Monday, September 24, 2012

Advanced Google Search Techniques

Most web users already know that Google provide several special commands that we can use to get more specific results back from searches.


Perhaps the most well-known of these special commands is the "key phrase" with which we place a key phrase in double quotes, for example ["Indian restaurant"] which will then only show results for that exact phrase, as opposed to typing the same query without the double quotes and getting a result-set that matches both words but not necessarily in the exact same position they were typed.

Another simple, but lesser-known command is the +inclusion command which forces the indicated word to be included in the search, for example if you mean to search for the 60s English rock band The Animals, you could type [+The Animals] to force the word The to be used as well as Animals.  The opposite to this is the  -exclusion command which will do just that, for example try searching for [-The Animals] (placing the minus sign before the word the) and you should get a list of websites about pets and beasts but not 60s rock groups!

Another of the basic commands is the OR operator. Try typing in [+the animals OR kinks] and you'll notice that the results produce just that : web pages for either key phrase: The Animals (rock group) or The Kinks.

Finally, the last of the basic commands, or operators as they are also known, is the wildcard operator which is possibly the most powerful of the basic operators and yet the easiest to use. Simply type a search phrase and replace one or more words from the phrase with the * operator, for example : [the * animals] will show results for the farm animals, the little animals, and so on.

Advanced Search Operators

The operators described above are simple, in that they perform simple operations. The main reason I wanted to write this article was to look at the more advanced search operators that Google supports, both as a point of reference for myself and hopefully a useful resource to other developers and web users. The advanced operators can be used by web developers and marketing consultants as powerful analysis tools for search engine optimisation purposes. Each of the advanced operators discussed is used with the colon (:) for example : [operator:query].

Site Restricted Search (site:)

The site restricted search operator is used to restrict a search to a specific domain or sub-domain.

Example  site:www.bbc.co.uk

The above example will list all of the pages from www.bbc.co.uk, this can be used by webmasters to determine how many of their websites pages are currently indexed as well as looking at competitors websites indexing.

It is possible to search specific directories too:

Example  site:www.bbc.co.uk/sport

and combine the site operator with other keywords and operators:

Example  site:www.bbc.co.uk/sport "winter olympics"

It is even possible to use just a top-level-domain in a search:

Example site:co.uk olympics

The above example will only show results from .co.uk domains for the keyword olympics.

Related URL Search (related:)

Related URL search will show related pages to the URL you typed. Google creates these results by first looking at the web pages that are linking to the URL you typed and then gathering other web pages that are linked to from the webpages that link to the entered URL.

Example related:www.bbc.co.uk

The example above will show other news websites than the BBC. This operator is very useful for checking out what kind of neighbourhood your website is in, or that of your competitors.

URL Keyword Search (allinurl:) (inurl:)

Only web-pages where the keywords form part of the actual URL will be shown, this can be either the domain name itself or the directory, filename.

Example allinurl:web design london

Interesting tool for finding we bpages that are using your target keywords as part of their url.
You can also use just inurl: for single keyword searches.

Title Keyword Search (allintitle:) (intitle:)

Only web-pages where the keywords form part of the page title will be shown.

Example allintitle:web design london

As the title of a web page is perhaps one of the most important elements in search engine optimisation this can be a very useful tool for checking out who else is using your keywords.
You can also use just intitle: for single keyword searches.

Anchor Text Keyword Search (allinanchor:) (inanchor:)

The anchor text keyword search operator will show web pages to which other web pages have linked using the keyword as the anchor text of the link.

Example : allinanchor:web design london

You can also use just inanchor: for single keyword searches.

When used together with the title keyword search the combination shows websites that are almost definitely targeting the keyword you entered.

Body Text Keyword Search (allintext:) (intext:)

Only pages having the keyword contained within its body text will be shown.

Example allintext:web design london

This tool can be very useful for finding good examples of keyword distribution as Google will return the top most relevant web pages for the keyword you type.


You can also use just intext: for single keyword searches.

URL Information Search (info:)

Exactly what it says on the tin, this operator will return information about the given URL.

Example info:bbc.co.uk

Can be used for quick access to information about a website or web page as well as quick links to other operators - related, link, site, etc. It is also useful to check when/if a website has been indexed.

Cached Page Search (cache:)

Shows the last copy of a web page that Google saved. In other words you can see the actual content that Google have on file exactly as their crawlers saw it.

Example cache:bbc.co.uk

This tool can be used to see how your website looks to a search engines.

Filetype Search (filetype:) (ext:)

Search for specific filetypes or extensions, only webpages of that type will be shown.

Example filetype:doc

Useful when used in conjuntion with other operators:

Example site:bbc.co.uk filetype:doc

The above example will return all word documents from the bbc.co.uk website.

Last But Not Least - Synonym Keyword Search (~)


I nearly left this one out and its one of my favourites. The synonym operator is not used with a colon (:) you just place a squiggly line (~) before the keyword and Google will return results for both the keyword AND related keywords or synonyms.

Example ~property

This example would show results for property but also other keywords that Google relates to the keyword property. The related keyword will even be highlighted in the results giving you an instant source of new keywords to use on your web pages.

Ref: http://www.mat-wright.com/2010/02/advanced-google-search-techniques.html

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Ganesh Chaturthi and its importance

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Ganesh (Ganesha), the god of wisdom and prosperity on the fourth day of the moons bright fortnight, or period from new moon in the lunar month of Bhadrapada. The celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi continue for five, seven, or ten days. Some even stretch it to twenty one days, but ten the most popularly celebrated. In the tradition of the right hand path the first day is the most important. In the left hand path tradition the final day is most important.





Ganesha Chaturthi (Marathi: गणेश चतुर्थी, Konkani: चवथ, Gujarati: ગણેશ ચતુર્થી, Hindi: गणेश चतुर्थी, Malayalam: വിനായക ചതുര്‍ത്ഥി, Tamil: விநாயகர் சதுர்த்தி, Kannada: ಗಣೇಶ ಚತುರ್ಥೀ, Telugu: వినాయక చవితి), also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, also called Vinayagar in Tamil Nadu, is the Hindu festival celebrated on the occasion of birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. It is the day Shiva declared his son Ganesha as superior to all the gods. Ganesha is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of travel.




The festival, also known as Ganeshotsav ("festival of Ganesha") is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 19 August and 20 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period).

While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa. Outside India, it is celebrated widely in Nepal and by Hindus in the United States, Canada, Mauritius, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Fiji.

Traditional stories tell that Lord Ganesha was created by goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva. Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door while she bathed. Lord Shiva returned and, as Ganesha didn't know him, he didn't allow him to enter. Lord Shiva became enraged, severed the head of the child and entered his house. After realizing that he had beheaded his own son, Lord Shiva fixed the head of an elephant in place of Ganesha's head. In this way, Lord Ganesha came to be depicted as the elephant-headed God.

Legend has it that Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood dough that she used for her bath and breathed life into him. Letting him stand guard at the door she went to have her bath. When her husband, Shiva returned, the child who had never seen him stopped him. Shiva severed the head of the child and entered his house. Parvati, learning that her son was dead, was distraught and asked Shiva to revive him. Shiva cut off the head of an elephant and fixed it on the body of Ganesha.




Ganesha is the god of wisdom and prosperity and is invoked before the beginning of any auspicious work by the Hindus. It is believed that for the fulfillment of one's desires, his blessing is absolutely necessary. According to the mythology, he is the son of Shiva and Parvati, brother of Kartikeya - the general of the gods, Lakshmi - the goddess of wealth and Saraswati-the goddess of learning. There are numerous stories in Hindu mythology, associated with the birth of this elephant-headed god, whose vehicle is the Mooshak or rat and who loves Modaks (droplet shaped Indian sweet).

Another tale tells of how one day the Gods decided to choose their leader and a race was to be held between the brothers- Kartikeya and Ganesh. Whoever took three rounds of the earth first would be made the Ganaadhipati or the leader. Kartikeya seated on a peacock as his vehicle, started off for the test. Ganesh was given a rat, which moved swiftly. Ganesh realised that the test was not easy, but he would not disobey his father. He reverently paid obeisance to his parents and went around them three times and thus completed the test before Kartikeya. He said, " my parents pervade the whole universe and going around them, is more than going round the earth." Everybody was pleasantly surprised to hear Ganesha's logic and intelligence and hence he came to be known as the Ganaadhipati or leader, now referred to as Ganpati.

There is also a story behind the symbolic snake, rat and the singular tusk. During one of his birthdays, His mother, Parvati, cooked for him twenty-one types of delicious food and a lot of sweet porridge. Ganesha ate so much that even his big belly could not contain it. Mounting his little mouse, he embarked on his nightly rounds. His mouse suddenly stumbled upon seeing a huge snake. To adjust His belly, Ganesha put the snake on as a belt around his stomach. All of a sudden, he heard laughter emanating form the sky.

He looked up and saw the moon mocking him. Ganesha infuriated, broke off one of his tusks and hurled it at the moon. Parvati, seeing this, immediately cursed the moon that whoever looks at it on Ganesh Chaturthi will be accused of a wrong doing. The symbology behind the mouse and snake and Ganesha's big belly and its relationship to the moon on his birthday is highly philosophic. The whole cosmos is known to be the belly of Ganesha. Parvati is the primordial energy. The seven realms above, seven realms below and seven oceans, are inside the cosmic belly of Ganesha, held together by the cosmic energy (kundalini ) symbolized as a huge snake which Ganesha ties around Him. The mouse is nothing but our ego. Ganesha, using the mouse as a vehicle, exemplifies the need to control our ego. One who has controlled the ego has Ganesha consciousness or God-consciousness.


