Yet another social networking web-site to invade our lives - Twitter!
What began with Orkut, Hi5, myspace and reached a dizzying frenzy with facebook, has now seen the emergence of multiple social networking sites. So powerful is the force of online networking that it prompted companies to begin specialized networking sites, focussing on professional and technological (and god knows what else!) interests.
So what's so special about twitter? It offers nothing new, in fact, in terms of functionality, it is clearly akin to the ubiquitous "status" update feature on facebook. No special applications, no photo-albums, no info page! All it has is a little text box which can cram a maximum of 140 characters and a question on top which reads "What are you doing?"! I mean what was the big idea about dedicating an entire site to status updates!!!
But after using the micro-blogging site, quite fervently, I have done a 180! Twitter is absolutely wonderful! I am addicted, hooked and completely enamoured by this latest web offering! I also have an application, Tweets60! for my symbian phone. I keep updating my status, even post my thoughts and generally shout out my comments on what ever grabs my attention (hmmm does this mean my blog's gonna get jealous of twitter!). But seriously, I can't help myself as i keep refreshing my mobile device's twitter application seeking out new tweets to retweet and tweet some of my own! Now I am a complete twitter-critter!
Twitter, although not brand new, is relatively fresh for Indian audiences (I say this coz most of my facebook friends are not using twitter yet!). But am sure after a certain minister's faux pas, the nation witnessed a flurry of desis twittering away!
However it's sure to pick up and is also poised to give competition to the current hot social-networking site, facebook. Although primarily designed to post simple updates, thoughts, comments, twitter also offers, albeit through third-party applications, options to upload pics, songs and videos. There are plenty of apps that can empower your twitter presence, (some even as inane as finding out if the International Space Station is above your city!).
Whether or not twitter becomes the next facebook or has an app list to put the itunes app store to shame, this bloke is happy to be part of the twitterati!
PS: You can follow my tweets @ http://twitter.com/Aaragorn1984
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Statue of Poverty!
The world has been reeling under severe economic depression for the past few months. Our nation has also felt the gloom and experienced several financial setbacks. To make matters worse, the delayed monsoon has further complicated the plight of our agrarian economy. The state of Maharsahtra, the worst hit due to the irregular monsoons, apart from many other issues is also insanely cash strapped. So what is the solution for the drought hit Maratha-land? According to the state's ingenious government, a Rs. 350 crore (3.5 billion).
The statue, an election promise by the congress-NCP alliance, way back in 2004, will be green-lit pretty soon as the state has already sanctioned the funding for the same and only awaits a nod from the environmental lobby. The reason for undertaking this project? A tribute to the greatest Maratha, who shaped the destiny of this state. Having studied about this Maratha legend in school, I am well aware of his valor, brilliance and sacrifice. There is no doubt that his contribution commands greater respect than many others and so rightly deserves some form of momument dedicated in his memory. However, a gigantic statue in the middle of the sea is not what I would deem appropriate.
At a time when agriculture is taking a severe beating due to seasonal and geo-political reasons, this project seems frivolous. The previous year, the nation was shocked to learn about the suicides of hundreds of debt-ridden farmers from our state. Perhaps the funding allotted to this "prestigious" project could find its way into the houses of the families of these sons of the soil. The money could be used to pay-off the financial institutions and give the other agri-men a fresh start.
There is a parallel argument being made by proponents of the statue that the cost of the statue is a fraction of the cost which was borne for the recent MSRDC mega-project, the Bandra-Wroli Sea-Link. Although they hold some merit in their line of thought, comparing the sea-link to the statue is akin to comparing apples and oranges! the sea-link, albeit without the high toll, is a great addition to the heavily clogged asphalt arteries of the metropolis.
One could argue that the proposed 371 ft. monument (the statue of Liberty in New York towers at a mere 305 ft.!) could serve as a major tourist destination and rake in some serious phoren and desi moolah. Hmmm...somehow, I don't see a tourist from Denver, Colorado (or for that matter from Vikhroli, Mumbai) travelling all the way to Mumbai, struggling through the city's ill- maintained roads, making his way through a crowded Virar local, walking amidst piles of open garbage, dealing with incourteous authorities to come and take a fleeting glance at a statue.
Now I'm no economist, but as an employed bloke, I know simple household budgeting and money management 101 clearly states that when you are broke, you don't squander on lavish purchases. Considering the cost that would be borne for a monument of this magnitude and the alternate outlets for the money, the state government should seriously rethink their "patriotic" decision.
The statue, an election promise by the congress-NCP alliance, way back in 2004, will be green-lit pretty soon as the state has already sanctioned the funding for the same and only awaits a nod from the environmental lobby. The reason for undertaking this project? A tribute to the greatest Maratha, who shaped the destiny of this state. Having studied about this Maratha legend in school, I am well aware of his valor, brilliance and sacrifice. There is no doubt that his contribution commands greater respect than many others and so rightly deserves some form of momument dedicated in his memory. However, a gigantic statue in the middle of the sea is not what I would deem appropriate.
At a time when agriculture is taking a severe beating due to seasonal and geo-political reasons, this project seems frivolous. The previous year, the nation was shocked to learn about the suicides of hundreds of debt-ridden farmers from our state. Perhaps the funding allotted to this "prestigious" project could find its way into the houses of the families of these sons of the soil. The money could be used to pay-off the financial institutions and give the other agri-men a fresh start.
There is a parallel argument being made by proponents of the statue that the cost of the statue is a fraction of the cost which was borne for the recent MSRDC mega-project, the Bandra-Wroli Sea-Link. Although they hold some merit in their line of thought, comparing the sea-link to the statue is akin to comparing apples and oranges! the sea-link, albeit without the high toll, is a great addition to the heavily clogged asphalt arteries of the metropolis.
One could argue that the proposed 371 ft. monument (the statue of Liberty in New York towers at a mere 305 ft.!) could serve as a major tourist destination and rake in some serious phoren and desi moolah. Hmmm...somehow, I don't see a tourist from Denver, Colorado (or for that matter from Vikhroli, Mumbai) travelling all the way to Mumbai, struggling through the city's ill- maintained roads, making his way through a crowded Virar local, walking amidst piles of open garbage, dealing with incourteous authorities to come and take a fleeting glance at a statue.
Now I'm no economist, but as an employed bloke, I know simple household budgeting and money management 101 clearly states that when you are broke, you don't squander on lavish purchases. Considering the cost that would be borne for a monument of this magnitude and the alternate outlets for the money, the state government should seriously rethink their "patriotic" decision.
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