Sunday, December 31, 2006

Man Sues Girlfriend for Blogging about their Sex Life

It is always fun to read cat blogger, and their sexual escapades. But one girl landed into a legal soup after blogging about her sexual Life with her Boyfriend. Her boyfriend sued her for blogging about sex life..

When Robert Steinbuch discovered his girlfriend had discussed intimate details about their sex life in her online diary, the Capitol Hill staffer didn't just get mad. He got a lawyer.

Soon, though, the racy tidbits about the sex lives of the two Senate aides faded from the front pages and the gossip pages. Steinbuch accepted a teaching job in Arkansas, leaving Washington and Jessica Cutler's "Washingtonienne" Web log behind. [source]

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Saturday, December 30, 2006

How Google makes Money from Longtail!

OK Amazon and Netflix makes quite a few Millions from long tail, by selling products that are in low demand or have low sales volume but can collectively make up a volume more than the current bestsellers and blockbusters, if the store or distribution channel is large enough. Made all the more easier with the reach of the internet.

Now keyword gurus target keywords that are not competitive or "best selling", and bid for thousands or even millions of keywords that makes up the long tail of search, but that is how people make money off adsense and adwords.

The topic said, how google makes money from the long tail. Now this is a different longtail. A post on valleywag about a disgruntled small adsense user, who makes less than the minimum payout of $ 100 by google. Now, as with long tail, there must be thousands if not millions of such publishers whose money Google is holding.

OK eventually, google will payout the money to the publishers, and some google won't pay, if the publisher quits before he/she reaches 100$, but google charges advretisers as soon as the click happens, and already they have a one month Float even with big publishers. So, Google holds in its accounts Millions or perhaps Billions of unpaid dollars that will generate a huge sum of interest Income. Interesting indeed. There are companies like gift certificate operators, or food coupon operators like Ticket Accor that survives on interest income from float.

No wonder, people are predicting that google stock will touch 600$ by 2007 end.

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Performancing Blogging Plugin Rebranded as Scribefire


The Performancing Blogging Plugin which was not part of the acquisition of performancing by Payperpost, has been rebranded as Scribefire.. The site will be launched shortly [Breaks Techcrunch]



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Yahoo News Message Boards Closed!




The Yahoo News Message Boards - a forum to discuss the articles on Yahoo News - have been closed today, seemingly due to trolls and other vocal users ruining the experience for everyone else. reports mashable!





[Troll image Courtesy: santharia ]

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Saddam Dead. Has Been Executed


Saddam Hussein has been Executed, hanged.

Saddam Hussein has been hanged, state-run television reported Saturday.Saddam's lawyers had asked a U.S. judge to stop his execution. He was sentenced to die in November for the murders of nearly 150 people in Dujail after towns people attacked his motorcade in 1982.Saddam met with his two brothers Thursday and reportedly handed over his will. Iraq's prime minister wouldn't allow a delay in his execution. [source: here]


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Friday, December 29, 2006

BBC's Best Tech Picks of 2006

BBC's panel of technology experts gives you thier best Tech Picks of 2006. The Panel includes Fraser MacDonald, Editor, Stuff magazine; Martin Lynch, Editor, GIZMODO; Katie Lee, Editor, Shiny Shiny; Gina Trapani, Editor, Lifehacker; and James Beechinor-Collins, Editor, T3 Magazine.


1. Fraser Macdonald : Sony Playstation 3 or PS3

2. Martin Lynch : High definition projector.
[Many people think that the only way to get high definition content into their living rooms is by forking out for a LCD or plasma HDTV. There is an alternative though and it comes in the form of a high-definition projector.]


3. Katie Lee : Nintendo Wii
[I think the PlayStation 3 will be the gadget of next year, but for 2006 it definitely has to be the Wii.]


4. Gina Trapani : Parallels, a computer that runs both Mac and Windows operating systems.

5. James Beechinor-Collins : Nintendo Wii

[source]

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What is Zapak !

Zapak! Sounds like the sound of something flat being pasted on the wall? You are near. That is what comes to my mind when I see the zapak.com billboards being pasted across the cityscape. Get gaming, it says.

