Web Wings

2012 - The Plus Year

2012-01-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

Google started rolling Social Search in 2009 and today they introduced Search, plus Your World - 2012 is going to be different! Let's see how the industry adjusts with the changes.

I will not be surprised if Google starts showing completely different public web results to different people; let's see what they have in store in 2012!

BTW, watch this video - not only to understand the Search, plus Your World concept but for this video is so awesome!!

Remembering the old days

2011-11-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

Shubho Deepaboli

2011-10-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Listen to the song by Debabrata Biswas on In.com

Maturity

2011-10-17T13:46:00.001-07:00

By the time you become mature, you have already taken some wrong decisions. Learn from your mistakes and make your future more fulfilling!

My mind speaks

2011-10-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

I cannot do the work that I do not believe to be good; when my heart does not give me the signal to do something, I cannot do this - be it at work or home.

Is this my strength or weakness?

Tagore and Trinamool

2011-08-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

(Click on the image to see what is being done with Tagore)

Would I laugh? Do I need to write anything here? Let the silence speak...

No Examination till Class VIII in Bengal - Justified?

2011-07-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

Species facing the danger of extinction in West Bengal – Intellectual and Educated Bengalis.

No Examination till Class VIII
Compulsory Spoken English Test of 50 marks from Class I
(Not sure when there is no pass-fail concept, what is the point in introducing a compulsory test)

Source: MSN

My Questions:

Are we going to get more street smart idiots?
Are we going to get more unemployed educated persons?
Is it a way to increase literacy in the state and to show off 'We have so many Class VIII passed people'?

Students of West Bengal who used to study in Bengalee Medium Govt. schools used to enjoy one advantage – the syllabus, the robust in detailed courseware. When other boards introduced short-question oriented examination styles and books, student of West Bengal board had to go through robust books that helped them gain in-depth knowledge of the subjects.

And that is a reason being not-so-good in spoken English (which is not true always) they are still doing well in different spheres of life. Of course spoken English course would help them do better in life. But no examination to reduce the burden from students? Doesn’t it sound funny? These students will be able to speak in English, but will not have the desired knowledge. What a society waiting for us!

For the sake of debate: Rabindranath Tagore did not go to school! Now, Rabindranath Tagore – it might not be right to think that millions of Bengali students would have that level of talent.

Examination brings in a kind of discipline in student life; there are many other ways of reducing burdens from those little shoulders – such as: introducing interactive classes, more project work, practical classes from primary section. I am sure educationalists can recommend many other ways so that children are not afraid of exam.

Not sure, if this is going to be another historical blunder where people of West Bengal are the guinea pigs.

Scottish Church Collegiate School suffocates the city to celebrate their Foundation Day

2011-07-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

It may be a big day for them, but not for thousands of people in Kolkata. Without hurting anyone’s sentiment I strongly oppose the way Scottish Church Collegiate School celebrated their foundation day today.

There was a big rally escorted by Kolkata Police. I met the rally near Manicktala crossing – traffic became standstill and all the office-goers and others were FORCED to watch the school students walking with blue balloons in their hands.

Organizing such a rally in the middle of the week and during office hours is an IRRESPONSIBLE act on their part – my personal view. Since Kolkata Police escorted the rally, it seems they took police permission; I wonder why Kolkata Police gave them permission to arrange such a thing on Wednesday Morning around 9 AM?

A Case Study

Think about the Fashion Designer who reached office late today; tomorrow there might be a Taxi and Bus strike in West Bengal – hence, she might have to sacrifice a day’s salary at the end of the month? Who will take the responsibility? Kolkata Police or the School Authority?

Most Important Part:

Why I said ‘It may be a big day for them’? The students walking in the rally were looking very reluctant. Few were fighting with each other and rests of the students were playing with balloons. Junior students looked sincere comparatively.

Rallies on special days – August 15 or 25she Boishakh are still acceptable because people mentally prepare themselves for these things and get out of home with enough time in hand in case they have an emergency. But the kind of celebration Scottish Church Collegiate School did today is just UNACCEPTABLE.

Keyword SEO Made Easy

2011-02-04T00:37:00.000-08:00

Perhaps this video was created to market the software, Market Samurai yet it has the right educational approach. So sharing it with you :)

down with fear

2011-01-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

it started suddenly; as the sun set and darkness began to come down from sky, i started feeling lonely, depressed, scared and helpless. there was nobody around, it was painful and so scary. it seemed as if i am losing somebody whom i love, something that i want, as if i am leaving a city with lots of work undone...

then went for a walk with a friend, took a puff and few more, and then the sudden rain....feeling much better now :)

my friend told me that such depressions are the best time to do something creative...such as painting, writing, or anything else...and i started writing again....this time i am writing for myself and only for myself :)

Happy New Year to Mee!

2011-01-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

Today is the New Year Day for me. On 1st January I could not feel the pulse of the new year...I was in office for the entire day and worked around 8 hours with a friend.

But now I can feel, somehow, that tomorrow’s sun is going to bring in some changes in me. I will not do many things, a lot of things, from tomorrow…something that I really do not want to do or I should not do.

And I am determined; will not repeat the mistakes again. Let me do justice with myself in the year ahead. Happy New Year!

Onyo Durga (The Other Durga)

2010-10-12T00:23:00.000-07:00

Don't they have all the rights to celebrate?
Image Courtesy: parent24.com, meribaat.wordpress.com

Durga Thakur - Clipping from Joy Baba Phelunath

2010-10-11T22:41:00.001-07:00

Pujo Ads - New and Old

2010-10-10T23:22:00.001-07:00

Shalimar Pujo TVC 2010

Shalimar - Old Ad

Titan Pujo Ad

Wild Stone

Thums Up

Peter England

Margo

Why I love Blogging

2010-10-02T02:03:00.000-07:00

The informal approach is what I love most about the blogs. The best thing about blogs, they just keep going - however, I know that I need to be consistent with writing - more frequent and regular write-ups would make this blog more attractive and will appease my hunger for knowledge...let's see...

Gays are not perverts

2010-10-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

And writers are not robots. But most people with typical and century-old SEO orientation believe that a writer can write 4000 words a day. They believe that a writer can come up with striking and impactful 100 articles using same set of keywords.Sick.

They also believe that a writer can write on any topic; otherwise how can they ask to make use of key phrases which are grammatically wrong? Pain.

Such people (read client) just create more online garbage and do not add any value at all. They belong to the 4th group of 4P - lol!

By the way, I am planning to approach Suhel Seth with this issue; will keep you all updated on what he says.

4P - 4 Types of PEOPLE you will meet in Life

2010-10-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Type 1 - They know that they know

Type 2 - They do not know that they know

Type 3 - They know that they do not know

Type 4 - They do not know that they do not know (DANGEROUS)

U.S Tax Regulations and Indian Freelance Content Writers

2010-10-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

Freelance content writers from India and other Asian countries are losing ground to U.S. writers just because they are not from U.S. Even when they write good English they cannot get project. Due to the U.S tax regulation many American companies are not working with non U.S freelancers.

For example, an Indian freelancer cannot join Text Broker as the company is strictly following the tax regulation.

Now the question is: who are losing to whom?

Commitment comes from LOVE

2010-10-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

People have again started asking me why I am not moving this blog to a custom domain. I refused; I will stick to my plan to stay with blogger.com. I simply LOVE the typical blog-like ambiance that I get with blogger.com. So I will not shift to anywhere!

I understand that a hosted blog is like having own house and a free blog like this one is like staying in a rented apartment! The land lord can mark you as spam, ban your account and do many other things. But still, I will not shift to anywhere!

I understand that with a free blog I cannot do a lot of things; I have no access to the server, I need to depend on blogger.com for a lot of things. But still, I will not shift to anywhere!

It's my LOVE for blogger.com that has made me committed to it :)

Somewhere Someday We Will Reunite

2010-09-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Saikat with Mummee (Grandma)

6 months over, I am living without you. Tough for me. I believe in re-birth and I am sure somewhere, someday we will reunite.

I will tell you all the episodes of your favorite TV serials that you missed...how little Anandi of Balika Vadhu transformed and how the new Jagadish look like :)

Have a LOT of thing to share with you, Mummee...

Ikir Mikir - Flash Game Portal Launched

2010-08-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's good to see Ikir Mikir, the website of flash games going live. Lots of work to do with the site! Stay tuned.

Why I never wanted to be in Service Industry - SEO

2010-07-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

Reasons are many:

- It is difficult to work with clients who have just NO IDEA about SEO but they think that they know a lot. Since they believe that they know a lot, they are not ready to listen to your advice. And they find mistakes in whatever you do.

- When you are offering SEO Service to hundreds of clients, it is difficult to be imaginative and sometimes impossible to offer high-end work. For a startup it is a big challenge.

- Even when you make it clear to your clients that you will be reporting monthly they call you everyday to know when they are going to get leads.

- Even when you can foresee huge opportunity with a website, you have to follow what your client believes best for the site.

- Then you will start developing your own website based on the concepts you like, and suddenly feel that you are actually not working on your ideas because some urgent work has popped up from your clients’ side and the entire team, including you, has got busy with that. This will repeat again and again.

- You will have a tough time when it comes to build up a good SEO team, especially if you are in Kolkata. If you hire freshers, train them and build a team the smart guys will leave to start their own company; others will be caught doing freelancing during office hours.

- You will want to give more time to your clients’ projects, so that you can do something really good for them. Sometimes you will come up with EXCELLENT ideas; but you will not get time to implement the same as you will be busy with business development, client handling, corporate communication, billing, recruitment and all.

You must be thinking how bad a person I am – only negative words about the industry! What will one do with their SEO knowledge then? There are 2 options:

If you understand SEO and other online marketing strategies and want to do creative work, find a job where you have to work for a specific product or brand. Yes, I am taking about in-house job.

If you believe that thousands of SEO companies are there, what is the use to be another face in the crowd – then do something different!