Ganesha statues installed in street corners and in homes, and elaborate arrangements are made for lighting, decoration, mirrors and the most common of flowers. Poojas (prayer services) are performed daily. The artists who make the idols of Ganesh compete with each other to make bigger and more magnificent and elegant idols. The relevantly larger ones are anything from 10 meters to 30 meters in height. These statues are then carried on decorated floats to be immersed in the sea after one, three, five, seven and ten days. Thousands of processions converge on the beaches to immerse the holy idols in the sea. This procession and immersion is accompanied by drum- beats, devotional songs and dancing.

It is still forbidden to look at the moon on that day as the moon had laughed at Ganesha when he fell from his vehicle, the rat. With the immersion of the idol amidst the chanting of "Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai!" (Hail Lord Ganesh). The festival ends with pleas to Ganesha to return the next year with chants of "Ganpati bappa morya, pudcha varshi laukar ya" (Hail Lord Ganesh, return again soon next year.

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in the UK by the migrant Hindu population as well as the large number of Indians residing there. The Hindu culture and Heritage Society, UK - a Southall based organisation celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi for the first time in London in 2005 at The Vishwa Hindu Temple. The Idol was immersed in the river Thames at Putney Pier. Another celebration organised by an Gujarati group has been celebrated in the Southend-on-Sea which attracts over 18000 devotees. Annual celebrations also take place on the River Mersey at Liverpool.


The festival is similarly celebrated in many locations across the world. The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA, an organisation of Hindus based in the US organises many such events to mark the Hindu festivals.

In USA, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by various associations of Telugu speaking people. (Telugu Association of North America, Bay Area Telugu Association and Balaji Temples across USA.)

The Philadelphia Ganesh popularly known as PGF is the largest Sarvajanik (fully contributed by public funds) Hindu festival in North America. Since 2005 the festival is conducted every year in Bharatiya Temple, Chalfont, Pennsylvania. The 10 days are marked by processions, devotional programs, cultural events, India filmi-orchestra and a weekend carnival. While the Marathi community plays a big role in organising the festival, participation from all communities such as Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, North Indian, Bengali etc. is seen as the reason for its success and uniqueness.


In Canada, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by associations of Marathi-speaking people. (MBM in Toronto, MSBC in Vancouver, etc.)

Celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi in Mauritius dates back to 1896. The first Ganesh Chaturthi Puja was held in the 7 Cascades Valley next to Henrietta village by the Bhiwajee family who is still celebrating this pious festival for more than a century. Over the years the festival gained such popularity on the island that Mauritian government has attributed a public holiday for that day.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Nuclear energy vs Kudankulam is Right vs Kudankulam is wrong

Nuclear energy has been one of the most controversial topics since its first research testing in the early 20th century. This awesome power has been used for life-saving procedures and horrific destruction of human life alike. Nuclear energy is the energy that binds subatomic particles together against magnetic forces. When unleashed, nuclear energy presents one of the strongest energy forms man has ever known.

History
The first recorded nuclear energy event was in 1896 by French physicist Henri Becquerel. He observed that photographic plates stored near a sample of uranium turned dark like X-ray film despite being in darkness. This event ultimately led to the discovery of nuclear forces within atoms and their eventual harnessing within atomic bombs and nuclear energy reactors.

Types
Nuclear energy is defined by how it is propagated. Namely, there are three production methods for nuclear energy: radioactive decay, fusion and fission. All three of these nuclear energy-producing processes release particles, gamma rays, neutrinos or all three. Radioactive decay occurs naturally by way of heavy, unstable atoms breaking down over time. Fission and fusion produce nuclear energy by either splitting or fusing atoms, respectively.

Time Frame
Nuclear energy itself is everlasting and does disappear unless it is converted into another energy form. The time frame that is most relevant in regard to nuclear energy is that of its effects on physical and biological matter. Nuclear energy radiation has profound and lasting effects on biological life and ecological systems within areas of effect. Nuclear energy exposure leads to many pathologies in humans and other animals when exposure is above relatively small doses, including radiation poisoning, cancer and birth defects.

Benefits
Though quite literally the tool by which one of the greatest atrocities perpetrated by man has been accomplished, the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, nuclear energy has also been of significant help to humanity. Nuclear energy aids in many medical procedures, such as nuclear MRI technology. Furthermore, the nuclear energy produced in nuclear power plants provides power for countless people in many countries, while reducing the need of ozone-depleting fossil fuels.

Considerations
Nuclear energy has been a defining tool for human beings not just in medicine, warfare or scientific aid. Nuclear energy presents a tool in which the entirety of the human race can be extinguished over the course of one afternoon. All the bombs dropped in the Second World War equaled some 2 megatons. Today thermonuclear weapons have the destructive force of several tons of megatons. All the destructive force of the second world war several times over focused on one spot. Though this point has not come yet it is there looming. Nuclear energy is a tool that requires a mature society to wield and properly use.

5 reasons why there is something wrong with the protests in Kudankulam


Ever since a guy named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi walked on Indian soil, protesting has been the way of life here. While Gandhi protested against the British, we protest against everything. To give you an example, when the Mumbai police recently cracked down on auto guys with tampered meters, THERE WAS A PROTEST AND A STRIKE!

I don’t think there can be a more ridiculous protest than that. Or at least I thought, till the Kudankulam protest came along.

Honestly, I tried really hard to contemplate the reasons for this protest. But the more I think about it, more I feel there is something majorly wrong.

For starters

5. WHY PROTEST AGAINST A POWER PLANT, WHEN TAMIL NADU IS A WOEFULLY POWER DEFICIENT STATE.

Tamil Nadu, as a state, has never been flush with electricity. During my engineering days, my University was subjected to a daily power-cut of two-three hours. That too, bang in the middle of the blazing afternoon. I used to wonder sometimes, whether this was a cunning plan by the Electricity board to ensure students like me, instead of dozing off in our rooms, attended afternoon classes (The classrooms had generator back-up).

Well, the reason was far simpler than that. The power situation, even back then, was dire. This was in 2006.

Which was when, Tamil Nadu decided to go for big ticket industrialization.

While pitching the whole, ‘Tamil Nadu is an industrial destination’, to the rich people, TN state planners overlooked a very tiny fact of life. That industries need something called, ‘Electricity’.

Which explains why, even though new industries were being added at the pace of a Chris Gayle inning, augmenting the state’s creaking electricity generating capacity was totally forgotten. I say creaking, because bulk of Tamil Nadu’s power, needed for the new and the existing industries, still came from its three oldest plants, the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), Tuticorin Power Plant and the nuclear power station at Kalpakkam.

The youngest power plant amongst these, The Madras Atomic power station, was established in 1985.

In other words, these three are

The AK Hangals of Power Generation

Now, these new TN industries were not your small cute cottage ones, which had miniscule power requirements. They were your big badass ones, like automobiles, electronics, textiles etc etc, the Hummers of the power consumption world. The ones that consumed 100′s of MWs, just to remain idle.

The inevitable had to happen.

In 2011, when these new industries got ready to roll, TN’s total power requirement jumped to 12,000 MW. As the rulers, had forgotten to add to the state’s existing electricity generation capacity, the total power output, stood at 9000 MW’s.

Power Generation in T.N  -  Power Requiement in T.N = - 3000 MW.

You know the state is in trouble, when there is a minus before that figure. Because, it means,

TAMIL NADU HAS A POWER DEFICIT OF 3000 MW. There is no power left in Tamil Nadu.

You can find details of the apocalyptic power situation in Tamil Nadu, here.

Now, to account for that huge deficit in power and balancing the requirements of the industry with that of the aam junta, the electricity guys started something, called the ‘load-shedding activity’.

Which meant statewide power cuts for 3-8 hours. Everyday, including bank holidays.

Now you know, why your granny can’t watch her favorite afternoon serial. And you have to suffer horrible power cut jokes on your FB/Twitter timeline.

Like this

Translates to, 'When will I get the electricity'

Or this one

or this one

To sum it up, Tamil Nadu today, does not have power and is heading for a complete catastrophe. And the only thing that can save it, is a superhero, whose superpower is to generate unlimited electricity.

No, Not this guy

That too immediately.

Enter Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

If you did not know, Kudankulam was built with Russian help. And, Russia isn’t exactly known for its subtlety.

For the Russians, this is 'A Small Room'

So, in true, big badass Russian style, they helped us build a reactor complex, which has four reactors. And when commissioned will generate a total of 10,000 MegaWatts of Power.

And of the four, Two are ready.

These two reactors, if started, will instantaneously transform Tamil Nadu, from a beggar to a millionaire as far as power is concerned. For the common man, this will mean no more load shedding, no more afternoon TV missings. It will enable the students to rediscover the lost tradition of the afternoon nap. The industry will begin function at peak capacity, finally resulting in the progress and prosperity of Tamil Nadu.

And of course, It will once and for all solve the power crisis in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu will never have power cuts ever again.

So, Why protest against something that is going to solve the states’ most critical problem?

More importantly, Why protest now? When

4. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE KUDANKULAM POWER PLANT STARTED IN, 1988.

This is the Kudankulam power plant

One thing is quite clear, IT IS BIG.

This is not some small time, illicit kallu sarayam factory that blossomed overnight. They have been building this thing for 24 damn years. Right there, in Kudankulam. Under the very eyes of most of the protestors.

