http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/ DATE: 07/05/2006 01:57:56 PM Bangalore ain't the only city with a traffic light on a flyover. You see, if Bangalore does something, Madras only does it better. Madras put a traffic light on top of a flyover - but to be fair, the light does help co-ordinate traffic better. But there are two overpasses, over railway lines, that have traffic lights right at the end...which means traffic piles up on the brige itself. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: anita EMAIL: anitabora5@rediffmail.com IP: 220.227.179.4 URL: http://htto://www.anitabora.com/blog DATE: 07/05/2006 02:10:17 PM this is way too scientific for me, but i can appreciate one thing - the diagrams are fantastic! okay, kidding. but i think you should change your profession to road and urban planning now. or at least get onto some committee :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: suman EMAIL: sumank@gmail.com IP: 125.16.138.135 URL: http://sumankumar.com DATE: 07/05/2006 03:02:43 PM Brilliant! If only someone pay attention to your advice... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: krishna EMAIL: krautela@yahoo.com IP: 203.82.196.39 URL: http://krishnasblog.blogspot.com DATE: 07/05/2006 03:03:40 PM i always thought this flyover was way too small in vision and design....and. that road needs a flyover all the way to airport. they could have mad one parallel road to airport but i guess govt wanted to give land to it companies there maybe. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rk EMAIL: rkblogs@gmail.com IP: 12.41.112.201 URL: http://rkblogs.net DATE: 07/05/2006 03:53:38 PM Diary circle flyover/underpass is similar (though not this complex). Right after the underpass (towards BTM on Bannerghatta road) there is a bottleneck. Plus a small road joins the main road causing more vehicles and turns. I was optimistic then! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: neha EMAIL: nehavish@gmail.com IP: 84.13.78.170 URL: http://withinandwithout.com DATE: 07/05/2006 04:17:04 PM Great post. On an average, flyovers are bad responses to traffic mismanagement. Unless they are long flyovers, or clover leaf ones or a parclo interchange. Further, in urban spaces - they aren't always adviced. But I suppose where roads cannot be widened - they provide respite. Delhi's flyovers work because they are on the arterial roads - which are wide enough to accomodate an upper level of traffic streaming with a lower one. Bombay - it's a nightmare. :) Maybe urban planning should be left to bloggers! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: S Jagadish EMAIL: s_jagadish@yahoo.com IP: 203.123.175.1 URL: http://jagadish.blogspot.com/ DATE: 07/05/2006 08:27:44 PM Madhu, we met @ Shiok [along with Nitin, Atanu & Sandeep a month or so ago]. Nice coincidence this. I was going through 100 ft. road this evening and wanted to get to my workplace in EGL Business Park (start of inner ring road). Due to this fly over, I had to take that aforementioned right and then get to work through Airport Rd. Before I took the right, I saw the signboards on the flyover. One indicated left to Airport ... fair call. Another indicated straight to Koramangala ... fair call. The last one was the most interesting. It indicated right, and had a curve in it. So I assumed there was a part of the fly over which'd nicely lead down into Airport road somewhere. Imagine my shock when I saw nothing of that sort on Airport road. I'm hoping I'll never have to use the fly over to get into 100 ft. road, after reading your post! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: alpha EMAIL: ahydroxy@yahoo.com IP: 198.91.8.9 URL: http://alpha-2.blogspot.com DATE: 07/05/2006 10:38:19 PM madman, Must give it to you for painstakingly analysing this scenario. Point well taken. Let me give you my two cents worth since it's up my alley (pun unintended). First off- YIKES!!!! I can't believe the attached photograph of the proposed overpass or flyover. Please tell me that some kids built it for their school project. The Dulmur Turn you are talking about doesn't seem to merge on the flyover (according to model), but to the Indiranagar Rd below. In case I were to trust you on that, lets say at this point, Option 2 is the best solution if it is designed right (right being subjective to different design standards). "you have four streams of traffic leading into a road that's only capable of handling three. " It's Ok for four strams of traffic leading to a road that is capable of handling three as long as the traffic that is entering is below the capacity of a three lane roadway. In this case maybe not. The solution would be to widen Indiranagar Rd to 4 lanes after the Dolmur Turn merge(duh? Rocket science!) I still don't get that model. Like Ravages pointed out, it's a miracle how those flyovers in Madras actually work. Very soon they wont. Option 3: Buy a bicycle. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jaidev EMAIL: mail@jaidev.info IP: 12.178.35.3 URL: http://jaidev.info/ DATE: 07/06/2006 10:38:43 AM Aah, you're thinking too logically, thus you'll never be employed by the BDA. The problems you mention are real and the authorities will realise it in 9 and a half months. Their solution would be simple to the point of making your post seem silly and a utter waste of time - they'll reverse the direction of all the lanes of the flyover. Traffic will slow down automatically due to the confusion and all congestion will vanish. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Naveen Roy EMAIL: naveenroy@gmail.com IP: 203.141.92.13 URL: http://naveenroy.blogspot.com DATE: 07/06/2006 06:02:02 PM Well, seems like its been money well spent....hehe, i remember your post where you had mentioned that the earlier CM saying that the roads were bad and left like that cause that slows down traffic and hence lesser accidents!! haha...good one.....and yes, whats with the curly kinda arrow on the flyover..... i guess we can start calling it a crawlover from now onwards...its already been a crawl to finish ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kishor Cariappa EMAIL: kishorcariappa@yahoo.com IP: 82.178.140.138 URL: http://kishorcariappa.blogspot.com DATE: 07/08/2006 10:11:16 PM If all goes ‘well’, a successful Airport Road fly-over will end up choking traffic at Koramangala 80 ft road, Indiranagar 100 ft road, and the signal near HAL (near Airport exit point). ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: comm EMAIL: comm@yahoo.com IP: 129.252.106.168 URL: http://comm@yahoo.com DATE: 07/11/2006 03:26:32 AM |\../|.. /\....|--\..|\../|.../\...|\..| |.\/.|../__\..|..|...|.\/.|.|__|..|.\.| |....|..|...|..|..|..|....|.|..|..|.|.| |....|./... \.|__/..|....|.|..|..|..\| ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kris EMAIL: k.sathish@gmail.com IP: 61.246.61.67 URL: http://krisathish.blogspot.com DATE: 07/12/2006 08:25:42 PM Thats a cool analysis, Madhu.. Its very simple the idea is to shift the traffic from one point to another point.. the U-Turn on top of flyover is a design whhich not many designers would have thought of. was this design made to make money or to show the architectural stupidity?? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@madmanweb.com IP: 125.22.91.241 URL: http://madmanweb.com DATE: 07/14/2006 05:11:36 PM Thanks for all the encouraging comments, folks. Please forward this article to friends if you can. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jammy EMAIL: jv.rajan@gmail.com IP: 221.134.12.96 URL: http://ouchmytoe.rediffblogs.com DATE: 07/28/2006 01:26:08 AM impressive? Or should I say impressive? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Perspective Inc EMAIL: latte.files@gmail.com IP: 67.187.37.250 URL: http://the-latte-files.blogspot.com DATE: 08/01/2006 10:30:35 AM Well researched and well written! Now if only all good ideas had a way of getting actually implemented... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MadMan EMAIL: madman@madmanweb.com IP: 125.22.42.130 URL: http://madmanweb.com DATE: 08/17/2006 11:42:21 PM Testing... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sinoj EMAIL: sinojm@gmail.com IP: 61.8.140.20 URL: http://www.determinus.com DATE: 09/07/2006 11:03:42 PM madhu, it may not be such a bad idea after all. usually what they do is to have light s on the flat roads to stream the traffic smoothly. they can have lights on the domlur turning, and towards the left of the flyover landing to the 100ft road. a 10 sec traffic lights can do wonders. but knowing the dumb planning going all over the city, you may be right. perhaps it would be nice if you are proved wrong. anyways, now that it is open, how is it fairing? (btw, i have cancelled my bangalore trips till i get a report from you) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Madman Fan EMAIL: arunsark@yahoo.com IP: 59.144.70.49 URL: DATE: 11/04/2006 12:10:22 AM Madman, Why this blog is dead? Atleast post some good chinese receipes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: remainsofthedesi EMAIL: remainsofthedesi@gmail.com IP: 59.94.246.35 URL: http://remainsofthedesi.wordpress.com/ DATE: 05/13/2007 04:48:24 PM ahhh....the wonders of Indian bearocrasy never cease to amaze...I think at a certain point it actually takes stupdity to the level of being an art form. ----- -------- AUTHOR: madman TITLE: Shiok is back; new cocktail lounge Moss launches BASENAME: mt-preview-e5f0188fc40c030854f58b76a2bb2e281d6d2022 STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 1 PRIMARY CATEGORY: Food & Cooking CATEGORY: Food & Cooking DATE: 11/06/2008 04:41:24 PM ----- BODY:Hi folks. I'm happy to let you know that I've re-opened Shiok, my restaurant, at its new home on Inner Ring Road.
I have also launched my new cocktail lounge called Moss on the first floor of the same building.
Shiok version 2.0 is our attempt to provide you with the complete fine-dining
experience. We have moved to a more visible location, and created a more upscale
atmosphere without going overboard on the decor.
So please do visit and check out the new look. We even have a 15% discount at lunch from Monday to Saturday. And you can book your table online.
Here's what the new place looks like:
We are now located on Koramangala Ring Road, right around the corner from Airport Road. If you would like to get a map and driving directions, it's all on our web site. The full address is:
Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine
96, Amar Jyoti Layout
Koramangala Inner Ring Road
Domlur
Bangalore - 560 071
Phone: 6571 5555 / 6666 (changed from old number)
I'm excited about Moss, our new laid-back cocktail lounge above Shiok. It's much larger than our old cocktail lounge, but still features the same great cocktails (and some new ones!) at prices that won't burn a hole in your pocket. (Yes, we have valet parking.)
Here's a sneak preview of Moss:
Other "coming soon" plans include:
We will introduce all of those as soon as we settle down in the new place and get over all the usual new restaurant start-up issues.
(I know this blog has been dead for a while. Blame it on a Movable Type upgrade that screwed up the publishing and left me unable to post on the blog. The latest version, thankfully, has fixed that problem. Who knows, this site may come alive again. Hey, if Obama can become the President of USA... :)
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Manu EMAIL: nospam@gmail.com IP: 122.164.73.80 URL: http://www.manu-j.com/blog/ DATE: 11/06/2008 06:17:47 PM Congratulations. Wishing you all success ! I'm glad I'm still subscribed to your blog. Please do resume blogging. You are one of my favourite bloggers. And do you need the ads above the fold ? It spoils your site's design. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shyam EMAIL: shyam69@gmail.com IP: 84.92.229.32 URL: http://shyamram.blogspot.com DATE: 11/10/2008 03:12:12 PM Hey, good to see you back. You wouldn't know me from Eve, but I used to enjoy your writing. Also, always wanted to visit your restaurant as well, and I mean to do so the next time I'm in India! Keep up the good work! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Maneesh EMAIL: supermaneesh@gmail.com IP: 75.61.105.62 URL: http://supermaneesh.com DATE: 11/11/2008 03:05:15 AM Saw your pic in the business week article. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_46/b4108053865815.htm Congrats! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pratima EMAIL: pratima.jayaram@gmail.com IP: 203.99.204.98 URL: http://pratima-jayaram.blogspot.com DATE: 11/11/2008 12:48:31 PM Congrats! and am glad that Shiok is finally back, after a long wait. I visited the new place last week and loved it - as good as it was before! :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Just Mohit EMAIL: indianinuk@gmail.com IP: 122.162.65.21 URL: http://unjustly.wordpress.com DATE: 11/13/2008 11:32:38 PM Congrats dude. Party at Shiok, next time i'm in Bangalore. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: cdrhum EMAIL: cdsimonsays@gmail.com IP: 87.231.110.82 URL: http://www.simonsays.fr DATE: 11/18/2008 07:42:08 PM A new french food blog run by the food critic Francois Simon - english, french & japanese version... best restaurants, chef's interviews etc... realy good one http://www.simonsays.fr ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bluke EMAIL: bluke@shiok.com IP: 63.147.10.3 URL: DATE: 11/26/2008 02:41:12 AM i lvd shiok when i came tr. i hv nvr been thr b4. rly gd ctails. wl vizit agn ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Erika EMAIL: ekm@seastorm.com IP: 71.237.254.248 URL: http://www.seastorm.com DATE: 12/21/2008 01:06:20 PM Beautiful! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Abhishek Mishra EMAIL: ideamonk@gmail.com IP: 117.192.233.61 URL: http://ideamonk.blogspot.com DATE: 04/11/2009 11:21:20 PM Writing my resume, thanks for the do's and don'ts article. the places shown here look awesome, would definitely come up someday :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Fine Life Folk EMAIL: finelifeph@gmail.com IP: 119.92.84.74 URL: http://finelifeonabudget.weebly.com/blog.html DATE: 06/26/2009 11:04:50 PM I'm impressed. The interiors is lavish looking. It's true that lighting is everything. I've recently been a restaurant food lover and just started blogging about it. Too bad your restaurant is almost halfway across the globe. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Indian EMAIL: info@indiavoice.info IP: 59.162.116.181 URL: http://indiavoice.info/indian-railways/pnr-status-and-inquiry/ DATE: 08/01/2009 08:41:39 PM Great Interiors, it seems as if our eating habits are changing in India, more healthy food and health consciousness. I've heard weather in Bangalore is also very beautiful most parts of the year, need to visit some time soon. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: nicky EMAIL: nicky0594@163.com IP: 120.33.202.154 URL: DATE: 08/19/2009 02:06:55 PM Air Max air shox ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ugg Boots EMAIL: chang564335@163.com IP: 59.58.175.182 URL: http://www.uggbootstribal.com DATE: 12/11/2009 03:13:21 PM Wholesale Ugg Boots ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Fashion Ugg Boots EMAIL: chenlin88997@163.com IP: 59.58.175.182 URL: http://www.uggbootstribal.com DATE: 12/11/2009 03:14:39 PM ugg boots on sale ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: uggs EMAIL: chang110@163.com IP: 59.58.175.182 URL: http://www.uggbootstribal.com DATE: 12/30/2009 03:52:41 PM cheap ugg boots ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ugg boots EMAIL: chang110@163.com IP: 59.58.175.182 URL: http://www.uggbootstribal.com DATE: 01/03/2010 01:18:53 PM UGG Australia ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Namrata Shukla EMAIL: seo@yatra2yatra.com IP: 59.182.169.134 URL: http://www.yatra2yatra.com DATE: 01/21/2010 06:09:05 PM Good to hear shilok is back..hope cud see u at Bangalore for having good time with u guyz........... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Web Marketing Company EMAIL: alansmith.cdz@gmail.com IP: 58.27.132.102 URL: http://www.webmarketingcompanion.com DATE: 01/25/2010 05:56:47 PM Thanks for sharing..........Always share quality and unique information. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Car Tuning guy EMAIL: waynneandmya@yahoo.co.uk IP: 217.151.109.138 URL: http://www.carref.co.uk DATE: 01/26/2010 04:34:48 PM Congratulations and I wish you every success in the new venture with your flair and expertise you are guaranteed success. 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