Think of some revenue generating models that can work online.
Build the resource and promote it online.
You can start an online media house with various online channels which are active.
You can earn money from blogs.
Start an affiliate website.
Start a lead generation website.
Create a website, make it popular and then sell it off.

However, few things are required to be successful in this business model:

Initial investment so that you can survive as a startup; if you start offering service to cover your back, just remember, it may be a vicious loop for you.
A good team (friends preferred).
Dedication and motivation.
Ideas!

Disclaimer: My opinion; written from a startup’s perspective, sorry if it hurts you.

Google moving towards Artificial Intelligence

2010-04-30T05:52:00.000-07:00

This post is about an observation. Searched for mini netbook today and see what Google did. The screenshot says it all:

Web Security - are you protected on Web?

2010-04-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

Identity theft, hacking, phishing, online theft - all such incidents make us nervous! We think that installing an antivirus is all what we need. But is that true? Can an antivirus software give us 100% protection?

What about those who have a website that deals with sensitive customer data? How do you assure your online clients that their information will not get hacked through your end!

Aji Issac, an entrepreneur and a member of WebMasterWorld Forum, will be visiting a top notch Web Security and Penetration Testing Company to ask such questions. If you have web security questions to ask, please comment here, send me email or contact Aji directly.

Volcano Traffic Control - If you were the pilot

2010-04-23T01:25:00.000-07:00

I am a nervous kind of person; I get puzzled even while crossing roads. I cannot even imagine flying airplanes in my wildest dream – and NOT during Volcanic eruption!

But what if it is a virtual ride? Hmm, I may like to tie the seat belt, put on the mask and kick start. I am talking about the browser game Volcano Traffic Control by Games2Win :)

Image Courtesy: Games2Win.com

While playing the game, I remembered how the Bush Shoe Throw Games spread over the web virally in 2008. Even we got domains like http://www.ThrowAShoeAtBush.com/

Image Courtesy: technomoz.com

During IPL we got some cricket games online keeping IPL in mind.

Image Courtesy: Games2Win.com

It seems the gaming world revolves around the latest happenings. So, what’s the topic of the next game? Sania Weds Shoaib? LOL.

Wright vs. Rong - Heights of Typing Error

2010-03-31T23:50:00.000-07:00

Rong: Hi Pee, how are you?
Wright: Hi Pete, how are you?

Rong: How to design a full sleeve shit?
Wright: How to design a full sleeve shirt?
(Courtesy: Roy)

Rong: Lick the image displayed at the bottom of the page.
Wright: Link the image displayed at the bottom of the page.

Rong: We will do it to get her.
Wright: We will do it together.
(Courtesy: Anirban Sen)

Rong: Please come for a sex.
Wright: Please come for a sec.
(Courtesy: Anonymous)

Rong: Let's take a small step towards paining kolkata green.
Wright: Let's take a small step towards painting kolkata green.
(Courtesy: _anamus)
... and when _anamus was told about the typo, she wrote "That's a mojor typo."
(Since the typo is not making a funny sense, not including it in the Rong-Wright series.)

By the time I post more Rongs and Wrights, why don't you share your Oops moments?

Kolkata Twestival 2010 and Ong BONG Chong

2010-03-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

The Sanskrit mantras delivered by the priests during pujas most of the time sound like Ong BONG Chong; the reason can be either the priest cannot pronounce properly or the understanding level of general people is very low or both (the third option seems most sensible).

We had Greatbong in the Twestival Kolkata 2010 as the chief speaker and he speaks as good as he writes I must say. However, as I had lots of things to do here and there, could not concentrate much on what he was saying. Parts of his Speech that I managed to listen to were like this:

1] Greatbong suggests to have a blog on something you know and like - good point indeed.

2] Greatbong believes that most of the tweeters who have huge followers are successful in some fields - either they are celebrities, politicians, writers or bloggers. Twitter does not bring you fame, but, once you are famous, you can become popular on twitter too - point to be noted, I never thought this way.

3] The topic comes in his mind first, then he writes. Hence, writing a blog post does not take more than 30 minutes for him - justified, he writes on what he knows.

There was a question-answer session with the audience, he must have covered many other good points that I missed :( Let's see if somebody can help with a video.

The Greatbong part of Twestival Kolkata was something that I enjoyed. The presentation by Twitsnaps team was impressive and the speech by SOS Village was good (the paintings of SOS village children deserve a special mention).

Rest of the event was somehow Ong BONG Chong. A lot of people left the venue when the Band was performing. Overheard the comment made by an attendee while leaving the venue when the Band was on stage - "Ei hobe janle ashtam na" (I would not have come had I knew such thing was on schedule). It hurts; the good memories of Kolkata Bloggers Meet 2009 are still fresh in mind!

Got to see some old friends - that was the best thing in this festival. Returned home sleepy; special thanks to Samiran for helping me get back my cell phone charger.

And my apologies to the employees of Natya Bhavan for extending the event so long; they commuute huge distance every day and it becomes difficult for them to return home if a show ends late in night. They requested us to close it latest by 8:15 PM which did not happen.

How to Start a Bangla Band?

2010-03-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

Are you one of those who nurture the dream of being associated with a Bangla Band? Here are some easy tips that will help you make your dream comes true:

1. Look for some friends who have ponytail.

2. The lead singer must be able to shout loud so that it seems like screaming badly in pain.

3. It's not essential to know Bangla (Bengali language) properly, but you must know English - that's very important when it comes to start a Bangla Band.

4. All the members must have a passion for torn and dirty-looking jeans.

5. All the members must have a 'don't care' attitude.

And you are done. No matter whether you have a musical sense or not, the above-mentioned aspects make you eligible to start a Bangla Band.

Disclaimer: the intention is not to hurt anybody's sentiment; just wanted to share my own thoughts about the Bangla Band Culture.

Indian Cities Participating in Twestival - Follow them online

2010-03-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

Bangalore
Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/Twestivalbang
Hash tag: #twbang

Chennai
Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/Chntwestival
Hash tag: #chntwestival

Cochin
Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/cochintwestival
Hash tag: #cochintwestival

Delhi
Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/DelTwestival
Hash tag: #DelTwestival

Goa
Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/TwestivalGoa
Hash tag: #TwestivalGoa

Kolkata
Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/TwestivalKol
Hash tag: #twestivalkol

Mumbai
Twitter Channel: http://twitter.com/MumTwestival
Hash tag: #mumtwestival

Blogging is Bad? Who says?

2010-03-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

Blogging can reveal the writer in you (iff there is one inside)! Who says blogging is bad?

So, ladies and gentlemen: May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss – let me congratulate Greatbong Arnab Roy on the event of his first book release at Kolkata just before Kolkata Twestival!

Twestival Kolkata - March 25, 2010

2010-03-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

Twestival (Twitter Festival) is a worldwide event that is celebrated on March 25 every year. This year Kolkata is going to celebrate Twestival for the first time! Other Indian cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai or Delhi have been organizing Twestival for a couple of years now – finally Kolkata is going to join them!

Twestival Kolkata is all about bringing tweeters (twitter members) in Kolkata together with a generous aim to help the under privileged. Here are the details of the event:

Venue: Natya Bhavan, EE – 8, Sector II, Salt Lake, Kolkata - 91. (On the way from Karunamoyee towards Sector V, near Wipro Crossing, between the petrol pump and Jalpaiguri Bhavan)

Date: March 25, 2010 – Thursday

Time: 5:30 PM

Duration: 140 minutes

Chief speaker: Great Bong – an international figure, reputed blogger-turned-writer and Twitterati (we are lucky that he is in India now)

Main Items:

Painting Exhibition; Courtesy: SOS Village
Cultural Programme; Courtesy: SOS Village
Speech by Great Bong (More on him: http://greatbong.net/)
Slot for the Kolkata tweeters

This is a charity event. The fund raised will be spent for a noble cause. There will be one donation box so that people can contribute and extend a helping hand to those who need it.

On behalf of the WebReps.in and Kolkata Tweetup Team, I request you to spread the words about the event in all possible ways so that more and more people can come to know about this. Also, do drop in at the above mentioned venue on March 25 and be a part of this global event.

More on this from official Twetsival Kolkata website.

Where is Kolkata in Indian Blogosphere?

2010-03-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

Bloggers in Bangalore - 1783
Bloggers in Chennai - 1566
Bloggers in Mumbai - 1490
Bloggers in Delhi - 1404
Bloggers in Hyderabad - 821
Bloggers in Kolkata - 506

Image and Data courtesy: IndiBlogger.in

A friend finds out Celebs on Twitter

2010-03-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Dipanjan, a friend from school days, has just followed me on twitter. Good to see him tweeting; it will be easier for me to get in touch with him.

I am also happy to see the profiles he is following on twitter as of now :D

1. Rhithik Roshan http://twitter.com/iHrithik
2. Aparna Sen http://twitter.com/senaparna
3. Saikat Sengupta http://twitter.com/saikatblogger

@Dipanjan you are really great at finding out celebs on twitter. Good job buddy!

By the way - My IndiRank went UP

2010-03-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

The person sitting beside you

2010-03-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

...matters a lot. It is true that I love to travel alone. You may think that I want to travel fast and that's why I want to travel alone - NO. When I travel, whether it is coming home from Raniganj or simply commuting to my office, I get a chance to be with myself. If I find a familiar face in the bus, I generally feel bad because I have to talk to them and I have to sacrifice a golden opportunity to spending some quality time with myself.

But that did not happen today. One of my office colleagues was with me when I went to Jadavpur from Airport this evening. And surprisingly I revealed this softspoken and introvert person to be a great speaker! I am glad that he was with me; we discussed a lot of things and shared many ideas.