For 24 years.

Just to give you an idea on how long it has been; the initial survey for the Kudankulam plant was not done by Russia, but by the Soviet Union, whose Premier was Mikhael Gorbachev. When the site was finally decided, Rajiv Gandhi was still alive and was busy kick-backing. And, Sachin Tendulkar was a talented 17 year old who was just pitchforked into the Indian team, before he had played a Ranji Trophy match.

My question to the protestors is, what were you doing all this while? Waiting for Sachin to score 100 hundreds?

Sure, some people will point out that there were protests against the plant, since 1987. But those were your little protests, protests that happen in India everyday. The meetings where 20-30 old men, armed with conspiracy theories and a lot of time, hold up one placard and call it a protest.

If you happened to read that link, the biggest protest against the plant, had a grand total of 150 people.

That protest looked something...like this

More people participated, back in my college, in a protest against the mess food.

Today, after 24 years of continuous construction, when the plant is finally complete and ready to go critical, suddenly you have a mob of 20,000 people converging onto this hitherto non-descript village and make a very big fuss. It is as if, these 20,000 people had a simultaneous epiphany regarding the Kudankulam power station.

This feeling, occuring simultaneously, in 20,000 ppl

And these guys are so bloody stubborn. Even when Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a man who knows a little bit about nuclear science, personally came down to Kudankulam and assured them on the plant’s safety, they simply refused to budge.

Do the protestors know something that Dr Kalam doesn’t?  Have they utilized the intervening period of 24 years to do an in-depth study on the plant’s effect on the local eco-system? Do they possess conclusive, scientific proof that Kudankulam is unsafe?

Do they have enough data to prove all Indian scientists, starting from Dr Kalam and down, conclusively wrong?

Simply put, does the protest have a strong, scientific foundation to it?

Turns out

3. THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS WHOLE PROTEST

When you are protesting against a project, which involves a branch of science, that is out of bounds for 99 percent of the scientific community, you need to tick two boxes

1. The Guy who is leading the protest should be qualified.

2. The arguments that he, which by extension covers the whole protest, is putting forth should be scientifically credible.

For item no 1, let us meet the leader of this agitation. A certain gentleman called S P Udayakumar, or as it appears in the media, Dr S P Udayakumar.

I give it to him, that he means business when he argues against the plant. And the vehemence he argues, makes Arnab Goswami look like that timid Scooby Doo sidekick, Shaggy. And in today’s world of television, that is all you need to get you the airtime.

What our glorious media didn’t do was, verify whether this dude had the standing and the merit to elucidate on this subject. A subject which as I said before, is out of bounds for anybody except the best of the best of the best, scientists. I assume the guys in the studio just saw the prefix Dr, deduced Dr = Knowledgeable man = Rightful leader of the protest, and made him an all India phenomenon.

It is not a difficult ask you know, to verify Udayakumar’s merit on this subject. It is not as if they are looking for India’s nuclear launch codes.
Turns out, he is not.

Dr SP Udayakumar, is a Masters in Literature from Kerala University, and a P.Hd in Political Science from the University of Hawaii.

A DOCTORATE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE.

India’s biggest nuclear power plant is today being held hostage by a literary arts dude.

Mein appki feelings samajh sakti hoon, aap log please Baith Jaiye.

How in this Universe, is a political science guy, qualified to lead a protest against a Nuclear power plant? Mind you as a leader, this guy does not stop himself with presenting his outrageous theories about the plant to the innocent villagers. He is also actively blocking, genuine attempts made by the government, to present an accurate picture to the Kudankulam people.

According to him, a PH.D in Political Science, knows more about the nittie-gritties of a Nuclear power plant, than someone who is a P.HD in, well, actual science.

Checklist Item 1, FAIL.

I am not saying, that protests led by people, who do not have the requisite qualifications, are flawed. All I am saying, is that the protest, should have the necessary justification. If Dr Udayakumar feels he is not qualified to do an in-depth scentific study himself, all he had to do was commission some actual scientists. They could undersand the plant, analyze its effects on the local population and submit a full fledged paper.

Which brings us to Item no 2 on the checklist

Where is a report/paper/study for Kudankulam, on the basis of which, Dr Udaya Kumar is fighting? A report that provides the scientific justification for the protest.

I tried hard to find one that resembled what I mentioned above. After arduous googling, this is what I found, a post written by Dr Udaya Kumar himself, on the perils of Kudankulam.

This was, by far, the worst document I have seen in my life, and this includes my own writing. And, that is saying something.

First and foremost, the document has absolutely no sources, no citations. Nothing, zilch. I mean, I run a supposedly humorous website, named after a comedy character in a Tamil movie and I cite sources. So how can someone get away without citing any, especially when you consider that fact that he is trying to relocate a nuclear power plant?

As for the points in the post, they are so awfully bad, that even a conspiracy theorist will reject them as outrageous.

For Example

Point no 1: Even when the KKNPP projects function normally without any incidents and accidents, they would be emitting Iodine 131, 132, 133, Cesium 134, 136, 137 isotopes, strontium, tritium, tellurium and other such radioactive particles into our air, land, crops, cattle, sea, seafood and ground water. Already the southern coastal belt is sinking with very high incidence of cancer, mental retardation, down syndrome, defective births due to private and government sea-sand mining for rare minerals including thorium. The KKNPP will add many more woes to our already suffering people.

If you didn’t bother to read it, here is the gist. The dude says, because of the radioactive materials leaving the plant and mixing with the water and food, something like this is going to happen in Kudankulam, really really soon

Now, this is the city of Mumbai.

As you can see, there is a nuclear reactor, right in the middle of the city. A city of 30 Million people.

And last known, they have not transformed into some version of The Incredible Hulk meets the Godzilla. Which means, people of Kudankulam and the nearby villages are safe from the ‘monster’ that is the Kudankulam power plant.

And if you think in case of a disaster, the whole area will be wiped out and thousands will die, then well you are wrong.

The total number of fatalities, directly or indirectly, due to a Nuclear power plant meltdown, from 1960-2011, across the globe, is FIFTY.

YES, 50 IN ALL. AND THIS INCLUDES CHERNOBYL AND FUKUSHIMA.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf06app.html



Hell, the probability of Kudankulam people, getting killed after being run over by a bicycle, is higher.

Another one

Point no 3:  More than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam.

This is the map in and around the Koodankulam power plant, with a radius of 40 kms in all directions. 10 Kms more than what Dr Udayakumar has considered.

Now, the Kudankulam power plant, is flanked by three major sub-districts.

To the North is Radhapuram sub-district ,which includes the Koodankulam power plant itself. Total Population: 2, 64, 595

To the West is Agastheeswaram sub-district, Total Population: 4, 93, 852. Now the two major population centres in this sub-district, cities of Kaniyakumari and Nagerkoil, are more than 50 Kms away from the plant.

Take them out, the figure falls down to, 1,29, 371.

To the east is Sathankulam sub-district. Total population: 96, 820.

Total population, of the area as specified by Dr Udaya kumar + 10 Kms:  4, 90, 786

Only 5,00,000 short of the Million people as claimed by Udayakumar.

This dude, to get his point across, has straight up doubled the population of the nearby areas. And in some interviews, he is even quoting the population as 1.5 million.

This guy, simply put, exaggerating the local population numbers to Bibilical proportions.

Finally, the population of the village of Koodankulam: 11, 029. In his quest for some grandiose statistic, he forgot this one.

Finally

Point 6:  The quality of construction and the pipe work and the overall integrity of the KKNPP structures have been called into question by the very workers and contractors who work there in Koodankulam. There have been international concerns about the design, structure and workings of the untested Russian-made VVER-1000 reactors.

The Chinese have been building a power plant with Russian help, equipped with the same VVER-1000 Nuclear reactor.

A short while ago, this very reactor was declared as the safest nuclear reactor in the world. That too not by some literary arts dude like Dr Udaya kumar, but by the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA). You know the global agency responsible for the safety of Nuclear power plants.

THE GUY’S WHOSE JOB IS TO SUPERVISE NUCLEAR REACTORS ACROSS THE WORLD, CALL THE VVER-1000, THE SAFEST REACTOR IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

NEED I SAY MORE?

For me, the whole post reads as if the Kudankulam Power plant is the harbinger of apocalypse for the state of Tamil Nadu and India in general. That too in the ‘I Say So, So it must be true’ mode of argument.

I really wanted to fisk the whole thing, but these three points prove what I set ou to prove

Whatever this guy is saying is total tosh.

Which means there is absolutely no scientific basis for this protest.

Checklist Item no 2: BIG FAIL

Before somebody says, let me admit that I am not a nuclear physicist or a scientist. There is this comprehensive government report which counters every argument of this dude.

BTW, DR Udaya Kumar, if by any chance you happen to read this, please tell me why do you keep asking the government for white papers, black papers, etc etc to prove Kudankulam is safe. Isn’t is bloody time you give a document like the one above to prove why Kudankulam is unsfe?

So to sum it up, the reasons for the protests are dodgy, the timing is skeptical and there is not even a tiny thread of rationality behind it. So why protest at all?


2. THE WHOLE SHEBANG IS BEING RIGGED

Generally the Prime Minister open his mouth rarely and speaks even less. And whenever he or for that matter, any of his ministers speak, this is how most of us react

And our reactions were more or less similar, when our Prime Minister went back to the 1980′s vintage, ‘Foreign Hand’  theory when he railed against the Kudankulam protest.