Today I saw Salman Khan telling me to visit Zapak. And I just did! Zapak is a Free Gaming site, and have huge plans in the offing. It is Owned by Anil Ambani so many is not a problem. Get the eyeballs, he must have told Mr Rajesh Sawhney, President, Reliance entertainment Ltd. Or rather, their finger on the keyboards..

It so very reminds of the Hometrade.com days. All those Billboards with Hritik Roshan, Sachin tendulkar, and who not? Hometrade died, maybe for the wrong reason but it died.

Ok but then Hometrade was started in the wrong time, and the owners were seedy.

And eHarmony have proven that TV and other offline media can be used to build an online brand, and generate revenues and scale. But then what eharmony did was to use the money they generate from membership fees to get more customers who paid membership fees.

And Indian Internet users are still wary of paying for some online service, unless it is for finding a suitable groom or bride. Even then, the matrimonial sites are going offline as well. Some converting the free members into paying ones won't be a wise idea for Zapak.

Zapak do have plans to start Kiosks all over the country, and is investing a whopping hundred Million Dollars, unheard of by any Indian Internet Company. The kiosks might not be a bad idea, what with most of the reliance webworld users being gamers ( on a casual observation, 1/3rd the seats in most R-world cyber cafes are playing games). But then, would gamers only want to play games at zapak.com, the gaming portal?

About the only thing I like about Zapak, and this press release, is that the $ 100 million investment will also be used to set-up a development centre. With such Investments, I can see, zapak growing or evolving into an IT services company on the Gaming Vertical, with a few products, but mostly outsourced Product development.

The post started with how the "zapak- get gaming billboards" are splashed all across the city, very hometrade like. Which means that primary target for the gaming portal is for the Indian Market. With the kind of Investments they have have in mind, they would be better off targeting the Asian Markets, and restrict their Advertisements to PPC campaigns.. Afterall, Gamers are still a Niche, however large and Niche are best targetted by PPC campaigns, since this Niche use the internet to play games.

Even with all the Billboards, alexa traffic shows that they have yet to cross Amit agrawal's Digital Inspiration, however inaccurate some people might claim Alexa to be.

Traffic

Note: I have a feeling that few Indian Users have Alexa toolbar installed, unlike US users, though I don't have the data, a site with vistors from US and europe majorly will have a better Alexa ranking.

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Thursday, December 28, 2006

Delhi To Grow Upwards, Skycrapers coming to town!

I had recently posted that the only way the Real Estate Market in India will rationalize is by letting it grow upwards. Not to restrict on the number of Floors that can be built, if technically viable. Economically it is much more viable. Seems like the developers knew it all along.. Time to buy Ansal Housing Stocks huh!! [The stock had been hitting the upper circuit the past few days after some Analyst lady came on CNBC and explained that it was trading way behind its peers.. Man, we can be such herds!!! ] {By the way, they signed some agreements with the UP Govt *wink*}

The city skyline could change dramatically, with Centre planning to allow re-development of certain areas by allowing up to eight-storey apartments and permitting construction between 20 and 60 floors at locations earmarked for new development.[source]

And once the master plan comes public, the prices of houses might come down, and if lucky, like nine pins. I'd wait for a little longer now.. The cost you are paying is now for a house is not for the construction cost, but for the number units per hundred crores paid for that land. With 60 storey house, the number of Units will multiply, like bunny rabbits?, and well the prices might just rationalise.

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Another Delhi Girl Gangraped in a Running Car!

Another Running car, another lift, another gang-rape. Rape capital, still!

A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by four men at Janakpuri in west Delhi on Tuesday. While the medical examination report is still awaited, the girl has alleged in her complaint that the four accused, two of whom were her friends, abducted and raped her in a moving car. [MORE]

Two of them are friends of the victim!

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Wednesday, December 27, 2006

US Death in Iraq crossed 9/11 Count

It all started with with 9/11, to save more lives, but The US Military Death toll in iraq has exceeded the 9/11 count[more].

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Friday, December 22, 2006

What Wo(men) can do for SEX!