If the person sitting beside you can add some value to your thoughts, the journey becomes enjoyable. Same holds true for your professional life. The fact can be compared with an SEO company (@Amrita don't curse me for citing this example). A good SEO leader may not be able to deliver quality output if he is not working with a dedicated team. A talented writing team and a passionate marketing team are essential to make the projects successful. The person sitting beside you matters a lot!

Same is true for life. I need good people around me so that life becomes easier. I am really thankful to those who have made my life beautiful. The person sitting beside you matters A LOT!

Oxygen-like Elements

2010-03-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Went to Ronoda’s class (Rono Guhathakurta) today after almost 2 months. Missed a lot of great lessons, still felt good – as if I am back home after a long slot of indisciplined activities. He taught "E ki labonye purno praan" – what a coincidence! Will call Ruchiradi as early as possible and make it to her place this week only – can’t live without the swaras.

And while returning home from Dakshinee, I felt that I should write an article, a blog post or something as early as possible. Otherwise I am losing focus. My work does not involve extensive writing any more, but I cannot live without writing – seems I have to start writing regularly on this blog or on w3guru.

And I re-discovered the two things without which I cannot do: 1) Music and 2) Writing. Don't know why I repeat the mistakes of going away from these two oxygen-like elements of my life!

Know Who Are You - Test your Personality

2010-03-03T05:46:00.001-08:00

Find more free games online at games2win.com!

2010 – A Cold Start

2010-01-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

The masterminds who attended Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009 are awesome; I do not know exactly what they did, but the winter is colder this year.

Several parts of US and UK got record snow-fall; temperature remains below average in many countries including Germany, Russia, China, India and many other. Here is a PTI weather forecast for India’s mountain states.

Doesn’t it look like a natural thermostat? Melting glaciers, cyclones, tsunami and threats of sea level going up due to global warming – it seems THE SYSTEM is trying to adjust itself to maintain the balance.

However, this does not mean that we should use plastic bags more than before! We should take it as a lesson; it may not be too late yet. So take care of this planet; this is our home in this universe. Let’s make it greener. Happy living!

Jyoti Basu's Health Condition

2010-01-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Latest updates about the health condition of Jyoti Basu, veteran politician and ex-C.M of West Bengal. A lot of rumors are floating around. The saying "Basu critical on Google dead on Twitter" went popular overnight. Even I got misguided after reading an erroneous wikipedia update. Get the true and real news about him.

Is Jyoti Basu no more

2010-01-06T04:16:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia Jyoti Basu is no more. Look at the screenshot below:

Screenshot of wikipedia page

Update 1:

Wikipedia article has been modified - compare the versions: http://bit.ly/77GbHT

Update 2:
It is difficult to get the right information; here are some news articles:
Jyoti Basu Dies At 95 - http://bit.ly/4BMoVb
CPM Patriarch Jyoti Basu Reportedly Dead - http://bit.ly/8uc7Jt

Update 3:
According to the Medical Bulletin of 6 PM Basu's condition is better. http://bit.ly/8yPtDs

Not attending Bishnupur Utsav

2009-12-31T00:42:00.000-08:00

All music lovers are leaving for Bishnupur to celebrate the Bishnupur Utsav except me. But what to do, need to complete a lot of work and top of all my health is not in a good condition.

Anyways, here are the details of the event; if a single person goes to Bishnupur after reading this blog post I will feel happy and content.

Organized by: West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation

Venue: Bishnupur Jadubhatta Mancha

Artists: Pt Manas Chakraborty (vocal), Ustad Shahid Parvez (sitar), Samaresh Chowdhury (vocal), Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (sarode) and Santanu Bandyopadhyay (vocal) including Asit Roy and Bamapada Chakraborty (vocal), Shibpur Omkar (kathak) and Sharmila Ganguly (ballet) are scheduled to perform at Bishnupur Tourism Festival scheduled between 1st January (6 PM) to 3rd January (10 PM), 2010.

Pt. Manas Chakraborty

Bishnupur has a rich cultural history. Visit wikipedia to know more about the History, Art and Culture of Bishnupur.

Confession to Resolution

2009-12-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

Did not blog for more than one month. It is a crime; I know. But what to do? Lots of work to do; lots of new moves in life. I wish I will come up as a more frequent blogger in the new year – well that’s my resolution for 2010.

However, I am pretty active on twitter: to check what I am up to please visit my twitter profile. http://twitter.com/saikatblogger

One day @ the BCET Bloggers Workshop

2009-11-01T07:05:00.001-08:00

WebReps Team went to Durgapur to attend BCET Bloggers Workshop yesterday, i.e., October 31, 2009. It was a great day for me? Why?

1] I was eager to take a day off from work – and finally it happened.
2] I love long journey by car.
3] I love to spend time with friends, like-minded of course.
4] It was the second event of WebReps.
5] I haven’t heard of any Blogging Workshop in India earlier; so perhaps this is the FIRST Blogging Workshop in the country (Thanks Anirban for pointing this out). And BCET with WebReps made a history on October 31, 2009.
6] Popularizing blogging among students is what I want to do.
7] I was damn sure that Kamanashish would stop at Shaktigarh and you know the reason – we bought Langcha (an indigenous sweetmeat).

The workshop was delayed due to some reasons – some of the students had internal exams and there was some political tension as well. But when we finally entered the seminar hall, around 70 students were present there including those from nearby colleges.

Kamanashish started with the introductory presentation “Why Blog?” here is the list of sessions:

1] Why Blog – by Kamanashish Roy
2] Blog Setup – Technical aspects – by Prabhanjan Panigrahi
3] How to get more traffic? – by Kamanashish Roy
4] Sponsors Slot – SEO Training Presentation by Softz Solutions

---Half an hour break for lunch at the College Canteen---

5] Interaction with the students – their blogs, views and ideas
6] Social Media and Micro-blogging – by Arjun Ghosh
7] Make some Money dude – Blog Monetization – by Kamanashish Roy

All the sessions went very well – students participated whole-heartedly, they asked questions like pros, it seemed as if we were discussing with professional and expert bloggers! Even those who did not know what blogging was, picked it up amazingly fast.

And at the end of the workshop, I felt as if it was a day-long lesson for me – what I revealed was:

This generation has already started blogging. When we started, we followed western bloggers and probably we could not get out of the trend of blog monetization – but these boys and girls are more eager to get their voice heard – their own views on various political and social aspects, personal experiences, software, books, movies – these are the topics young bloggers like most!

And I was amazed to see how creative they were with their blog titles! A lot of young bloggers are interested in using Hindi, Bengali and Sanskrit terms in the blog titles – Unlike Web Wings and More Doubts – they use Abhibyakti, Lipi, Anuranan, Sa'matri'yoni (how brilliantly Sayoni inserted her name in the blog title Sa'matri'yoni), Arham, Dorpon and MANY MORE.

Like BCET bloggers, I am sure, most young bloggers will have the courage to break all the conventions and come up with their very own creative ideas. Hats off to BCET bloggers!

Happy Durga Puja

2009-09-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

Digital Janmashtami

2009-08-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

Janmashtami wishes are flowing on twitter this year. A lot of Indian tweeters are sending messages to friends and fellow tweeters on Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna.

Here is a live update about Janmashtami from twitter:

Wish a Happy Janmashtami to all :) Enjoy mithai and kheer unlimited.

Knock Knock – Follow Me

2009-08-13T22:36:00.001-07:00

Found an interesting, and impressive as well, twitter profile - the profile picture says it all :)

The picture is attractive, eye-catching and annoying to some extent – you can laugh at it or get disturbed, but cannot ignore it. And there lies the success of its creator, Nathaniel Johnson (socialnate).

Nandi Hills Blogger Meet to spread the awareness of Eye Donation

2009-08-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Bangalore bloggers are going to organise blogger's meet to spread the awareness of Eye Donation among the masses on August 30, 2009. Indiblogger.in has supported the event. Noble.

To create the buzz and to spread the awareness, they have planned a 'Blind Fold Ride' – bike riding with eyes closed. A piece of cloth is to be tied to the eyes of the riders while riding. 'Blind Fold Ride' is an art and a lot of practice is needed to perform this.

Visit Indiblogger.in blog to know more.

Somehow, I can relate the event with my Eye Blog idea. Wish I could attend the show on behalf of WebReps and promote the Eye Blogging idea there. Have 16 days in hand, not sure if we would be able to make it to the Nandi Hills Blogger Meet.

Cannot Find a Laptop - Please Help

2009-08-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

Asked 10 people which model should I buy and received 10 suggestions. Confused. A friend suggested Acer – though they do not have the brand value as other biggies in the market, but according to him Acer models are doing good.

My requirements are not hi-fi. A netbook or mini laptop could be good for me as I need to access internet on go mainly. But no netbook comes with optical drive :( except few from Toshiba I guess and they are too much expensive. If I had that much of money, I could buy Macbook.

Heard that Samsung is offering optical drive for free with its netbooks. Not sure about the performance of Samsung.

Any suggestion friends?

Twitter CEO's Wife

2009-08-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Suddenly noticed that "Twitter CEO's Wife" is appearing at the 2nd position on the trending topics list on twitter. Looked funny; came to know that Sara, twitter CEO's wife was tweeting while in labor.

According to some, it shows her dedication to family business :) Whereas; some find it idiotic. However, keep watching her tweets - the first tweeter baby is going to born afterall.

UPDATE:

And the baby is here: @sara gave birth to a perfect baby boy...8 pounds, 21 inches!

Congratulations @sara and @ev :)

IndiRank goes up: KBM Effect?

2009-08-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

Got an email from Indiblogger.in; IndiRank of "Web Wings" has been updated – it has jumped to 79 from 57. Happy.

Is it an after-effect of Kolkata Blogger’s Meet 2009 (KBM ’09)? I was amazed to see the mybloglog stats of "Web Wings". It never received such a huge traffic in its entire life as it got during KBM ’09. It has 11 followers as well.

Adding the new IndiRank logo in the side bar. Let’s see what else is waiting for me in the coming days.