This time however, for a change, he made sense.

The story actually begins in 1974. The year in which Indira Gandhi decided, that India needed some nuke bombs.

Let us say the US was as benevolent towards India after that nuclear test, as US today is towards Iran.

In line with the US policy of benevolence, India was slapped with a trade embargo, which among other things, prevented us from getting something called, Uranium. And without the Uranium, the entire nuclear infrastructure in the country at that time, went into panic mode. The reactors were scaled down and the power generation was cut, because we did not have sufficient fuel.

Because India refused to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, no Uranium rich, decadent western country, was willing to sell Uranium to us. According to them, If India ever gets Uranium, she will peddle it to the first crackpot dictator who wants to build a bomb.

Pictured: Crackpot Dictator

India was effectively placed in a quarantine, and denied access to anything that was remotely related to ‘Nuclear’

The status-quo continued till 2008, when George W Bush arrived in India.

Amidst all the despicable things George.H.W.Bush has inflicted on this world, he has to get credit for one thing.

He was the only guy who got Manmohan Singh to talk. In fact ‘Dubya’ Bush is singularly responsible for Manmohan, speaking  up for something, that does not have the word ‘Gandhi’ in it.

Google image search result for 'Manmohan Singh Speaking' before 2008

If you are wondering If I am making that up, here is a clue,  do the words INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL mean anything to you?

Well, for Manmohan Singh, it meant a lot. Hell, it meant so much that, MMS flipped the normal protocol of ‘Madam Tell, Me Follow’, upside down. And he allowed a India, a brief glimpse of a part of his anatomy, that is called the spine. For the first and the last time as a P.M, he opposed a major coalition partner, stood his ground and got something done.

MMS single-handedly ended, for good, India’s three decade long nuclear isolation.

But, there are no free lunches in the capitalist world.

When the US guys told us they will take care of that NPT thingy and get us all the Uranium we need, as a quid pro pro, they demanded a major slice in the Indian nuclear power pizza. In fact they wanted the whole pizza. You see, the whole point of this generous nuclear deal, was to ensure the US derives the maximum economic benefit out of our inevitable nuclear boom.

And a major hurdle in the quest for that pizza.

Kudankulam

You see, the reactors used to generate electricity in Kudankulam, the aforementioned VVER-1000 reactors, are a direct competitor to General Electric’s Advanced Boiling Water Reactor. And if the VVER-1000 is successful, India might opt for more of these reactors to satiate her power demands, which are projected to go North.

And if that happens, the US would become the guy, who did everything possible to impress a girl, only to see a direct competitor walking away with the credit and the girl on the first date.

Just think about it, the other Nuclear project announced after the deal was signed, was Jaitapur. And it was a French one. And guess what is happening there,

In short, USA has every reason, to pray for the failure of Kudankulam. Because, if it is successful, they have the most to lose.

After the PM’s accusation in that Science Magazine interview, the Home Ministry, moved quickly to freeze the accounts of four NGO’s, Tuticorin Diocese Association (TDA), Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society (TMSSS), People’s Education for Action and Liberation and Good Vision trust.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, they were misdirecting the funds meant for social work, to fund a political protest. Which is explicitly stated as wrong,

The ministry of home affairs, has an amazing web-page. They list all the transactions made by the NGO’s who receive  more than one crore a year.

Here is the 2010-2011 account statement of the Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society (TMSSS).

If you notice, the maximum money, has been spent, in activities, mysteriously classified as ‘Others’. No explanation has been given on what those activites constitute. Now, this particluar NGO has received more than Rs 42 crores in foreign donations, over the last five years.

But, they don’t even have a website of their own. A website where they can publish detailed accounts of what they are doing with all the money. Introduce some modicum of transparency. Now, why is that?

Similiarly, the other NGO, the Tuticorin Diocese Association, received 22 crores in the same period. And they too, do not have a website, or a statement.

So, this mysterious money trail leads to a dead end. But that is not the only problem. On 6th of February, the Home ministry stated, that these very NGO’s received 54 crores from sources abroad.

Now, with a very minimum knowledge of economics, I think Rs 54 crores is quite a lot of money. And, according to the Home Ministry, they do not have the accounts to show for it. And no person from these two NGO’s has come out and given a convincing reply to the Home Ministry’s accusation.

In fact two NGO’s in question, are headed by the same guy, one Bishop Yvon Ambroise. And, since the day the report was published in the Hindu, this person has gone underground. I mean, if you are so honest about your financials, why this mysterious silence?

Similiarly, the home ministry also alleges that, DR Udayakumar, received Rs 1.5 crores of cash, in his account,to fund this agitation. In typical, Udayakumar style, he countered it aggressively, even invoking capital punishment in his defence. And, his NGO, the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) released its own account statement, to prove its innocence. This what they said

    Total fund collection: Rs 25, 17,991. Collected Rs 200 from every household in Idinthakarai with additional help coming from Fishermen, beedi workers etc etc, who contributed 10 percent of their earnings.
    Total expenditure: Rs 17,64,233. Spent on hiring transport, diesel genset, marquees, and supply of water to the people who congregate at the protest fast venue.

As usual, no specifics have been given. Also, they do not have a website where they can publish a detailed report. And, our media as is the norm, didn’t bother to verify this statement.

Turns out, the village of Idinthakarai has a total population of 3996. Assuming 3 members per household, total households in that village: 1332.

Going by Udayakumar’s assertion and assuming every household contributed, the total amount collected comes to: Rs 2, 66, 400.

Where did you get the rest of the money, i.e  Rs 22, 51 ,591, from Dr Udaya Kumar? Are you telling us that the fishermen and beedi workers from Kudankulam contributed this amount??

Or is the Prime Minister right, when he says, Foreign money is at play?

Paying protestors to campaign against a venture by your competitor, is an old tactic in India. Every industrialist, worth his or her salt, has done it at some point of time in his/her life.

But in this case, I am unduly worried, because this protest has taken a direction, a direction that does not augur well for the security of our country

1. THE WHOLE PROTEST IS BEING RELIGIOUSLY MOTIVATED

Remember the Bishop Ambroise in the previous para. Well, he is on record, with his opposition to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant. Now this person is not some layman voicing his views on this subject. He is a bishop, a very senior guy in the hierarchy of the church.


Why is a representative of the church, that too a Bishop, actively taking part in the protest?

There is not even the usual excuse that he is acting out of his own free will. The Roman Catholic Church is an organization that is proud of its command chain. No church member, I believe, can act independently without the sanction of someone from above. And when guy  leading this protest is a senior functionary in the church, it can mean only one thing

The Anti-Kudankulam protest, has the blessing, from the highest levels of the Church hierarchy.

Now, the church, preferred to stay silent for the entire duration of the first and the second world wars. Hell, this is an organization which did not speak up, when Nazis were carrying out the world’s most brutal elimination program. Even when they knew about it.

So, why, is it taking a pro-active interest in a nittie-gritties of a Nuclear Power Plant, somewhere down in South India?

The involvement of the church cannot be dismissed lightly. In rural Tamil Nadu, for most of the villagers, the voice of reason happens to be the local Parish priest. And all the Parish priests, in and around Kudankulam are heavily against the establishment of the power plant. And they are making no bones about their stand on this issue. And they don’t even have a choice. The person on top of them in the hierarchy, has made his stand very clear.

When a priest, in his Sunday mass and service, exhorts the villagers to join the protest, what is it that they are going to do?

As a result, most of the people in and around Kudankulam are joining the protests, not because they believe in the cause. They are turning up, because their priest asked them to. And they are admitting it openly.

This means, what was supposed to be a peaceful public protest, has, as the Indian Express put it brilliantly, been hijacked by the local diocese and the church. And that is not a good sign.

Not for a country, that calls itself secular.

The only thing that has irked me more than this shameless religious takeover of the movement, is our mainstream media’s turning a Nelson’s eye towards it. If it did not, then why aren’t there more damning articles, like this one, on the role of the Church in the Kudankulam agitation?

Why this thing is not the ‘BURNING QUESTION’ on TIMES NOW? WHY IS IT NOT ON ‘FACE THE NATION’?

And finally, where is this guy?

Figure it out yourself

I mean, when people from the RSS, a Hindu group with no connection to the inner sanctum of Hindu religion, went and participated in a public movement, this dude wasted no time in painting the entire movement with a saffron brush. According to him, ‘Communal forces’ were attempting to use the ‘Platform’ of a ‘Public Movement’ to ‘threaten the social fabric of the country’. Or some nonsense like that.

But here, people who are high up in the Church hierarchy, representing the church, are actively aiding and abetting this unreasonable protest,

So, why the eff is this guy quiet? Why the hell is everybody quiet?

Unfortunately, I do not have answers to these questions.

On a side note: I am not too sure of this thing’s relevance to the article but thought you should know. While looking up Bishop Yvon Ambroise, I stumbled onto this. There is even a nice letter, written to the Vatican, complaining about atrocities, illegalities, arrogance and ignorance of the bishop. Do read it.





“Thirteen Reasons Why We Do Not Want the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project”


We have been opposing the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) ever since it was conceived in the mid-1980s. The people of Koodankulam village themselves were misled by false promises such as 10,000 jobs, water from Pechiparai dam in Kanyakumari district, and fantastic development of the region. We tried in vain to tell them that they were being deceived. Without any local support, we could not sustain the anti-Koodankulam movement for too long.