One Tiffany Gwen Weaver forged documents of an Annapolis attorney Amanda Sprehney, to gain entry into a prison to have sex with one of the inmates. The poor attorney who was on leave when the incident happened got a letter banning her from the prison for having sex with an Inmate.[more]

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Thursday, December 21, 2006

Rodents Hibernate, Computers too, But Men!!


We all studied that rodents go into their holes during the summer to Hibernate, whole winter. Now, even computers Hibetnate :)..

But have you heard of men Hibernating?

Mitsutaka Uchikoshi survived a near freezing temperature for 3 weeks by going into a state of hibernation when he went missing.
A man who went missing in western Japan survived in near-freezing weather without food and water for over three weeks by falling into a state similar to hibernation, doctors said.

Mitsutaka Uchikoshi had almost no pulse, his organs had all but shut down and his body temperature was 71 degrees Fahrenheit when he was discovered on Rokko mountain in late October, said doctors who treated him at the nearby Kobe City General Hospital. He had been missing for 24 days.

"On the second day, the sun was out, I was in a field, and I felt very comfortable. That's my last memory," Uchikoshi, 35, told reporters Tuesday before returning home from hospital. "I must have fallen asleep after that."
Full report


Filed under Crazy Events

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Virgin Giving Birth around Christmas



Virgins have been reported to give birth since 0 BC, around Christmas. It is no different this christmas too. A virgin KOMODO Dragon, named Flora, at a zoo in Chester, northern England, is expecting eight babies around this christmas.

In an evolutionary twist, Flora has managed to become pregnant all on her own without any male help. It would seem the timing is auspicious: The seven baby Komodo dragons are due this festive season.

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

New IIT to open in Andhra Pradesh!

Rediff Reports that the government has OKayed the opening of a new IIT in Andhra Pradesh in Medak district.
Medak District was once represented by former prime minister Indira Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.
The union human resource development ministry has sanctioned an Indian Institute of Technology to Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy said in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Making a statement in the State Legislative Assembly, Dr Rajasekhar Reddy said, "I am happy to inform this House that I have just received a communication from Arjun Singh, Union HRD Minister, informing that one IIT is sanctioned to AP in response to our sustained request for locating an IIT in our state. This acceptance to locate one IIT in AP is a part of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan agenda to start three (new) IITs in the country."

The union HRD ministry has requested the state government to identify and allot 500 to 600 acres of land free of cost, having physical and social infrastructure, which includes road, rail and air connectivity.

"Therefore, my government has decided to locate the IIT in Medak district, which was once represented by former prime minister Indira Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, as it will satisfy the requirements laid down by the HRD Minister," he pointed out. [source]

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My Blogging Journey through 2006 and My blog resolutions for 2007!

I have been blogging for since September-October 2003 and that is about my only claim to blogging fame. So to say I was left behind, or rather this blog. Page views have dwindled faster the frequency of my postings. Comments have become an alien word.

But the beginning of 2006 was good for me… and then slowly it started its decline. End of 2005 through early 2006, I used to get 25 to 30 comments on many posts. I was a BLOGGER. What then happened?

It was the time when I suddenly got good workload, at work of course and I was trying to prove myself at work. And my Blog got left behind! But that was not the only reason.

The main reason was another Blog I started. A food blog that I started just for fun, before knowing that there were food blogs, saw a sudden spurt of visitors. I guess I wrote funny, and I saw that I was blogrolled by a few popular food bloggers, and then every other blogger followed suit. There were some 200-300 referrers daily from different food blogs. The sudden attention was too much for me, and I just put in all my blogging effort into the food blog.

It was not surprising. My few months old blog was getting 3-4 times the visitors of my more than 2 year old blog. It was a conscious decision that this blog got lesser attention from me, but I was busy keeping up with the other blog. And general Bloggers and Food Bloggers are totally different species. I thought my food blogging pals would visit this blog, and pals from here would visit the other. I couldn’t let this blog down though… and I kept it up with news snippets and links, while my food blog grew on its own.

With all the blogrolls and links and visitors, though my food blog never reached the status that this blog had. Through the later part of 2005 and early 2006, my blog got linked in major websites and got quoted by some mainstream papers. In fact Mumbai-Mirror had my blog post featured a number of time like this and this.