Kolkata Blogger's Meet 2009 - Moments

2009-08-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

Courtesy: shimul

WebRepers - Who are they

2009-08-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Kamanashish, Anirudh, Shimul & Saikat (that's me)

Since, I used the term in my previous blog post, I should clarify it for your understanding. The word is self-explanatory. Members of WebReps are the WebRepers. Twitter account: http://twitter.com/webreps

Image courtesy: Anirban

Kolkata Blogger's Meet 2009 - Participation, Interaction, Support & Fun

2009-08-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

5 hours flew like 5 minutes - could not perceive when it started, how it went and when it was over. Returned home happy, relaxed and proud.

It was supposed to start at 5:00 pm but it did not as some honorable guests were yet to reach. Kamanashish officially announced the beginning of Kolkata Blogger's Meet 2009. Soham, the youngest blogger (going through teenage voice change) present in the show, inaugurated by cutting the cake.

... and then it went on with its own pace. A lot of bloggers participated in the Elevator Pitch event. 1 minute was scheduled for each blogger to describe their blogs, but hardly anybody finished their pitch in 1 minute :)

All the speakers, Abhishek Rungta of Indus Net Technologies, Aji Issac Mathew of SEO for Clients, Arun Agarwal of Ebizindia and Saptarshi Roy Chaudhury of SEO Kolkata were simply superb with their presentations. Vikas Kedia's teleconference was a bit dis-engaging but Aji did a great job to engage people once again.

If you ask me what I enjoyed most in the entire program, Aji's presentation would be my answer. He prepared a stat on the blogging habits of the Kolkatans, such as how frequent are they, how many bloggers monetize their blogs etc. He included some excerpts from various participating blogs in his presentation - this was awesome. You never know if Aji is going to speak about your blog or not, hence you have to listen to his full presentation - what an idea Sirji :).

In the Launch a Product event, FusionCharts team presented FusionCharts Google Gadget. Sanket and Saptarshi did a great job. Their style was unique - apart from the slides, they prepared some banners which were really good.

Mitesh Ashar, a fellow blogger and tweeter, presented his app - twit discuss. Though the app did not work at that time, but the concept was good. It helps you monitor conversations on twitter based on the hashtags.

The award distribution event was really fun-filled. Anirudh (a dear friend and a webreper) got the Best Idea award for suggesting India Internet Summit in Kolkata. The best Elevator Pitcher award went to Rahul Bharadwaj of FOURDY Wlog. Mr. Dev Anand (not the actor) of Bima World got the Best Marketer award.

Indus Net Technologies conducted a survey to test the blogging trends in Kolkata. The result of the survery will be published on their website. Though none of the ball pens supplied by them worked, yet Kolkata Bloggers filled up the survey form and returned back to the Help Desk. Indus Net also presented T-shirts and Tutorial DVD's to all the participants.

Without the support of Indus Net Technologies Kolkata Blogger's Meet 2009 was not possible. I should also mention about Tata Photon - they provided free internet connection during the event to all bloggers with laptops or netbooks.

Amit Kejriwal, Prabhanjan Panigrahi (though he could not make it, he lent his laptop and I used it during the event), Ranjan Upadhaya and Shyama Kant managed all technical stuffs. Anand Kedia was with us through out the event and Debleena handled the twitter account of webreps. Thanks for your support friends.

CCD guys, Naveen and his team, did a GREAT JOB indeed. From space management, sitting arrangement to food - they were good at all. Snacks, cold coffee, veg and non-veg sandwiches and the slices of chocolate cakes - ummm...delicious.

Trust me friends, CCD @ RDB Adlabs, Sector V, Salt Lake is the best hang out zone in Kolkata and a confirmed adda-place of webrepers as well.

All bloggers agreed on sharing the stage once again to have India Internet Summit in Kolkata. And Kolkata Blogger's Meet 2009 ended but left an ever-lasting effect on us.

Sorry guys, I was so busy with other things that could not even took out the digi-cam from my bag. Please visit Yogesh and Anirban online for some snaps.

Some moments captured digitally (courtesy, SEO for Clients).

Unable to access twitter

2009-08-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

I am having problem accessing twitter for last 3/4 hours. Am I alone OR others also facing the same problem?

Update 1:

See why the Twitterworld is so quiet today:

Update 2:

Received following message from Twitter after 5 hours, finally.

Update 3 (August 07, 2009 - 1:10 pm):

Twitter is down again :(

Eye Blog – Kolkata Blogger’s Meet: What’s Next

2009-08-06T05:01:00.000-07:00

More you get involved in a process, more you think about it – more ideas start coming in your mind. While thinking out some quotations about blogs, suddenly the idea popped up.

"Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry"

Eye Blog: What about a strong yet simple and easy blogging platform for those who are physically challenged – yes I am talking about our brothers, sisters and friends, who cannot see, cannot speak or cannot hear – the blind, deaf and dumb community.

There are plug-ins that automatically create the audio version of your blog posts. We need to access this with Braille keyboards. We may need a suitable browser as well. Actually we may need to do A LOT of things to achieve this, but the objective is worth putting the efforts, right?

And I am sure, as long as people like Aji, Kamanashish, Anirudh, Shimul, Abhishek, Naveen are there, we can do ANYTHING.

A tremendous coincidence:
While writing this post, suddenly one of my colleagues, who sits few cubicles away, started playing this number...we can do this, I am sure, we have got the ‘go-ahead’ from the supreme power.

Belly On Me - UGLY

2009-08-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

I need to work out, seriously. The belly is growing everyday. I eat less, I walk a lot - still this is happening :(

Searched for some good health and fitness centers in Kolkata, but the timing is not matching with my tight schedule. I am really worried, not sure how the new round-neck shirt customised for Kolkata Blooger's Meet would look on me!

One Hindi Blog - Finally

2009-08-04T01:30:00.000-07:00

Finally one partially Hindi Blog entered Kolkata Blogger's Meet. I mentioned in one of my previous posts about the lack of blogs in regional languages. Saurav Arya filled the gap :)

The Blogspot Magic

2009-08-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

No, I will not change the template of this blog, neither will I host it somewhere else. Webwings is my first blog and I will keep its typical blog-like look intact, forever.

When I started my career in Online Marketing 4 years back, I knew nothing about blogging. It was blogger.com that fascinated me most. It’s true that all my hosted blogs use the WordPress blogging software. But I get the flavor of blogging more when I log on to blogger.com and the term ‘blogspot’ in the URL leaves a magical impact on me.

That is the reason, I will keep at least one of my blogs hosted with blogger.com forever and maintain its simple blog-like look.

Happy Blogging :)

Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet – What’s Next!

2009-08-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

Boss, a lot of things can be done; mentioning few here, will keep you posted.

Green Blogging:

Let’s do something for this planet. Let’s start writing about the environment, climate changes, how to stop pollution, what measures should be taken to save this planet, how to protect animals and insects from extinction, importance of rain water harvesting in India, importance of alternative energy etc.

Once bloggers start doing this, let’s have another meet and decide how to implement the ideas. I am sure we will get a lot of people, activists and groups with us.

Banglar Mukh (The Face of Bengal):

We are going to celebrate Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet 2009, and there is not a single Bangla Blog! Are Kolkatans not blogging in Bengali?

Let’s popularize blogging in all regional languages – let’s convince writers and celebrities to have their blogs written in vernacular languages. There must be 100 Bengali Blogs in the Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet 2010 along with blogs written in other tongues.

Kids – Should they start blogging?

Organise a parent-teacher-educationalist meet and let’s have a debate.

More ideas will come in to my mind and I am sure about that. Keep watching.

Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet by webreps.in – our dream comes true

2009-07-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Webreps.in, a group of 'web minded’ people, is going to organize Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet 2009. Being a part of the team, I understand how much dedication, thoughts and hard work is required to arrange such an event.

We planned for this event many months ago, when nobody in Kolkata could think of such events. Somehow it did not work at that time. Now, thanks to Kamanashish, Anirudh and Shimul, we have been able to give our idea a shape.

All bloggers, from Kolkata and any other place, are requested to join. Here are the details:

Proposed Date: 8th August 2009 | Saturday

Proposed Location: CCD; RDB Adlabs Sector V; Saltlake City; Kolkata

Proposed Time: 5 PM onwards

Entry Fees: ZERO (Thanks to the sponsors)

See you there :)

The Other Side of SEO India

2009-07-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

My previous post on SEO Jobs in India was an outcome of an observation. I had been watching SEO vacancies abroad for quite some days and I posted my observations only. Fact.

It’s a micro-post that hardly makes up to 50 words. When I wrote this, I did not realize it would fetch me so much traffic! Webwings is appearing on 3rd page for the keyword "seo jobs in India" in Google. Bliss.

The post has received some comments and all are spam. I was annoyed, I was angry. But I decided to take a different approach. I kept those spam comments and started putting my own words below them with the hope that spammer would come back someday and feel guilty; however, I do not expect anything from the bots. Lol.

However, the thing that pains me more is the face of Indian SEO – chances are high that those spammers found my blog through searching. If they are searched for ‘SEO Jobs India’ OR ‘SEO India’ chances are high that they are a part of this industry! And what they did? They spammed. Shocked.

I know there are a lot of good people in this industry. Still few bad apples are damaging the goodwill. When we are planning for Kolkata Bloggers’ Meet to take the industry from next tier these people are continuing to spread spam comments. Poor.

Maa taught me another lesson

2009-06-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

I was busy with documentation (as usual) and suddenly my mobile phone started to vibrate (yes I keep my cell on vibration when I am in office). Call from "Sweet Home" - received the call to learn that Mom had fallen on the courtyard and it might be a case of fracture. Oophh Maa, tomake niye arr pari na!