Now the people of Koodankulam know and understand that this is not just a fisherfolk’s problem, they may be displaced, and they have to deal with radioactive poison. Their joining the movement in 2007 has invigorated the campaign now. And (almost) all of us here in the southernmost tip of India oppose the Koodankulam NPP for a few specific reasons:

[1] The KKNPP reactors are being set up without sharing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Site Evaluation Study and Safety Analysis Report with the people, or the people’s representatives or the press. No public hearing has been conducted for the first two reactors either. There is absolutely no democratic decision-making in or public approval for this project.

[2] The Tamil Nadu Government G.O. 828 (29.4.1991 – Public Works Department) establishes clearly that “area between 2 to 5 km radius around the plant site, [would be] called the sterilization zone.” This means that people in this area could be displaced. But the KKNPP authorities promise orally and on a purely adhoc basis that nobody from the neighboring villages would be displaced. This kind of adhocism and doublespeak causes suspicion and fears of displacement.

[3] More than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam.

[4] The coolant water and low-grade waste from the KKNPP are going to be dumped in to the sea which will have a severe impact on fish production and catch. This will undermine the fishing industry, push the fisherfolks into deeper poverty and misery and affect the food security of the entire southern Tamil Nadu and southern Kerala.

[5] Even when the KKNPP projects function normally without any incidents and accidents, they would be emitting Iodine 131, 132, 133, Cesium 134, 136, 137 isotopes, strontium, tritium, tellurium and other such radioactive particles into our air, land, crops, cattle, sea, seafood and ground water. Already the southern coastal belt is sinking with very high incidence of cancer, mental retardation, down syndrome, defective births due to private and government sea-sand mining for rare minerals including thorium. The KKNPP will add many more woes to our already suffering people.

[6] The quality of construction and the pipe work and the overall integrity of the KKNPP structures have been called into question by the very workers and contractors who work there in Koodankulam. There have been international concerns about the design, structure and workings of the untested Russian-made VVER-1000 reactors.

[7] The then Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forest Mr.Jairam Ramesh announced a few months ago that the central government had decided not to give permission to KKNPP 3-6 as they were violating the Coastal Regulation Zone stipulations. It is pertinent to ask if KKNPP 1 and 2 are not violating the CRZ terms.

[8] Many political leaders and bureaucrats try to reassure us that there would be no natural disasters in the Koodankulam area. How can they know? How can anyone ever know? The 2004 December tsunami did flood the KKNPP installations. There was a mild tremor in the surrounding villages of Koodankulam on March 19, 2006. On August 12, 2011, there were tremors in 7 districts of Tamil Nadu.

[9] Indian Prime Minster himself has spoken about terrorist threats to India’s nuclear power plants. Most recently, on August 17, 2001, Minister of State for Home, Mr. Mullappally Ramachandran said: “the atomic establishments continue to remain prime targets of the terrorist groups and outfits.”

[10] The important issue of liability for the Russian plants has not been settled yet. Defying the Indian nuclear liability law, Russia insists that the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), secretly signed in 2008 by the Indian and Russian governments, precedes the liability law and that Article 13 of the IGA clearly establishes that NPCIL is solely responsible for all claims of damages.

[11] In 1988 the authorities said that the cost estimate of the Koodakulam 1 and 2 projects was Rs. 6,000 crores. In November 1998, they said the project cost would be Rs. 15,500. In 2001, the ministerial group for economic affairs announced that the project cost would be Rs. 13,171 crores and the Indian government would invest Rs. 6,775 crores with the remainder amount
coming in as Russian loan with 4 percent interest. The fuel cost was estimated to be Rs. 2,129 crores which would be entirely Russian loan. No one knows the 2011 figures of any of these expenses. No one cares to tell the Indian public either.

[12] The March 11, 2011 disaster in Fukushima has made it all too clear to the whole world that nuclear power plants are prone to natural disasters and no one can really predict their occurrence. When we cannot effectively deal with a nuclear disaster, it is only prudent to prevent it from occurring. Even the most industrialized and highly advanced country such as Germany has decided to phase out their nuclear power plants by the year 2022.Switzerland has decided to shun nuclear power technology. In a recent referendum, some 90 percent of Italians have voted against nuclear power in their country. Many Japanese prefectures and their governors are closing nuclear power plants in their regions. Both the United States and Russia
have not built a new reactor in their countries for 2-3 decades ever since major accidents occurred at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

In our own country, Mamta Banerjee government in West Bengal has stopped the Russian nuclear power park project at Haripur in Purba Medhinipur district and taken a position that they do want any nuclear power project in their state. Similarly, the people of Kerala have decided not to host any nuclear power project in their state.

[13] And finally, the Indian government’s mindless insistence on nuclear power, utmost secrecy in all of its nuclear agreements and activities, and its sheer unwillingness to listen to the people’s concerns and fears make us very doubtful about the real benefactors of all this nuclear hoopla. Is it all for us, the people of India? Or for the corporate profits of the Russian, American and French companies? Or for the Indian military? Are the lives and futures of the Indian citizens inferior to all these?




Sunday, September 16, 2012

சாப்ட்வேர் கம்பெனிகளில் முன்னேறுவது எப்படி??


Software Engineers மொத்தம் ரெண்டு வகை,
காலைல 8 மணிக்கு ஆபீஸ் வந்துட்டு switch போட்ட grinder மாதிரி, night வரைக்கும் உக்காந்து எல்லா வேலையும் இழுத்து போட்டு செஞ்சுட்டு ,work pressureனு வீட்ல போய் அம்மா,அப்பா,பொண்டாட்டி கூட சண்ட போட்டுட்டு படுத்து தூங்கறவங்க மொத கோஷ்டி.இவங்க, அவங்களா உழைச்சு , increment வாங்கி , onsite போய், சம்பாரிச்சு, மண்டைல முடி கொட்டி, கல்யாணம் பண்ணி செட்டில் ஆயிருவாங்க.... இவங்களுக்கு நம்ம அட்வைஸ் ஏதும் தேவை இல்ல....



ரெண்டாவது கோஷ்டி:
வேல செய்ய புடிக்காம, கடுப்புல வந்து, ஏனோ தானோன்னு வேல செஞ்சு, increment இல்லாம,onsite இல்லாம, வீட்ல, 'சாப்பாட்ல உப்பு இல்லன்னு' சொன்னா,' PCS/Cunfosys/GTS/JCLல தான வேல செய்யற??' ன்னு நக்கல் பேச்சுக்கு ஆள் ஆகி,தினமும் Managerகிட்ட 'You have to put some extra efforts man'ன்னு பேச்சு வாங்கிட்டு இருக்கற 73% பேரு....


இவங்கல்லாம் கஷ்டப்பட்டு வேல செய்யாமலே முன்னேறரதுக்கு எளிய வழிகள்:

*.காலைல மேனேஜர் office போறதுக்கு முன்னாடி நம்ம போயரனும்,Evening அவர் கெளம்புனதுக்கு அப்புறம் தான் நம்ம கெளம்பனும்(அந்த timeல வேல செய்யனும்கறது முக்கியம் இல்ல....).....

*. 5 mins வேலையா இருந்தாலும், பெருசா build up பண்ணனும்,
For example,
உங்க lead சின்னதா excel sheetla ஒரு fieldla ஏதாவது change பண்ண சொன்னாங்கன்னா, அந்த வேலைய செஞ்சு முடிச்சிட்டு,

Hi Ramesh,

As discussed with you yesterday evening over phone, I have successfully changed 3rd row, 4th column of the 'employee details' excel sheet.
Please find the updated excel sheet in the following folder path,

<>

Please reply back for any clarifications

Thank you,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX,
Software Analyst,
YYYY Consultancy Solutions,
Chennai.

அப்படின்னு 5 நிமிஷ வேலைக்கு 15 நிமிஷம் செலவு பண்ணி மெயில் போடணும்....Team members, module lead, group lead, project manager எல்லார்த்தையும் CCல வெக்கணும்....

* .birthday celebrations, Team outingநா, மூஞ்சில cake பூசறது , photo எடுக்கும்போது கொம்பு வெக்கறது , அப்பப்ப ரெண்டு மூணு மொக்கைய போடறதுன்னு நல்லா 'performance' பண்ணனும்....


*Managera எதிர்த்து பேசவே கூடாது, manager சொன்னா ஒன்னும் ஒன்னும் மூணு....

* தெரியாம கூட , 'தெரியாது' ங்கற வார்த்தைய சொல்லிரவே கூடாது. சுத்தமா தெரியாத ஒரு tool, software அல்லது technology பத்தி manager/lead கேட்டா கூட ,
Its a kind of,Its a sort of, In the sense, usability, modularity, quality, technically speaking , cost cutting, probably, actually இந்த மாதிரி வார்த்தைகள போட்டு, ஒரு statement குடுத்தரனும்...

*.Client visit வந்தா, clientsஓட நல்லா interact பண்ணனும்.
What do you think about Indian culture?,
Which one u like most, Dosa or Chappathi?
What will be the future of Indian Software Engineers?(அங்க Eurozone crisis வந்து, கொஞ்ச நாள்ல அவன் futureருக்கே வழியில்லன்னு தெரிஞ்சிருந்தாலும் பரவால்ல....)
இந்த மாதிரி மொக்கத்தனமான கேள்வியெல்லாம் கேக்கணும்....