How I want my Blogging Journey to be in 2007?

This Blog will remain a general topic topic blog.
Topical Blogs will be started on the Sidebar.

But posts will be more frequent, and more conversations will ensue on the blog.

I will also revamp my Bachelor Cooking blog in a big way. I have taken my own domain, but the shift has been delayed.

I will start some Niche Blogs, and hopefully a Blog network.

I shall take part in more Blog events.. Mostly onlines.

I shall Identify more niches..

Update: Here is a list of all participants in the group writing project.

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Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Speculator Initiated Life Insurance Policy

I don't know if SpinLife or Speculator Initiated Life Insurance also known as Stranger owned Life insurance (SOLI )or Investor Owned Life insurance ( IOLI ) has reached the Indian Sub-continent, but the concept of Buying Life Insurance for Investment purpose is getting notoriety in the US, with many BIG Investors buying Insurance policy with Huge Premiums as a Big Gamble.

OK, now you must have had Pesky Insurance Agents trying to sell you an Unit Linked Insurance Policy as a Good investment Option.. Don't be confused, Unit Linked Policies would look like Sovereign Bonds when you compare it with this High risk Policies called SPIN Life.

In SpinLife, the gamble is on the Life of a Person and not on the future earnings of a stock Company.
It all started when Insurance Agents who are also Financial Planners saw that many Rich Old people had Huge Life Insurance covers but their dependents that are already mature are independent enough that they don't really need the Life Insurance proceeds.

You are old, and you are paying huge premiums... The Insurance proceeds will however go to your Sons and Grandsons who are already well off! So Why not use the money yourself?
But then, as in insurance contracts, you only get to see the money... well your dependents will get to see the money when you are dead. You have to be dead to enjoy the proceeds of your Insurance that you have been paying all your life..

This is where this SPIN Life Investors come in.
They will buy the policy from you!
They will pay you a lumpsum which you can use to enjoy in your old age.. Surgery, Viagra and what not :)

In return they will get the insurance proceeds when you are dead.
They will just hope that you die soon, because now they will start paying your premium also.
Fair deal.. You get to enjoy your money.. And the investors have a good way of earning way above the market rates.. You see elderly people do tend to die :)..
The investors will get a better return the sooner you die.
Fair Deal.. Everyone wins.
But as long as it is in the hands of genuine Investors.
What if Crime syndicates starts investing...
They would just Kill!!!!
I guess SPIN Life will be banned one day or the other though!


eg: You have Policy worth 1 crore ( this Transactions only happen on Very High value Policies)..
You have already paid a premium of 5 lakhs...
These Investors will say pay you 25-30 lakhs, and a promise to pay all the Future Premiums.
They will recieve the 1 crore when the Insured is dead.

If the contract is properly designed, the investor can design it such a way that he will never lose the principal and earn at least a minimum return even if the Life were to survive very long...
Death is a Certainty.
That Infosys will continue to make profits is not..
And here we are, raking our minds on how to double our money from the Stock Markets.
I think SPIN Life practice will start in India..
Or maybe it is already started...

Spin life will be very popular with Term Life Insurance where getting life quotes is also very easy.

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Manu Sharma may Escape Death Penalty

.....because his was not a ‘premeditated’ crime, but one committed in a fit of anger after he was denied whisky.
Heard of killing in fitful revenge after getting raped, or seeing ones loved one raped or Killed. But "Fit of anger after being denied Whisky" and so angry and He kills someone????

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Google and NASA to work together

NASA and Google have signed an agreement to "work together on a variety of challenging technical problems ranging from large-scale data management and massively distributed computing, to human-computer interfaces".

NASA will provide Google with interesting data, like statistical data on atmosphere, that will be available in Google Earth. Other plans include: "real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon and Mars, real-time tracking of the International Space Station and the space shuttle. This agreement between NASA and Google will soon allow every American to experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or through the canyons of Mars."
[source]

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Monday, December 18, 2006

Manu Sharma, Vikas Yadav and Tony Gill Convicted

Its been raining justice of late... Manu Sharma, Vikas Yadav and Tony Gill have been Convicted in the Jessica Lal Murder case .