Maa - she is different. Her name is 'Surma' (indigenous cosmetic used as eye-liner); I can only remember another person with the same name - the famous Surma Bhopali of Sholay :D

She does not walk, she only runs. She manages all household chores with almost no help from us - we hardly get time to assist her (but we want to, honestly). All of us are sweating heavily to manage the work that she does alone everyday. Maa, tomar ki 10 ta haat?

It's needless to mention that I became restless after learning about her accident. However, I tried to keep my cool but it was actually "Hard to Keep My Cool". I planned my steps quickly; as I was not sure whether or not I would be able to come office next day, I decided to complete the documentation and other pending works ASAP.

However, I still gave Deb (a dear friend) a brief about the job so that he can finish the job in my absence. I did not take any break and concentrated deeply. And I finished all the work by 5:30 pm. Now, I need to revise the doc before sending it over to the client; but I am relieved.

Lesson learned: It's all about how you think - panicking is not going to help you any way; think rationally and sketch your plan of action accordingly. Believe in yourself - yes...you can do it.

SEO Jobs in India and Aborad - The Basic Difference

2009-06-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

In India: Employers look for SEO specialists with the knowledge of Link Building.

Abroad (USA, UK): Employers look for SEO specialists with programming knowledge to modify web pages, implement tags.

Note:
This is my observation after reviewing some seo job vacancies in India and Abroad. Don't file a lawsuit if you disagree.

ghoom

2009-05-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

amar du-chokhe Ghoom
tumi ele neel shari pore

Mercury remains high

2009-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Highest temperature stat:

1958 – 43.7 degree C
2002 – 43.0 degree C
2009 – 42.1 degree C

Kolkata, with entire South Bengal, is passing through a terrific time. Heat wave of Central India reached South Bengal this year. Initially humidity was low. Citizens of Kolkata are habituated with humid weather; dry summer makes them sick.

Now, the heat flow continues and humidity level also goes up – what a painful situation. Met office recorded 42.1 degree C temperature on May 9, 2009. Humidity was 87 percent on that day.

However, today’s storm followed by a sufficient splash made the situation better.

But, this is the time to think again – “are we on the right track”? Such abnormal hot summer can be an indication of global warming. Beware before it’s too late. I have started saving water and energy as much as I can – WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

I tweet

2009-05-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

Whenever I open this blog and see the date of last post, I feel sad. I really really want to post on web wings, but I hardly get time these days. So many works to do – so many indeed! Office from 10:00 – 7:00 (officially), preparing for my music exam that is due in June, then helping my friends to manage their blogs (voluntary job, but of huge responsibility), top of all abnormally hot summer in Kolkata this year - sometimes I really feel exhausted and tired.

Please note that whether I am posting web wings or not, I spend a lot of time surfing the net. After orkut, facebook and linkedin, twitter is my latest crush.

I am tweeting heavily these days – got a lot of followers and am following others religiously too. I receive a lot of news updates, resources, quotations on twitter everyday. And it feels good when someone starts following me. Even I got some #FollowFriday mentions on last two Fridays.

So follow me (Find Saikat Sengupta on twitter) on twitter and stay connected. If you do not love twitter, read this article.

But I still love Notepad

2009-02-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

Notepad – my favorite editor. Even after working with popular word processing applications, I feel comfortable with Notepad. And when I edit HTML, instead of any WYSIWYG editor, I like to write codes in Notepad.

I really do not know the reason for my endless affection for Notepad; psychologists might be able to reveal the truth. As I am an avid typist and I rarely make spelling mistakes, I do not need spelling assistance. I like the simplicity Notepad has and I do not lose my attention in the crowd of uncountable icons. Black fonts on white background resemble century old conception of writing pads that my eyes and mind are habituated with.

I must admit that MS Word provides the rich text editor with helpful formatting functions that help to create documents without getting puzzled.

And I really feel overwhelmed when I enter today’s theme-specific world. Themes are everywhere starting from Durgapuja pandals in Kolkata to Gmail Inbox. Themes on Durgapuja pandals help to rediscover our forgotten cultural heritage. But why do we need these themes with an email application? So many images, colors, fonts – why? What is the use behind making the web more bulky?

Carbon footprint of Internet industry has already grabbed the attention of expert minds – web pages with more images, videos, animation and other special effects generate higher amount of CO2 when viewed by the surfers. Then why we are up to make our pages heavy?

I access my email inbox to receive messages – text messages. I feel comfortable to read them over a white background with no funny creature popping up from the corners. Hence, I reject the proposal of installing themes on Gmail – I am going to use the traditional and classic look.

Even on Orkut, I do not use any themes. Some of the themes pain my eyes and reduce readability. I am not against innovation and creativity. I understand that it involves great deal of knowledge to integrate these themes with applications like Gmail and Orkut. But, why they are doing this? Are they innovating just to innovate OR to show how expert programmers they are?

Whatever, I will stick with my Notepad affinity when it comes to write something or take down some notes.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

Can't help it quoting from wikipedia:

2009 (MMIX) is the current year of the Anno Domini/Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It is a common year starting on Thursday. It is the last year of the 2000s decade.

2009 has been designated as the:

International Year of Astronomy.^[1][2]

International Year of Natural Fibres.^[3]

International Year of Reconciliation.^[4]

Wish all of you a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!

The position of LGBT Community members in India

2008-10-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Why are they fighting? So many NGO’s and social workers are trying to remove the taboo the members of LGBT community have been tagged with. It is like crying in a forest – nothing is going to change; not in India at least.

The Telegraph featured a story on LGBT Community of India in Graphiti on August 31, 2008. "Breaking Free" was the name of the story.

Breaking Free

"INDIA'S GAYS ARE GETTING ORGANISED AND BOLDLY COMING OUT IN THE OPEN"…Read the story.

(Thanks Telegraph for starting the digital version of Graphiti, otherwise I had to scan the pages)

And on the same day, the Survival Strategies column of Graphiti published harsh comments about gays - slums and skyscrapers side by side.

Here are few selective parts from the column:

Question:

I am a 20-year-old man. I have been involved in a homosexual relationship for the past two years with a friend of mine. I wanted to carry this relationship forward but he got involved with a girl and is now ignoring me. Getting ditched by him came as a terrible shock to me as it was totally unexpected and am going through mental turmoil. Please help.

Name and address withheld

Answer:

Mental turmoil? Just because he wants to try and be normal? Are you insane or what? There are more men than women in this country and if you really want to get lucky with men then go to Haryana where the man-woman ratio is miserable. There will be plenty of men who may desire you. So cut out this crap about mental turmoil and start looking all over again!

Cool Advice!!! So they are abnormal right? They cannot wish a long lasting relationship – all that they have is DESIRE!!! Perfect for them, isn’t it?

Scientists are still researching the reason for homosexual behavior. It can be a combination of gene that determines the orientation. How can it be abnormal?

Social workers are trying hard to settle people with physical deformities in the mainstream! We do not call them 'invalid' OR 'abnormal' anymore. "Differently abled" is the term society use for them. (Read how the term was coined)

Still some columns call gays abnormal. And that’s not all; just read the next strategy suggested to another person who is trying to survive:

Question:

I am a 30-year-old gay guy. I have fallen in love with you. I find you very attractive. For this reason, I can’t concentrate on my work and my wife is frustrated with me. Please help.

Name and address withheld

Answer:

Fallen in love with me? I am not gay, I have no desire to be gay either. I am very happy being with people like your wife so leave me alone and if you don’t want to be with your wife, leave her with me. Get the picture son?

Abusive. I don’t have any other word. Or should I say "AN UNCONVENTIONAL TAKE ON PERSONAL PROBLEMS – AND THEIR SOLUTIONS"? Read the entire column here.

Somehow I feel that the Graphiti has nothing to do with this. It is the problem of the columnist. I have never read a valid survival strategy in this column in my life (I admit that I missed some editions though). It sounds like people have done a great blander as they wrote to him!

It is true that some of the questions asked in the column are silly. But then nobody has asked Suhel to answer all the questions! If you feel an email is fake, why don’t you ignore it?

I can see that the topic of this blog post has changed suddenly. It is now an open letter to Suhel Seth.

Respected Sir,

If you are not interested in reading craps, then why are you handling the column? People write to you because they are suffering. If you do not have any suggestion, then just ignore them.

Those who send you letters or emails might not be of the same I.Q. level you belong to. The situation that appears to be a serious problem to them might be a silly thing for you. Please look at the situations from their perspectives if possible. Trust me, people have started reading this column for fun! If this is the purpose of this column, then no issues, just go ahead – mission has been accomplished.

Thanks
Saikat

P.S. I DO NOT HAVE ANY INTENTION TO HURT ANYBODY. IF YOU FIND ANY OF THE COMMENTS THAT I MADE IN THE ABOVE POST, OR ANY OF THE WORDS THAT I USED HERE INAPPROPRIATE OR HARSH, THEN I AM SORRY. DON'T SUE ME; SEND ME AND EMAIL AND I WILL AMMEND IT.

Orientation Crisis

2008-09-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

Web Wings has completed 2 years on September 1, 2008. When I look back to the days that I have left behind, I feel emotional. My surrounding has changed completely; new faces around, new goals to meet.

Since then I was thinking of presenting Web Wings with a gift – something special, something unique! How can I excuse myself for not writing a single post on it’s birthday! So I wanted to come up with a gift that compensates the grief my Web Wings had to gone through. And then the idea came to my mind. I decided to make it my personal blog.

When I created this blog, I was not sure about its niche. As I am closely associated with Web, SEO, Content Writing – those topics naturally became the main content of this blog. And I also started thinking that Web Wings is all about Web, SEO, Web Copywriting, Online Marketing and all such stuff.

It is true that my profession would always be reflected in my personal blog, but it should, at the same time, cover a lot more, right?

So I am freeing it today – I am taking back the old title of the blog – it won’t be "Web Wings: A Blog on SEO, Web Content Writing, Web 2.0" any more. It will be Web Wings, just Web Wings from now on. Let's fly over the web and look at the real and virtual world with a bird’s eye. Cheers!