*. அப்பப்ப sweets எடுத்துட்டு வரணும்,

Hi All,
Sweets at my desk, Please help yourselves,

அப்டின்னு mail போட்டு எல்லார்த்துக்கும் குடுக்கணும்....இப்படி டகில்பாஸ் வேல செஞ்சாதான் நம்மளோட managerஉக்கு நம்மளோட teamwork தெரியும்.

இது போக அப்பப்ப யாருக்காவது ஏதாவது சொல்லிக்குடுக்கனும் (எல்லார்த்துக்கும் தெரியுற மாதிரி சத்தமா ), Juniorsக்கு அட்வைஸ் பண்ணனும் ,Team movie போனா ticket book பண்ணனும் ,cab book பண்ணனும், Clean shave, formalsனு Raymonds model மாதிரி சுத்தனும்.

இப்படி மேல சொன்ன வேலையெல்லாம் செஞ்சா , Software fieldல முன்னேறி, onsite போயி, சம்பாரிச்சு கல்யாணம் பண்ணி, ஊற தாண்டி ஊரப்பாக்கத்துல ஒரு இடம் வாங்கி settle ஆயிறலாம்....

Saturday, September 15, 2012

India on International Day of Democracy

India is the seventh largest (by area) and the second most populous country in the world, with roughly one-sixth of its population, of about a billion and a quarter. It is the world's largest democracy. It is one of the world's oldest civilizations yet, a very young nation. Elections to its Parliament are held once every 5 years. Currently, Prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is the head of the government, enjoying a majority in the Parliament, while President Pranab Mukherjee, is the head of state. India is a constitutional republic governed under the world's longest written constitution, federally consisting of 28 states and seven centrally administered union territories, with New Delhi as the nation's capital. The country has three main national parties: the Congress, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), and the Communist Party. The Indian National Congress has governed the country for 3/4th's of the time since independence from Britain in 1947, under the de facto one party system and now, under the Dominant-party system. At the level of its states, many regional parties stand for elections to state legislatures, every five years.



Religion
Religion as a major cultural influence plays an important role in politics. Political party support depends greatly on differentiating the electorate along religious lines. The major religious communities are those of the Hindus (although not a homogeneous block), the Muslims (again they too are differentiated as Shias and Sunnis) and the Sikhs; and many political parties are identified by the religion of their supporters. Many national religious issues are the key points of the success in elections. Even some of the political leaders uses religion for their own sake and uses it as a medium of their political stability.

Caste
The caste system crosses religious boundaries to infect both Hindu and Islamic peoples. Hindus have four main castes and hundreds of sub-castes. Many political parties draw supporters from specific castes or sub-castes. The four main caste were Bhrahmins, shatriyas, vyshar and shurdars. Bhramins were the upper caste and they are allowed to do worship in temples. shakthriya's rule country and vyshar included people like merchants etc. shurdars was the most oppressed one at that time.

Population

India is the second most populous country in the world, next only to China. The over a billion population poses a challenge to the state's ability to provide everyone with jobs, health-care, education and other public services. Slowing down the rate of population growth has been a major issue for governments, over time. India being a democratic country the ever increasing population can only be checked by voluntary means, with the informed consent of the people. With the current growth rate, India is set to leave China behind by 2025.

Development
India is still an emerging democracy, setting the pace and shape of development. India began as an explicitly socialist nation and continues with a large public-sector and many constraints on private enterprise, although recent governments have reduced some of these restrictions. Their reward has been faster economic growth, particularly through the growth of trade-oriented industry. Some recent governments were voted out due to a sluggish economy.

Regions
India is very densely populated. Some advocate[who?] splitting some twenty eight states and seven union territories.

Other factors
Factors such as education, corruption, women's issues, student politics, criminalization of politics, leadership strategies and the design of political institutions affect national and local politics. Some other factors such as the caste issue, environment policy, new long-term investment in the economy by foreigners etc., also have a bearing.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Tips to Keep Healthy and Keep Earning for Freelancers


When we freelance, we put our health on the line.

Really?

Sure, we work long hours, we get stressed about work and projects. We have to manage the fact that some clients pay late and some don’t pay at all.

Every month we have bills to meet and mortgages to pay, yet, our income goes up and down and all around.

Some clients give us plenty of time – but some demand it done in an instant – and yes, that’s the same ‘instant’ that all our other clients are insisting on…

… which means, late nights, early mornings, rushing to meetings in the car, sitting in front of computers and, frankly, sometimes drinking too much coffee and subway sandwiches.



Which is why health matters!

Now, some younger freelancers may be turn off by this topic – that’s okay, when your health bank balance has run down to zero once or twice, then maybe this topic will start to appeal.

But, for the rest of us who know we’ve pushed our bodies, our minds, our keyboard fingers and our luck a bit too much every now and then, let’s talk about health for freelancers.

The first thing that is striking for freelancers is that they have more control of their time – apart from frequent rushes – which means a trip to the gym or walk with the dog or jog along the path during daylight hours is a lot easier for us than it is for the traditionally employed.

But, it does, of course, require us to drag ourselves away from the computer, telephone or non-stop networking.

So, what are the key tips that I’ve learnt? Here are my seven…

1. Do something every day.
Go for a walk, a run or visit the gym at least once every day. Make it a habit. Even if you get under pressure don’t stop the habit – keep going for your bit of exercise even if you cut the walk from 40 minutes to 10 minutes – just keep doing it.

2. Do something every hour
Recent advice suggests that we should do something every hour – that is, get up from our computers or screens and walk around the house. Perhaps make a cup of tea or take something upstairs – just as a way of moving the body from our very static computer screen based lives.

This regular movement is believed to increase flexibility – and that rather than use exercise to build muscle strength (like body builders) we really want to gain agility and flexibility – a bit like a ballet dancer!?! In fact, I’ve been told that maintaining flexibility is one of the key ways to avoid injury as we grow a bit older.

3. Give your mind a break
Health isn’t just a physical thing – it can also be about our minds too. Sometimes, the best way to solve things in our minds is to go for a run, play tennis, visit the gym or just get some fresh air. Working from home has the danger that we can become too focused on a particular project and this can affect our minds too.

4. Watch what you eat
Eating well is broadly recognised as important. So, swap the biscuits for nuts. Buy or make some home-made soup so you eat well at lunch time – every day – and don’t just ‘snack’ your way through the day.

5. Get the right supplements
Supplementing your diet is now regarded as essential. Our parents grew up on cod liver oil – we now consume the highest grade Omega-3 capsules – but it is the same idea – we can only get so much from our supermarket bought food.

The quality of supplements has increased massively in the past 30 years – aloe vera – glucosomine – alginine – ginseng – antioxidants – these have become common terms and people who have used these for many years are demonstrating significant health benefits.

6. Join a club or get a trainer
Join a running club, a badminton club, tennis club, a gym or just find someone to share a walk. Building your fitness activities around social activities helps you keep going and is a great source of encouragement. If you find this too hard to do, get yourself a fitness trainer.

7. Make the right investment
Think of your health as your most important asset. As a freelancer, you can’t work without your health and if you don’t work, you don’t earn.

Your health is even more important than your iPhone or notebook, without it, nothing happens.

What would happen if someone switched off your wifi? It is the same when you get ill…

So, you look after your phone and computer, right? Sure, then it is essential to give your health the same degree of respect.


Thursday, September 13, 2012

Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi

Aseem Trivedi (born 1987) is a renowned Indian political cartoonist and activist, best known for his anti corruption campaign Cartoons Against Corruption. He is a founder member of Save Your Voice, a movement against internet censorship in India. He has been awarded the Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award for 2012 by Cartoonists Rights Network International.

He was arrested three days ago in Mumbai on charges of sedition, was released from the central Mumbai prison ( Arthur Road jail) at around 1.15 pm on Wednesday.

Soon after Trivedi (27), a Kanpur resident, stepped outside the prison gate, he was welcomed with a garland by Indian Against Corruption (IAC) activist, Mayank Gandhi.

Amidst the slogan, Inquilab Zindabad and Bharat Mata ki Jai, Trivedi went to a nearby Buddha Vihar where he offered his respect to Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar. It was difficult for the police to handle the law and order and the commandos posted for convicted terrorist, Ajmal Kasab's security came to handle the situation.

The media personnel, wanting to have a snap of Trivedi, jammed the road.

"We will continue our fight against corruption. We want the sections of sedition to be removed from the IPC. This is the section under which Pandit Nehru, Lokmanya Tilak and Ghandhi ji were booked. It should be scrapped now," Trivedi said while addressing the media outside Buddha Vihar.

He said that he would speak in detail during his press conference at Mumbai Press Club at 4 pm on Wednesday.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Reduce Fat by using Indian Foods


You don't have to acquire a taste for olive oil, seaweed or soya to maintain a low-fat, healthy diet. Indian cuisine can be healthy too, if it's cooked with oil and ingredients that take care of your heart and health.

Ayurveda suggests you include all tastes — sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent — in at least one meal each day, to help balance unnatural cravings. Here are 12 foods that can help you lose weight and gain health:

Turmeric : Curcumin, the active component of turmeric, is an object of research owing to its properties that suggest they may help to turn off certain genes that cause scarring and enlargement of the heart. Regular intake may help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol and high blood pressure, increase blood circulation and prevent blood clotting, helping to prevent heart attack.

Cardamom : This is a thermogenic herb that increases metabolism and helps burn body fat. Cardamom is considered one of the best digestive aids and is believed to soothe the digestive system and help the body process other foods more efficiently.

