Midnight Musings

It is 02:00 AM on a Sunday night (rather Monday), and I am still trying hard to catch some sleep so that I can be ready for a work week ahead. The reasons were many. It is always difficult to call it a day when you could savour the wonderful moments you had afresh, just the way you would relish the taste of your favourite food item dished out by your mom leisurely. Reminiscing the fun moments, in general, brings a positive feeling inside. And, I will call this particular instance adventurous for my friend's sake. 

But what kept me awake until this point is the Shaheed Bhagat Singh's beautiful handwriting and the mental strength he showed at a very young age. I have watched films on him, we all did. And, have been inspired by the songs he penned. To read his writings in his own words is a different experience. Until today I have not had that chance. His choice of words, the command he had on legal proceedings and the courage he had shown at the most difficult times were exemplary. When today's young generation are busy raising their virtual farms, feeding their e-cattle and supporting every cause with a "Like", this 22-year old shackled a midst four walls dreamed of revolution and longed for change, for better. If only I could know how much he had gone through, mentally. If only we had access to the diary he maintained during his incarceration. If only all his writings are available to the public. 

Source: The Tribune

At the age of 21, Bhagat Singh published articles in Punjabi periodical on Anarchism. He dreamed of a society without obsession for money. A society free from God and money, two major reasons people fight amongst themselves. How many of us have heard of Anarchism at that time? How many of us know about it now? It was the books on Marxism and the life of Lenin he read in his condemned prison cell, while we comfortably read romantic fictional work by Sydney Sheldon and James Patterson. It was three month fast that this young man took part in only to be force fed by the authorities and to restart the fast later, while we care only a little for the brave Anna Hazare who is fasting for a better India and who gets branded as a corrupt person by this corrupt politicians.

We, the risk averting generation, who want a clean nation without our hands getting dirty can safely learn one thing from him. It is questioning and reasoning when we believe in what we do. Criticizing what we would otherwise blindly follow, only to build our own ideas on top of it. Can we do that, atleast for our own good?

If you have not heard of "Operation Trojan Horse", it is time to do so. Hit a search query with this term along with the words 'Bhagat Singh'. Ghastly as it sounds, but could be true from the controversy the British have created on the very unfortunate day we lost these three young people by imposing the penality earlier than the supposed time. 

Have you come across a statue of this legend in our country where we have statues for living people?

Competition and life

I wonder why we all take competition so seriously in life. Everybody is busy competing with somebody, in a bid to prove their right to excel. "To be number one in your class." "To be more popular than your friends and classmates." "To get into better college than your friends." "To make a better earning job than your peers." The list never ends.

Ranks. Marks. Grades. Since the day we join school, we are made to work hard and compete to get good grades. My parents promised me that it would end after I complete my Class X. It did not, but this time it was my elder brother who promised me that the competition to excel would end after I finish my XII class in flying colours. I was mistaken again. And, it was my lecturer after my class 12th but with a different message. He said, "This is the beginning, all the while you were being prepared for what you would face from now on!". I was shocked to know that. All the years I so wanted to get done with school since I was under the impression that I can live without and hassles and tensions after school, and my lecturer tells me this is the beginning.

Source: Google

Many people fear competition all their life, although they cannot escape facing it. Blame the pressure that was put on them as kids, or the competition and the results they have personally experienced. But it is all in the attitude with which we respond to it. Do we all not love a cricket match with your favourite team winning a close one? Have we all not enjoyed the tennis games between Federer and Nadal? It is the competitive spirit with which these players or teams play that makes the games interesting to watch. When we can enjoy competition between others, why can't we enjoy ourselves being in one? It is all in our attitude. The moment we realize competition encourages improvement in performance, and we can make kids understand this I guess they will enjoy competing with their peers.

“A competitive world offers two possibilities. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.” -Henry Ford

A near one month of staying away from blogging has done some damage to my blogging credentials. My Indirank has dropped by about 10 points to 63. And my Alexa rank has increased 5 fold, which does not mean good either. This reminded me of the competitive world around me, and my experiences related.

So what do you think of competition among school children and in general? What were your experiences?

Google+ is not Facebook

I have been blogging a lot on tech things these days. Although I want to maintain my status as a mixed bag blogger by writing about anything and everything, I could not resist writing when I come across something new. And the topic of the day is Google+ with all the media attention it generated in the week. 

Did you see the day's xkcd cartoon? Google+, What is it? Not facebook. What is it like? Facebook. How true! Let us compare and contrast Google+ with Facebook later. Before that, let me walk you through a simple tutorial.

Do you know how to increase popularity to your website or product?

• First, create hype! Do your best! Blog about it, make some tech blogs write about it and let a few top shots try it and make sure they feel good about your product.
• Second, restrict access to your product. Give access to people based on invites. And then, very shortly make a big announcement that you ran out of invites. The bigger your announcement is and the sooner you do it, the greater will be the hype generated.
• Third, make sure to leave some ways so that people can get invites and call them hacks. So, the final picture is people have to hack their way to get access to your product.

And, Google followed all the three steps to make their new social networking stint "Google+" popular. And "the hack" to invite your friends is update your status message and share it with your friends through email addresses. They would get an email with a link, and clicking on it would create a Google+ account for them.

Google+ is the new Facebook. Unlike, Google's previous digs at social networking the interface is much cleaner and simpler. Remember how Orkut was filled with clutter in order to compete with Facebook's apps. And, Google Wave only saw the ebb but never raised high unlike a wave. Looking at the design of this new utility promising to connect you with your friends and family, this is here to stay.

If you have noticed the recent change in Google.com's interface, then you should understand that it is part of the big plan. Once you have created a Google+ account for your self, then the right most corner of the black bar on the top will come to life. You will have the "Share" box and notifications indicator waiting hungrily for your action.

Google+ lingo and insight tutorial (Level: Beginner)

• News Feed on Facebook is Stream on Google+.
• "What's on your mind" is Google+'s "Share what's new".
• Pages on Facebook will be called "Sparks" herewith.
• The famous Facebook "Like" button's competitor is not so well known "+1" button.
• Friends or Family are the only two categories on FB. We have the new "Circles" concept. Drag and drop your fellow Google+ members into Friends, Family, Acquaintances, Family circles. You might as well create your own circle.
• You have your Picasa photos, Google Talk and the infamous Google Buzz integrated.
• Hangouts and Huddle are the new features to watch out for. Huddle is the group messaging feature and Hangout is the polished version of video chat. I am yet to explore these features completely.

So, are +you ready for Google+ ?