SocialMatic – not quite impressed with

2008-09-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

I got 3 or 4 emails from SocialMatic team few days back and finally joined the site today. On home page they say that:

But after joining realized the figure should be 21. Mistake on the home page!

It seems that people have not quite approved their aggressive marketing strategy. Read some feedbacks:

The concept behind SocialMatic is simple. Just add a site to SocialMatic and it will be added to the following list of social bookmarking sites. For this, users need to disclose username and password for all the bookmarking sites to SocialMatic.

delirious
bibsonomy
faves
xilinus
buddymarks
connectedy
misterwong
blinklist
delicious
yahoo
blogmarks
markaboo
linkagogo
backflip
google
magnolia
linkroll
propeller
searchles
linkatopia
sphinn

I did not find any reason why they asked for my address in the registration form. When I went back to home page after logging in, I got logged out! I submitted one site without filling up the long username/password form and nothing happened. They need to improve a lot on both technical and marketing aspects if they wish to stay here. I am just going to forget about them after finishing this post.

SEO in India is being disrespected

2008-08-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

Indians are Spammers: Really!

A lot of people BELIEVE that Indians are spammers!

Kamanashish wrote the topic on seomoz blog and the debate started. I got surprised to learn that a lot of people really believe that Indians are spammers when it comes to SEO.

I am sure, Kamanashish tried to alert people about cheap services. He also tried to conscious the good people of Indian SEO industry. When I go out to market to buy some golden jewelry and somebody offers me say Rs.100/gm, I do not buy it. I am an informed consumer.

Then how could someone expect Oscar Wilde standard when somebody agrees to write 500 words article for just $2.

However, most buyers believe that it is not right to blame the buyer, but we Indians should set up some standards internally. Now, spammers are everywhere – not only in India. Is a rule-book enough to stop them doing wrongs?

But, there should be a checking system. A trusted institution OR an authority site should be there through which such transactions should be done. Difficult to implement, but we need it. Otherwise SEO in India will never get the value it deserves.

Writers' Block

2008-08-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

When it started I thought I have lost my ability of writing and that I am no more creative. Or I was never creative in my life; I just pretended to be creative.

It is painful. I was unable to write a single sentence properly. I do not know when it started, but suddenly I realized that I cannot write.

I thought it is happening to me only because I am a bad writer. I was about to enter into a prolonged depression.

Then I started searching for "how to write" – thank God that I did! I found this phrase: Writers’ Block.

Wikipedia says:

Writer's block is a phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to begin or continue writing, usually due to lack of inspiration or creativity.

And there is a big article in about.com on how to overcome this.

The points mentioned there are really useful. I changed my chair, stopped writing on few projects for sometime, started writing on topics that I like, gave a pause, discontinued all connections with internet and read some good books and stories which include Happy Prince!

And now, I am feeling much better...got back the urge to write. I am trying to change my writing style as well. Soon I will start writing more for Indian audience.

My plan of buying a mobile handset is still true; got tempted to know iphone is coming to India. However, I think an advanced handset will be ok for me for the time being.

I need a new mobile handset with Internet connectivity

2008-07-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

I decided not to buy an advanced (read expensive) mobile handset. I thought I could manage with my simple Nokia 6600i. But I was wrong. I need a handset that would help me stay connected with my e-friends and would help me post in my blog when I travel :)

Since we shifted to the new office building, I am starting for office around 8:45 o'clock in the morning these days and not returning home before 9:30 p.m. When I get back I feel to go to bed right on. And the result is quite readable...just visit my blog archive. Even I feel bad to see so few posts in last couple of months.

So I need a mobile...I would be writing small posts when I sit idle and watch outside the bus lazily when I commute. I need a mobile handset with strong internet connectivity...can you suggest one?

Content Writing Resources

2008-06-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

What are content writing resources? One would surely answer the things that are needed for web copy writing! Let me add the word ‘essentially’ here – otherwise the keyboard, monitor, mouse, internet OR pen, paper everything need to be discussed. I am talking about the things that are needed for WEB CONTENT writing, not for JUST ANY kind of writing.

Let’s divide the task the entire task of web content writing this way:

You get a topic OR a set of keywords
You are given a word limit (It’s a different issue that I hate limits)
You are supposed to do some research to make an idea about the topic if it is not known to you
You may need to take hard copy prints of essential study materials
Once you understand the topic and develop a clear picture about it, start writing
Consult both online and offline references
Proofread your copy at least twice; you can also get it checked by some one else as some errors may go unnoticed even after revisions
Check whether it is copyscape passed i.e., not a duplicated article. If you write by your own it should be copyscape passed – still having it checked with copyscape is like writing with enough protection (no pun intended)
You may need to upload the content somewhere to check the keyword density; be careful while uploading the content. Use a ‘no-index’ website so that it never gets crawled by search engine bots
Deliver the finished copy

The steps may differ depending on specific requirements. In case of technical writing, preparing documentation for a program or writing user manual you may need to interact with software developers or the experts in the field frequently. You can include such steps with points #3 or #6 as per your convenient.

Now some tools and resources that would make accomplishing the task easily – you may be aware of them, however, let me put them here again for those who are new in the field:

For Research and Study:

Use search engines to find relevant websites, articles, forums or blogs. You can visit ezinearticles.com or buzzle.com – these article directories contain huge number of articles on varieties of topics. You can gather enough information about practically any topic from these places.
Wikipedia, TheFreeDictionary or about.com are some other places where you can get plenty of information.

For Writing:

Frequently read blogs like problogger, copyblogger and alike to learn the latest writing trends. There are bloggers’ forums where you can find fellow bloggers to share your knowledge.

Copyscape is the tool that helps you check if the content shares any text-wise similarity with other online content. It is important to check copyscape otherwise, you may end up creating duplicate content (though that is quite impossible for a true copy writer, but it may happen when you write about ecommerce products or technical articles)

If you are in SEO web copy writing, you may need to upgrade your SEO knowledge regularly. So keep reading SEO Forums and SEO blogs as much as you can. Some more SEO and Content Writing resources are here:

Ghostwriting – another form of copy writing

2008-05-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Do you love your writings? Money OR your voice – which one is more important for you? I am sure a lot of writers would answer that they want money in turn of getting their voice reached to the mass or to the target audience.

But that may not be possible all the time. In ghostwriting – you do the research, you write, you pour your own voice into the content, but the matter is published in someone else's name – sometimes a fictitious name.

Especially when a writer is asked to write SEO web content, the matter generally is not published in his own name, unless the person is an icon of that niche.

How does it feel to see someone else's name below the article written by you? Well, it does not feel good, specifically when you took a lot of interest in the topic.

Even I did not like ghostwriting initially and I tried to associate my own name with my articles in several ways; arguing with my boss is one such way I tried.

However, I had invented a trick that I would share with you all here. This helps you somehow get recognized by your readers. This trick comes very useful when you are writing SEO web content like articles for submission purpose, blogs for third parties etc.

Choose a pen name for yourself; it should be a fictitious name. Now use this pen name for all the articles written by you. Most of the article directories accept author's name. Make sure your pen name is added with all your articles.

So all your articles are now recognized as written by the same author. Now, make a small declaration that it’s none else but you who use the pen name! This helps you claim your own articles in future and you can show them to your future employers too.

NOW, let me tell you the pen name I use. It's none other than Stanley Gallor :D You can find a lot of articles written by me on the web :D

Technorati Tags: Content Writing, Content Writer, Web Copywriting, Ghostwriting

Web Content Writer – Are you good at copywriting?

2008-04-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Web content writing or web copywriting, whatever you call it, is a prospective career. If you go through 10 Career Guide types of articles for teens, I bet at least 8 of them would feature content writing as a rewarding career option.

Have you ever wondered what should be the qualification of a content writer?

- I again bet, most people would answer that content writers should be a B.A. or M.A. in English.

Why so?

- Because, the content is to be written in English!

Is that the only criterion?

- Ummm, well, not exactly. The person should have an analytical mind and should be a fast learner too!

I think that is the most important skill web copy writers should have! A copywriter in Kolkata may need to write an article about Cantonese and Mandarin translation or, Medical Malpractice laws in the United States of America or, Florida Incorporation or, Texas Hotels, or, Paris tours and travels or anything that you can and cannot think.

So the content writers should have the ability to understand a new topic very fast and to notice the way of writing in that particular field. Furthermore, they should have the interest to research and study the new topic so that the adequate and right information is presented through the content.

Besides, they should have the basic knowledge of how Internet and Search Engines work. (Let me assume keyword analysis would be done by the SEO guys.)

Then comes the ability to communicate in English. The content should be written in plain English. People search internet for information. So the content should be informative. People browse the web pages glancing at bold texts, lists and headings; rarely somebody read entire article. So easy-to-understand and precisely written content is what they prefer.

Long paragraphs and complex sentences damage readability. Writers should be careful about it. Proper use of images and diagrams add to the quality of the web content.

So the web copywriters should be fast learners, should understand the basic technicalities of internet, websites and search engines, should identify human psychology a bit and should be able to communicate properly. Are you suitable for the job? Then click on: Content Writing Jobs in Kolkata. Cheers!

Technorati Tags: Content Writing, Content Writer, Web Copywriting

Google AdSense with Scrollbar

2008-04-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed the scrollbar (Or, should I better call it Up-Down Flip!) with Google Ad Units? It's a nice addition; more ads can be accommodated this way.

I am browsing through the ads whenever I see the scroll bars, it's helpful too! See the ads in the side panel on this blog. Cheers!

Technorati Tags: Google, AdSense, Google AdSense

Applying Web Copywriting Tips

2008-03-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Since I started writing for web, I surfed a lot to find good Web Copywriting Resources. I looked for tips, suggestions and techniques on the internet. I found quite a few and always kept those in mind while writing for web.