Chillies : Foods containing chillies are said to be as foods that burn fat. Chillies contain capsaicin that helps in increasing the metabolism. Capsaicin is a thermogenic food, so it causes the body to burn calories for 20 minutes after you eat the chillies.

Curry leaves : Incorporating curry leaves into your daily diet can help you lose weight. These leaves flush out fat and toxins, reducing fat deposits that are stored in the body, as well as reducing bad cholesterol levels. If you are overweight, incorporate eight to 10 curry leaves into your diet daily. Chop them finely and mix them into a drink, or sprinkle them over a meal.

Garlic : An effective fat-burning food, garlic contains the sulphur compound allicin which has anti-bacterial effects and helps reduce cholesterol and unhealthy fats.

Mustard oil : This has low saturated fat compared to other cooking oils. It has fatty acid, oleic acid, erucic acid and linoleic acid. It contains antioxidants, essential vitamins and reduces cholesterol, which is good for the heart.

Cabbage : Raw or cooked cabbage inhibits the conversion of sugar and other carbohydrates into fat. Hence, it is of great value in weight reduction.

Moong dal : The bean sprouts are rich in Vitamin A, B, C and E and many minerals, such as calcium, iron and potassium. It is recommended as a food replacement in many slimming programmes, as it has a very low fat content. It is a rich source of protein and fibre, which helps lower blood cholesterol level. The high fibre content yields complex carbohydrates, which aid digestion, are effective in stabilising blood sugar and prevent its rapid rise after meal consumption.

Honey : It is a home remedy for obesity. It mobilises the extra fat deposits in the body allowing it to be utilised as energy for normal functions. One should start with about 10 grams or a tablespoon, taken with hot water early in the morning.

Buttermilk : It is the somewhat sour, residual fluid that is left after butter is churned. The probiotic food contains just 2.2 grams of fat and about 99 calories, as compared to whole milk that contains 8.9 grams fat and 157 calories. Regular intake provides the body with all essential nutrients and does not add fats and calories to the body. It is thus helpful in weight loss.

Millets : Fibre-rich foods such as millets - jowar, bajra, ragi, etc - absorb cholesterol and help increase the secretion of the bile that emulsifies fats.

Cinnamon and cloves: Used extensively in Indian cooking, the spices have been found to improve the function of insulin and to lower glucose, total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides in people with type 2 diabetes.

How to Add or Show HTML or Javascripts code in your blogger

Step 1
If you have to add a special code inside your blogger template.

Go to your blogger Dashboard > Layout > Edit HTML. Now hit CTRL+F on your keyboard and search this tag,
]]></b:skin>

Now you have to add this code above that code,
pre { background:#efefef; border:1px solid #A6B0BF; font-size:120%; line-height:100%; overflow:auto; padding:10px; color:#000000 } pre:hover { border:1px solid #efefef; } code { font-size:120%; text-align:left; margin:0;padding:0; color: #000000;} .clear { clear:both; overflow:hidden; }

After you done it, click the “Preview” button to see if your blog shows or not. If everything’s okay, then click, “Save template“

Step 2 
Now each time you create a post and you need to add some HTML codes inside your post, you have to convert it into escapable characters. For this go to this tool. Click, “Convert to escaped character” the converted code will be different than the original. Now create a new blog post and add the converted code.

You have to enclosed the code with a “pre”(<pre> .... </pre>) tag.

Publish your post and see the magic!

JQuery Cycle Through Images on Hover

Step 1 I first saw this style slideshow as a Flash solution on Cargo Collective, which has since been updated to Javascript. As it turns out, it’s actually quite easy, making it a quick addition to any site you wish to implement it on. Here’s what we’ll be doing: Super fast slideshow that only runs when hovered over. Overlay logo that toggles between two different states depending on hover state Inspiration piece for this tutorial: Cargo Collective See our end goal by visiting our demo page. The HTML This is the structure for each slideshow, with the images are pulled from the unordered list and turned into a slideshow by jQuery Cycle Plugin. The .link element is where a URL can be provided for when the slideshow is clicked. It is also how we will swap the logo on hovers.
<div class="slideshow-block">
 <a href="http://website.com" class="link"></a>
 <ul class="slides">
  <li><img src="image.jpg"/></li>
 </ul>
</div>
The CSS The dimensions for my slideshow are 200px by 150px. Depending on the sizes of your logo and slides, the below background position coordinates and overall dimensions may need to get adjusted. The logo is toggled between the two color variations using the background position hover technique. The unordered slides list is given a class of “active” when hovered over, making it visible on the page.
*{
 margin: 0;
 padding: 0;
 outline: none;
 border: none;
}
.slideshow-block{
 position: relative;
 width: 200px;
 height: 150px;
 overflow: hidden;
 background: #111 url('img/bg.jpg');
}
a.link{
 position:absolute;
 height: 150px;
 width: 200px;
 display: block;
 z-index: 10;
 background: url('img/logo.png') no-repeat center top;
}
a.link:hover{
 background-position: center -150px;
}
.slides{
 z-index:0;
 visibility:hidden;
}
.slides.active{
 visibility:visible;
}
The jQuery On the jQuery side, we want to accomplish two tasks: Tie the jQuery Cycle Plugin to our list of images, turning them into a slideshow. Swap between pause and play states when the slideshow is hovered over. This means the slideshow is hidden and paused when the mouse is not over it.
<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery(function($){

 // Cycle plugin
 $('.slides').cycle({
     fx:     'none',
     speed:   1,
     timeout: 70
 }).cycle("pause");

 // Pause & play on hover
 $('.slideshow-block').hover(function(){
  $(this).find('.slides').addClass('active').cycle('resume');
 }, function(){
  $(this).find('.slides').removeClass('active').cycle('pause');
 });

});
</script>

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

International PHP Conference 2012

The International PHP Conference is a globally recognized event for PHP developers, webworkers, IT managers and everyone interested in web-technology.


This year it is scheduled from 14th - 17th October 2012





Once again the conference will explore key topics and core technologies for developers and decision makers. We will show you how to scale your applications, explain the details of Continuous Integration or evaluate different approaches to NoSQL. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with speakers, core developers and consultants, and there are often opportunities to evaluate your code.

http://phpconference.com/2012/timetable




Monday, September 10, 2012

Prevent Suicide - World Suicide Prevention Day

Suicide is the process of purposely ending one's own life. The way societies view suicide varies widely according to culture and religion. For example, many Western cultures, as well as mainstream Judaism, Islam, and Christianity tend to view killing oneself as quite negative. One myth about suicide that may be the result of this view is considering suicide to always be the result of a mental illness. Some societies also treat a suicide attempt as if it were a crime.

The effects of suicidal behavior or completed suicide on friends and family members are often devastating. Individuals who lose a loved one to suicide (suicide survivors) are more at risk for becoming preoccupied with the reason for the suicide while wanting to deny or hide the cause of death, wondering if they could have prevented it, feeling blamed for the problems that preceded the suicide, feeling rejected by their loved one, and stigmatized by others. Survivors may experience a great range of conflicting emotions about the deceased, feeling everything from intense emotional pain and sadness about the loss, helpless to prevent it, longing for the person they lost, and anger at the deceased for taking their own life to relief if the suicide took place after years of physical or mental illness in their loved one.

The official World Suicide Prevention Day Facebook event page opens your eyes to a tragedy worse than death. On this page are daughters and sons, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, locked in the cellar of sorrow, recalling how they lost their loved ones to suicide.

Millions across the globe will join them on Monday to light candles by their windows (at 8 p.m.) to emphasise that life is not meant to be thrown away and that suicide is preventable.

Maithri, a voluntary agency working to prevent suicides, will be instrumental in Kochi joining the worldwide commune of volunteers, health experts and others in renewing the city’s pledge to protect life.

Maithri, which operates a helpline (0484-2540530 and 8606222666) all days of the week between 10 a. m. and 7 p. m., is organising a day-long programme. A kite-flying session on Marine Drive at 5 p.m. will be the highlight of the day.

Young Indians are more likely to commit suicide than previously thought, especially those living in wealthier and more educated regions, according to a study on Friday that experts say suggests India's rapid development is driving many youths to despair.

Opportunities that have come with two decades of economic boom and open markets have also brought more job anxiety, higher expectations and more pressure to achieve, mental health experts said.

India has some of the world's highest suicide rates, with many believing the biggest risk group to be rural farmers facing debt after poor harvests.

The WHO reports about 1 million suicides a year, which would be a rate of about 14 per 100,000 in a global population of 7 billion. By comparison, the U.S. had 37,790 suicides in 2010, or a rate of 12.2 per 100,000, while India's rate under the Lancet's projected suicide tally of 187,000 would be near 16 - far higher than earlier reports and estimates of around 10.

In UK the government has promised to put £1.5m into research exploring how to prevent suicides among those most at risk of taking their own lives.

The pledge comes as ministers unveiled a suicide prevention strategy that aims to cut the suicide rate and provide more support to bereaved families

Funding will be used to look at how the number of suicides can be reduced among people with a history of self-harm.

Researchers will also focus on cutting suicides among children and young people and exploring how and why suicidal people use the internet.

Some interesting facts about Charlie Chaplin


  • Never won an Academy Award in an acting category, only in the capacity of a composer.

  • Composed about 500 melodies including “Smile” and “This Is My Song”.

  • Was a good friend of Winston Spencer Churchill.

  • Had a total of 11 children from four wives.

  • Was 73 years old when his youngest son, Christopher, was born.

  • Authored two autobiographical books, “My Autobiography” in 1964 and its companion volume, “My Life in Pictures” in 1974.