From DNA :

"We have no hesitation in holding Sidharth Vashisht alias Manu Sharma guilty of the offence of murder," a two-judge bench said.

A Division Bench of Justices RS Sodhi and PK Bhasin convicted the son of former Haryana minister Venod Sharma, under Sections 302 (culpable homicide amounting to murder) and Section 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.

The sentence is likely to be announced on Wednesday.

The court also convicted Vikas Yadav, son of former Rajya Sabha member DP Yadav, and 'Tony' Gill of the charges against them under Section 201.

The judgement was on an appeal by the Delhi Police, which challenged the acquittal of Manu, Yadav, Gill, former cricketer Yuvraj Singh and six others by a sessions court.

Late but came it did!! Justice, I mean.

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After Bengaluru- Jabalipuram, Bhojpal and Indur!

After Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru, the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation has passed a resolution to rename the city to Jabalipuram.

The BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh government is also mulling renaming Bhopal to Bhojpal and Indore to Indur.
Reads a newsclip in our bulletin board. I guess the news in the Time of India..

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Monday, December 11, 2006

Making Money in a Faling Stock Market!


Warning! Please Don't indulge in Deribatives trading without first understanding what Derivatives are, the difference between Options and Futures and margin trading.

And yes, you can of course make a lot of money in a falling stock market the same way you can make money in a rising stock market.

As you can see from the picture (click to enlarge please), State Bank of India went down by 5.8%, the above picture show a rise of 137% (currently it further went down to 7% and the put option premium went up by 180%).

I didn't buy the option at 37 rupees. I paid 42 ruppe for the same :-) There was an impending correction in the offing and I believed that large caps including Reliance, ICICI Bank and SBI will lead the correction. Of the above stocks, SBI had gained the most so I concluded that it might fall the most. I never expected it to fall this much in a day, but then RBI had been in my favor just this once. ( I lost during the P-Notes announcement since I was bullish), and I was bearish not because I knew that RBI would increase the cash Reserve Ratio.. I was just plain Lucky with the news though a Correction would have come anyway...

Trade in Options at your own risk!!!

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BAIDU starts Blog Search!!

Baidu, the chinese answer too google has come up with blog searches..
The Chinese Internet company Baidu has launched a search service to help
Internet surfers navigate through the millions of Chinese bloggers and their
sites.
Baidu's is the first Chinese search service dedicated to blog
searches, the official state news agency Xinhua said. As the largest Chinese
search engine, Baidu officials hope to expand into the growing market, analysts
said. [source]

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Thursday, December 07, 2006

Is Sony PS4 in the Offing?

Cnet informs that a senior Sony executive is hinting at a future Sony playstation Console or a Sony PS4.. Australian tech news outlet SmartHouse is reporting that a Sony executive has already been talking about future PlayStation consoles[more].

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Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Public Dieting, Blogs and Japanese Ministers

In a drastic step againts ummm... obesity? Two Japanese Ministers are going on a Public Diet and their progress will be minitored on a blog.

Vice-ministers Noritoshi Ishida and Keizo Takemi have pledged to shed at least 5kg (11lb) each.
They will chart their progress in a blog on the ministry website over the next six months.
The site will include information on how much exercise the men take each day and what they drink.
"I can't run or hide any longer, once the blog starts," Mr Takemi said.
The vice-minister, who is 166cm (5ft 5in) tall and weighs 84kg, said he had to lead from the front.
"Considering my position as a vice-minister of health, I felt I had to do something about it," Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun quoted him as saying.
Mr Ishida says he will walk for 10 minutes every day and stop using elevators.[more]

Should we suggest the same to our Aviation ministry? It would be such fun! Only Desi Voyeurs will have a heyday!

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Sunday, December 03, 2006

Who Bought the Blog Herald?

Just ten months after The Blog Herald was acquired by Blog Media Inc from Duncan Riley, It is being resold to an undisclosed Buyer.


Blog Media will focus on its core competency of blog consulting! Goes on to prove that consultants don;t make the best businessmen :)

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