Unfortunately, sometimes it becomes so difficult to develop content maintaining all the standards. Here is a catch 22 that I have experienced:

Good copy writers always suggest to write in short. They say to proofread your copy again and again to find out if you can cut some unwanted words and make the content smaller and precise.

At the same time, there are clients who ask web content writers to write 600 word articles and they are very strict at word count. Writers are paid on the basis of word count only! I find it really painful. When the subject does not demand more, why should I write a lengthy article?

Hence, I have to compromise with the standards. I cannot apply the web 2.0 copywriting techniques as I need to meet the word limit! It hurts!

But, last week I got the chance to write for my company’s website. And I applied all the content writing standards:

I wrote just as much as needed, did not care about word count
Did proper keyword research and put related phrases in the copy
Added bulleted lists to make it easy for the readers
Added proper headings
Innovated some catchy phrases
Proofread the copy again and again to cut unnecessary words

I was really happy with this work. I am sure that not only the readers, but search engines would rate the page high. It will take no time to appear in the SERP as soon as the page goes live.

But some webmasters and web businessmen still follow the older notions. They believe that more content you put on your page, higher is the chance to get a rank. They impose the idea on content writers when it comes to write articles, press releases or web pages. As a result, a lot of garbage dumps on the internet. I really don’t know where we are heading; I am searching for a solution, if you have got any, do comment here.

Technorati Tags: SEO, Content Writing

It’s all about the right word

2008-03-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

Internet stores and retrieves information in Text format. All the Search Engines are Text-based. Even Image or Video Searching processes rely on text used in the title of the image or video file.

Thus when you decide to sell a product on the internet, it is really important to identify the word or phrase used by most searchers who intend to buy the product. Unless you associate the most-used textual phrase with your product selling page, you cannot reach to prospective buyers.

Remember Google Image Labeler? To enhance Google Image Search, perhaps, Google introduced the Image Labeler. It is a funny game. Two players are given one photograph. The players can be anywhere on the earth (obviously with at least a PC and Internet connection)! Both of them are asked to tag labels to the image. As soon as one of your labels matches with one of your partner’s you get some points and pass to the next image.

At the end of the game you can see the words that came in your partners mind when you were shown a sports car. But what you cannot see is the phrase used by most players to identify the sports car. If you are selling sports car online, you could surely be benefited from it!

Now the gap has been bridged by Vertical Leap, the UK based Search Engine Marketing Company. They have introduced SEO Keyword Quiz which displays an image and asks you to enter the phrase that you will use to search for the thing.

Once you submit your words it displays a list of keywords used by visitors to identify the same product.

That definitely helps you decide which keyword best describe the product.

However, here also you need to depend on the Quizmaster; the site does not help you select the picture of your business item. You cannot be sure whether the SEO Keyword Quiz would ever show photograph of terracotta product that you sell online. Hence if your product is not listed in their database, you need to select your keywords by your own. Anyways, with so many exciting tools Vertical Leap would surely come up to enhance the application and more functionality to it.

Technorati Tags: SEO, SEM

SEO: Keep it In-house or Outsource?

2008-03-06T05:13:00.000-08:00

What will YOU do? If you wish to add some more zero’s at the end of your profit by marketing your business through Internet, would you set up a whole new SEO section or you would outsource the job?

Surprisingly I had the opportunity to work under both the systems. Both have their own set of advantages and limitations. My previous post On an attempt to classify Content Writing, I partially touched this topic. With In-house SEO, people get more time to master the subject. But people working in SEO companies need to handle a number of websites all the time; so they hardly get time for excelling a single domain.

This temporary deficiency of domain knowledge sometimes affects the quality of work. A writer who has been creating web content only for a Credit Repair website for 2 years obviously knows more about the topic than the writer who writes on various topics everyday which may or may not include Credit Repair. The same is true for Link Builders, Bloggers and Social Media Marketers. (I will contradict this paragraph very soon; stay tuned!)

Then why do the SEO firms exist? There are advantages of Outsourcing too! Most of the SEO companies have their own networks; network of blogs, websites, bookmarking sites and all. These networks are kept for their clients. Some SEO firms may own good web directories. If you assign your link building task to them, you get good one way links from those places easily.

If you target 100 links per month, you can appoint 4 different SEO companies to do link exchange on your behalf. This way you not only make use of various networks of websites and blogs, but you avoid leaving any link building pattern that Search Engines can blame you for!

Technorati Tags: SEO, SEM

How to become successful Content Writer: Part V

2008-02-29T12:43:00.000-08:00

You need to UNDERSTAND the subject you will be writing on.
Everybody has their OWN WAY of understanding.

Most people know the first phrase, but the second one is what I have learned while working. When I begin working on different web copy writing projects, like anyone else, I wanted to complete it fast. So what I used to do?

Gather information as much as I can
Read them fast
Start writing within 1 hour

The problem that I faced with this process:

I needed to consult the original copy several times
It took much time to complete writing the content
I got panicky
And it took even longer time to finish

I thought that it’s my failure that I could not write fast and I should write faster and all good content writers complete their articles faster than me and alike.

But the thing that amazed me was the speed that I used to pick up at the latter span of the writing. For example, when I was asked to write 10 articles of ‘Breastfeeding and Nursing’, first 4 articles took 3 days, whereas, I completed 6 articles in a single day working 8 hours only.

Of late, I started realizing that once I could grab the subject, the speed would increase automatically. I also realized that I can digest the subject after at least one sleep, I need to go to bed with the topic in my mind – that helps me understand it very well.

Now, I follow these techniques whenever I get a new assignment. I know I need some time to get a hold on the subject. So I spend time searching resources on the web, reading websites and blogs, newspapers etc. Then I start writing slowly. If it takes 50% of time to read and understand, I do not panic. I know I can finish it up in the slog over!

The reason I shared my own experience with you is I wanted to tell you that follow the way you are comfortable with. Understand your way of thinking; that will really help you in your work.

Technorati Tags: Content Writing, Web Content Writer, Web Copy Writing

How to become successful Content Writer: Part IV

2008-02-22T12:41:00.000-08:00

"Know your target audience" – the phrase has become an adage now. I do not want to repeat the same words here again, but I have to as this is really important when it comes to web copy writing or web content writing – whatever you call it.

You need to see the world from your readers’ eyes. That’s very important in web content writing. You need to present the content in such a way that your readers find it useful and the Search Engines index it properly.

What else you need to do?
Simple! You need to ask yourself what is going to be done with the article or teaser or abstract you are writing? Once you know where on the web the content is going to be placed, your job becomes easier.

For example, if you are writing an article that will be published in one of the good article directories, you should adhere to the editorial guidelines provided by the article directory.

Good article directories are very strict with their rules. Contents that conform to all the editorial principles are published only. So apart from keeping your readers in mind, you need to consider the rules of the article directory and the general protocols of web copy writing.

That’s why I always say that web content writing is different from any other form of writing.

Technorati Tags: Content Writing, Web Content Writer, Web Copy Writer

How to become successful Content Writer: Part III

2008-01-22T03:44:00.000-08:00

I have just finished the assignment. I know I could do better if I was allowed to work when I want. I also know how awkward it is to tell I prefer writing in night when the world is calm and quiet!

It was Jan 7 when I got the assignment. The topics were unknown, completely unknown. Though it was pretty cool in the first week of January here in Kolkata, still I started sweating. I did not work on this sort of project before. However, I talked to myself and gave it a start in my own way.

As I prefer scientific and research-oriented subjects, I took interest in the subject. It was about environment and microbes. After spending some time on the resources, I could digest the matter a bit. However, it was taking too much time for me to get started. Hence I did these things:

Created a new file in MS Word and saved it
Drafted the format, made a list of points which I will be elaborating in the article
Calculated what should be the word count for each point
Started writing, consulted the resources as required
Once I finished the first article, it did not take longer to finish the tenth one

Content Writing Mantra #1: Don’t panic if the topic is new. Remember, you are a researcher and you are here to present the right information to the readers. So do your research, take your time, digest the matter and then start writing.

Content Writing Mantra #2: It’s the first article that takes time. Once you are familiar with the subject, you can write lot, a lot.

Content Writing Mantra #3: Editing and Writing are different. Don’t start editing when you write. Complete the job and then review it to edit the errors.

The thing that I found more challenging is writing multiple titles, descriptions and author’s biographies for all the 10 articles. I suspected it to take a lot of time; hence I pushed Meta writing at the end of my schedule. Soon after I finished the last article, I started writing Meta for all of them.

Content Writing Mantra #4: You are a human being. It may be difficult for you to shift to a whole new job readily. Group similar jobs and schedule them as per your convenience.

Then there was another assignment to complete. But this topic was not scientific and one of the topics I do not like to write about. But, as everything has a history, I got the food for my head!

Today, just few minutes back, I have completed the whole task. It took less than 12 working days to write 15 500words articles. I had to write multiple titles, summaries and biographies for all the articles and did HTML formatting for all of them too. I am feeling relaxed today.

Technorati Tags: Content Writing, Content Writer

Hangman - my latest crush

2008-01-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

I found the Hangman game on TheFreeDictionary.com home page. It took just few minutes to understand the game theory! It's simple and interesting too. Hangman gives you a number of blank spaces, a trash, a box to input alphabets and a smiley. You need to put suitable alphabets in the input box. If the alphabet matches with the word in Hangman's mind, it will be accepted and put in the blank space(s), otherwise the alphabet will be sent to the trash.

Hangman won't allow you to enter more than 10 wrong alphabets. If you can complete the word you win :)

And, if you type 10 wrong alphabets and still the word is not complete, you are hanged :(

Visit TheFreeDictionary.com to play the game. This game definitely enriches your vocabulary. TheFreeDictionary.com is extremely useful for word-smiths. With huge information base, it has got answer to all your queries. Make it a habit to search this dictionary when you are looking for right information.