  • His trademark character `The Tramp’ appeared in about 70 movies, shorts and features, during a period of 26 years.

  • Loved to play tennis, but described golf as “a game I can’t stand”.

  • His film, The Great Dictator (1940), was banned in Germany.

  • In 1978 his dead body was stolen from the cemetery where he was buried. The body was recovered after 3 months and then re-buried in a vault surrounded by cement.

Who is Anna Hazare

Kisan Baburao Hazare born on 15 June 1937), popularly known as Anna Hazare is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish official corruption. In addition to organizing and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.

He once contemplated suicide and even wrote a two-page essay on why he wanted to end his life. Anna Hazare was not driven to such a pass by circumstances. He wanted to live no more because he was frustrated with life and wanted an answer to the purpose of human existence.

The story goes that one day at the New Delhi Railway Station, he chanced upon a book on Swami Vivekananda. Drawn by Vivekananda's photograph, he is quoted as saying that he read the book and found his answer - that the motive of his life lay in service to his fellow humans.

Today, Anna Hazare is the face of India's fight against corruption. He has taken that fight to the corridors of power and challenged the government at the highest level. People, the common man and well-known personalities alike, are supporting him in the hundreds swelling to the thousands.




Anna Hazare started an indefinite hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nation-wide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.




For the year 2011 Foreign Policy magazine named him among top 100 global thinkers. Also in 2011 Anna was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper.He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning. On August 2, 2012 Anna Hazare has indicated that he may think of forming a political alternative.




Saturday, September 08, 2012

வாழையிலை..!





1. வாழை இலையில் சாப்பிடுவதால் இளநரை வராமல், நீண்ட நாட்களுக்கு முடி கருப்பாக இருக்கும்.

2. தீக்காயம் ஏற்பட்டவர்கள் வாழை இலை மீது தான் படுக்க வைக்க வேண்டும் அப்பொழுதுதான் சூட்டின் தாக்கம் குறையும்.

3. சாப்பாடு வாழை இலையில் பேக்கிங் செய்தால் சாப்பாடு கெடாமலும், மனமாகவும் இருக்கும்.

4. பச்சிளம் குழந்தைகளை உடலுக்கு நல்லெண்ணெய் பூசி வாழை இலையில் கிடத்தி காலை சூரிய ஒளியில் படுக்க வைத்தால் சூரிய ஒளியில் இருந்து பெறப்படும் விட்டமின் டி யையும் இலையில் இருந்து பெறப்படும் குளுமையும் குழந்தைகளை சரும நோயில் இருந்து பாதுகாக்கும்.

5. காயம், தோல் புண்களுக்கு தேங்காய் எண்ணெய்யை துணியில் நனைத்து புண்மேல் தடவு வாழை இலையை மேலே கட்டு மாதிரி கட்டி வந்தால் புண் குணமாகும்.

6. சின்ன அம்மை, படுக்கைப் புண்ணுக்கு வாழை இலையில் தேன் தடவி தினமும் சில மணி நேரம் படுக்க வைத்தால் விரைவில் குணமாகும்.

7. சோரியாசிஸ், தோல் அழற்சி, கொப்பளங்கள் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட இடத்தில் வாழை இலையை கட்டி வைக்க வேண்டும்.

தலை வாழை இலை என்றதும் அனைவருக்கும் ஞாபகம் வருவது விருந்து தான் அதுவும் எங்க கொங்கு மண்ணில் தலை வாழை இலையுடன் தான் விருந்தே நடக்கும். அது சைவ உணவாக இருந்தாலும் அசைவ உணவாக இருந்தாலும் இலையில் தான் நிச்சயம் இருக்கும். நான் வார இறுதிநாட்களில் எங்க ஊரில் தான் இருப்பேன். ஊரில் இருக்கும் நாட்களில் மதிய உணவு நிச்சயம் தலை வாழை இலையில் தான் இருக்கும். இன்றைய வேகமான முன்னேற்றத்தில் வாழை இலை மறைந்து கொண்டு இருக்கின்றது அதுவும் நகர் புறங்களில் தட்டு அல்லது பாலீதின் பேப்பரில் தான் இங்கு இருக்கும் ஓட்டல்களில் உணவு கிடைக்கிறது. இது காலமாற்றத்தினால் ஏற்பட்ட மாற்றம் நகர்புறத்தில் இருப்பவர்கள் சாப்பிட்டுத்தான் ஆகவேண்டும். ஆனால் நம்மில் பலர் தனது சொந்த கிராமத்திற்கு விடுமுறை நாட்களில் செல்லும் போது தட்டிலேயே வாடிக்கையாக உணவு அருந்துகின்றனர், அதை மாற்ற முயற்ச்சிக்கலாம். இலையில் சாப்பிடும்போது ஏற்படும் நன்மைகளை அறியும் போது ஏன் நம் முன்னோர்கள் இலையில் சாப்பிட்டார்கள் என நமக்கு தெரியவரும்.







நம் முன்னோர்களின் வாழ்க்கை முறையில் எத்தனை சிறப்பு அம்சங்கள் அவர்கள் வகுத்துள்ள முறைப்படி நாம் உணவு உண்டு வேலை செய்தாலே நிச்சயம் நோயின்றி வாழலாம் அதற்கு வாழை இலையில் சாப்பிடுவதும் ஓர் உதாரணமே.

வாழைமரத்தில் குருத்தை கொஞ்சம் கிளரி விட்டு (வாழை நீர் தேங்குமளவுக்கு) சீரகம் கொஞ்சம் போட்டு சின்ன வாழை இலையால் கிளறிய பகுதியை மூடி வைத்து அதில் ஊறும் நீரை பருகினால் பேதி, வயிற்று வலி போன்றவை நீங்கும்.
 

Friday, September 07, 2012

Wordstream

How Google Sponsored Listing Ads are Crouding out the Google Search Results Page
© WordStream, a Google Keyword Tool, and Google AdWords Software Provider.

SEO is dead

SEO is dead as we know it. The old math of increased backlinks and stuffing keywords is now a target for Google to identify your site and bury it in the search results. SEO is no longer a math problem, it’s a human one. Social indicators are becoming key to ranking and link algorithms are being retired. It’s time for you to see the truth about SEO… and adjust accordingly.

Of course we utilized a nice baity title to attract some attention, but it’s time that someone stood up and said it. Traditional SEO is no longer a viable solution for businesses to invest in. Sure – people still utilize search engines… and we still ensure our customers are on solid, fast platforms that presents their content properly for indexing. But we’re no longer using the old methodologies of trying to figure out how to squeeze in keywords or to get backlinks by any means necessary.

A true, new SEO package incorporates conversion analysis to determine keywords, writing compelling content, making it easy for readers to share that content, employing public relations connections to find opportunities to share that content, and promoting the heck out of that content.




Lets jump on the inbound marketing wagon and read about the claims that your SEO guy is making that are irrelevant and don't net you sales.

"First page of Google. 90 Days. Guaranteed."

You've seen ads like this, right?

"Putting clorox in your mouth will whiten your teeth."

If you told someone to do that, they'd laugh at you. When someone tells you they're going to get you to "page one" - you should laugh.

Lazy SEO firms are circulating poisonous stuff. Just because someone offers you a quick fix doesn't mean it's a good long term solution.

What you should be asking is, "Okay. So, I'm on page 1. Then what?"

Your lazy SEO guy wouldn't know what to say to that... Because he doesn't want to put great content out there for you, it takes too long. Yet if you go on any SEO company's website - they've got TONS of content and a blog on it.

What's good enough for the goose? Apparently not good enough for you.

Stature doesn't sell people. Words do. Relationships do. Reputations do.

So, what do we do? We write. A lot. We're really good at it. Our writers use their analytical nature to assess who your clients are, what they're looking for and how you can help them.

Then we reverse it. We write an article or blog that solves a problem that your ideal prospect is looking to solve. We do some keyword research and plug keywords at the right frequency so it still reads smoothly and not spammy and ridiculous.

Then we go to your social networks - and we post that article to appear in the feed of your followers. Provided you've gained your followers correctly, these people have an interest in what you do, but aren't sure yet what you can do for them. The more articles and blogs you post - the more likely you are to touch on your prospective client's problem.

It doesn't stop there. We search for relevant blogs, questions in forums and industry websites - where all those other prospects are hiding and sifting through advice about their problems. The problems you're solving.

Then - they convert. Maybe not immediately. Maybe they fill out a form on your site where you've offered a whitepaper (We put that landing page and form in place. We also wrote the whitepaper). Then you have their information, but you don't just call them. You send them targeted e-mails. About their interests, because, remember? They downloaded that whitepaper.

The process is cumbersome. It's not immediate. You won't get conversions overnight. There's a lot of painstaking research, writing and promotion of content that goes on before you really start to reel in the leads. But when you get them, they're qualified.

It's no SEO. It's not about the search engines. It's about people marketing. People absorbing information and expertise and making educated decisions. They do it every day. They want to do it with your services, you're just not where they are - so they don't know you exist.

Just like you don't fall for gimmicks and get rich quick schemes - you shouldn't fall for SEO tactics. But if you're game for some hard work, the way you built your small business in the first place, the way the sales cycle is supposed to be... If you want to get qualified leads, if you really want to be rewarded by your marketing efforts... consider marketing to people, and not to search engines.

It's hard. Finding the budget. Finding the time. But you can do it if you're willing to committ to the mission and the process.