Technorati Tags: Content Writing, Content Writer, Dictionary

Endless hunger for knowledge

2008-01-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

One thing I can tell you for sure. Freelancing satisfies my hunger for knowledge. Varieties of topics, different domains and challenges keep my energy level up. That’s why I prefer to write on diverse topics – molds, fungi, perfume, HIV/AIDS, translation services, furniture, lifestyle, law, traveling, web design and search engine marketing are the topics I am working on these days and I wish to work on more interesting topics in future.

Technorati Tags: Content Writing, Content Writer, Freelance Content Writer

Home Office

2008-01-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

This is how my Home Office should look like :)

I took my resolutions well in advance

2008-01-02T03:29:00.000-08:00

If you haven’t yet understood that I hibernate is all about My New Year’s Resolutions, then let me tell you it is. I would not repeat the same list here again, however, I would like to add a new point here:

I will be promoted (hopefully) to the fifth and final year at Dakshinee, so I need to work hard for the final exam from now. Things I have planned for this:

Revise the lessons beginning from the first year
Practice the notations taught in the Vocal Training class
Go through the book at least 10 times

For all these I NEED TO GET UP EARLY IN THE MORNING :(

I hibernate

2007-12-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

Enough of running here and there; enough of future planning - now is the time to be calm and quiet and get energized for a busier life. These are the goals for next few months; perhaps next 1 year.

Work for Kolkata Bloggers Meet - will write more about this later.
Read varieties of books – get acquainted with different writing styles.
Write on varieties of topics – apply different styles of writing.
Blog vigorously – its important to boost my network, however, I doubt if I will get enough time to blog or not. Sagar (my duplicate) has started capturing the PC of late and he is not at all sparing me. Seems I need a laptop now.
Don't think about a new job – job searching is hectic and it consumes lots of time, money and energy.
Attend a course – a professional course on mass communication/journalism/technical writing/instructional designing - but only after March 2008.

My readers: please wish me luck so that I can stick to my plans.

On an attempt to classify Content Writing

2007-11-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

I have broadly classified it into two categories; here we go:

1. You dedicatedly work on a particular topic. The advantage of this job profile is you get the opportunity to master the subject. With time you become an expert in that field and working becomes easier. Continuous reading, study and research enrich your knowledge. Chances are high that you will become indispensable for the organization because of your expertise and you can start using your knowledge in different kind of work there. You may contribute towards development and planning too.

However, the disadvantage of this process is: you do not get familiar with different writing styles. What I feel is: different domain of writing have different protocols. The site that sells 'Chinese Pearls' pitch their products in a polite and romantic voice, whereas a 'Business Solution Developer' shows a much professional and modern attitude. So if you work for the 'Chinese Pearls' website you are missing the writing style used by the 'Business Solution Developer' and vice versa.

2. You get to work on varieties of topics the way most freelance content writers work. Here the advantage is you get the scope to know varieties of writing styles. Added to that, as you need to do study the subject before writing to make an idea about the way things are spoken in the field; a larger aperture of exposure is what you get. But here the problem is: you do not become master in any topic though your writing style and capacity to learn become much much sharper.

What is ideal?

Well, there is nothing known as ideal! It may sound odd I know. Actually, what is ideal for me may not be worth considering for other. However, if someone asks me about my opinion I would suggest the second option for those who are starting their career as a content writer. For a fresher or a person with little experience of content writing, I would suggest jobs that involve working on varieties of topics first and get used to with different styles of writing. Then you can choose your own domain of work and shift to the first scenario.

It's completely my own opinion; let me know what you think!

Technorati Tags: Blogger, Content Writing, Content Writer, Freelance Content Writer

Can I call it Information Writing?

2007-11-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

I think I can. Content writing, developing content for website – whatever you call it, you are actually providing your viewers with the right information they are looking for. It may be about any service or product or anything else; but it is Information for sure. So before you start writing on a topic it's important to get acquainted with the subject. Otherwise you may end up skirting the theme.

No one can expect that a content writer would know the topic he has been asked to write about. The thing that is expected is the writer would do some study in his own way, digest the topic and then start writing. Good and reliable resources are must for writing good content. As I said that it is nothing but pouring Information in your articles, without good resource it becomes not only difficult but impossible.

So a freelance content writer who follows this strategy of writing and always deliver quality articles, may not be satisfied with just $2 per 300/400 articles. Writing on a completely new topic demands lots of time and energy. So articles buyers beware, by paying less you are compromising with the quality of articles. Hence, to get quality articles, offer more.

Technorati Tags: Blogger, Content Writing, Content Writer, Freelance Content Writer

Wish you a Happy Bandh! Enjoy a lot!

2007-10-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

Bandh! Two mid-week 'holdiays'! What else office goers can dream of? A person like me – lazy, semi-slacker, timid and homesick would make use of such opportunities (hope my employer is not reading my blog)! I wake up late in the morning and planned for a great lunch. However, some people are really tired of Bandhs; they have somehow managed to go to office. Some of them have spent past night there in the office and some have paid high transportation fare while going to office in the morning.

I made a post about Bandh in past also: Bandh is not the right pill to swallow! Hence I have no plans to repeat the same thing. Bandh used to be the means of protesting and getting the demands of labors sanctioned in past. It’s not suitable in present scenario. Moreover, frequency of Bandhs has made it less important, so I hardly inquire about the basis of the Bandhs nowadays. BUT, if a political party calls on a Reverse Bandh: all offices will stay opened on Sunday and workers have to work for an extra day, I am sure it will help to bring the issues under the lime light and more people will be concerned.

So leaders: be creative and innovative. Try a Reverse Bandh and see the result.

Technorati Tags: Blogger, NEWS, Kolkata, India, Politics

E-Man to save Earth from Global Warming

2007-10-15T04:27:00.000-07:00

Before it is too late, we need to be careful. The surface temperature is already up by a few degrees. Glaciers have started to melt. Unnatural amount of rainfall, devastating hurricanes are indicating that we have very short time in our hand. The only creature that can save OUR EARTH is E-Man!

Every year, lots and lots of TREES are killed for the sake of paper industry. And the process is accelerated during the festivals for the Greetings card industry. This is the time to get conscious. Paper is like a column of civilization. Eliminating the usage of papers seems impossible. However, we can stop wastage of paper from now on. And in the professional world, we can become paperless.

With latest technologies and developments, Paperless Office is no more difficult to set up. With applications like Google Apps, Microsoft Office, Emails, Messengers, BLOGS and many more to name, we can easily cut our Paper Usage Rate. And during the Festivals and on any other occasions we can send E-cards to our friends instead of a Greeting Card made of Paper.

There could be thousand other ways to protect Trees. This is just a thing that came in my mind on the occasion of Blog Action Day. I know that Paper Pulp is renewable material. Then why not from today onwards, we stop killing Trees for paper and start rotating the existing Paper pulp only. If there is any deficit, we have to compensate it from the solutions that I have mentioned above. No He-Man will fall from the sky to save us; it’s our responsibility to preserve our natural resources. So let’s be an E-Man and delay the process of Global Warming.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Blog Action Day, Global Warming, Environment, Earth

Few hours with EMC at Hyatt

2007-09-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

EMC Corporation conducted a seminar at Hyatt today. As we had got an invitation for the same; me and Sudipto took a day off from office and attended it. I reached Hyatt before Sudipto and it was raining at 9:50 am in Kolkata. As he expected to be late, he called me to tell ‘go ahead’.

The girl at the Registration Desk was very nice. She gave me a small kit with notepad, pen, some EMC brochures and some forms to fill up. The forms had lot of technical questions in it so I decided to wait for Sudipto as he knows our organization better.

Sudipto rushed to Hyatt Ballroom not more than 5 minutes later than I did. We started filling out the forms; but then someone told us to enter the room as the Welcome Note was about to start.

Mr. O. Rajesh presented the greeting messages. Some topics covered in the seminar are Storing More Intelligently, Backup Recovery and Archival, Compliance etc. I was looking for the Content Management session; however, the concerned person was not there so the session was dropped. We had a good lunch at Hyatt with lots of items that I could not even touch.

I learned a lot of thing today; though our company is not at the position to implement such Storage, Backup or Recovery system; but we may need such infrastructure in future. Moreover, EMC supplied lots of thing to think over. I really enjoyed the session conducted by Smartha Guha Thakurta; he is a brilliant guy and good speaker too. Thanks EMC for such an informative seminar.

Lets share the success

2007-09-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

I am really thrilled that a site like SiteProNews has published my article. They were very much helpful from the beginning when I sent the first email to inquire if the topics of the articles are given by them or it's the writer's choice. They gave me a wide domain to write about. I did some research, prepared the articles and sent it and here comes the result. Thanks SiteProNews.

Technorati Tags: Blog, SEO

Orkut becomes more communicative and participatory

2007-09-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Like Google, Orkut has updated itself a lot. With all the new features Orkut is now a great place to hang around. It has been translated in 5 regional languages of India, hence more Indians are likely to use Orkut.

Just few days back, when I needed to communicate with one of my acquaintances; I did not call him, nor did I send him email, I left scrap! Obviously, if I needed to say something personal, I would have dropped an email, however, Orkut is more personal and more friendly now. All the best to you Orkut.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Orkut

Micro-blogging

2007-08-31T06:32:00.000-07:00

is a way of blogging that involves writing small posts (generally 200 characters) with a link back to original article sometimes, exactly like this one. Those who have thought that microblogging means writing on a microscopically small blog are wrong!

Technorati Tags: Blog, Blogging, Micro Blogging

My threads in WPW newsletter

2007-08-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

I like to see my threads in WPW newsletter. I am deeply involved with WPW community nowadays and I am feeling an attachment with the members. I have always liked participating in forums and WPW is a great place to hang around.

Click the links below, browse the pages and you would find my pen name, saikatblogger, there.

Also read my previous post Beating my own drum

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