I received a Facebook update that reads: “In India, the Government is deciding the age of Army Chief. While in Pakistan, the Army chief is deciding the age of the Government.”

The update was amusing. Jack says, the Indian Army Chief is not behaving awkwardly; and for that matter not even the Pakistani Army Chief. They are behaving in a normal fashion. He snubs me when said that the Indian Army Chief has lowered the image of the sacrosanct institution of India. Jack told me off the record that the Army chief will get a hike of a few thousand rupees if he stays for one more year in the service and an extension of one year to the facilities he is using as the boss of the Indian Army. I believe it cannot be true and he must be kidding. The person of his stature can no go that low for a hike or extension of one year service.   

Jack further explains, everyone wants to remain young forever. Haven’t you ever heard that a 40-year-old lady or may be older fighting with an innocent sales man in his twenties who dared to call her aunty. “How dare you call me aunty?” “Do I look like an aunty?” The fight goes on and on but if the salesman has learnt marketing tricks from some professor from the top institutes like IIMs then he will immediately correct himself saying, “Sorry Didi. It was just a slip of tongue.”

However, it may be the case the women in front of her is as old as her mother.  But his correction and choose of words may help him in achieving his monthly target.

|

Micro-blogging is all about posting small digital contents—text, pictures, video and links—on  the Internet. In short, it is a combination of blogging and instant messaging. Micro-blogging websites allow users to share a message of 140 or less character, a video of 12 seconds or less duration, short links or individual images with online followers.

Twitter is the most famous micro-blogging website. It allows users to update their messages in 140 or less characters. The website is increasingly becoming popular because the list of celebrities joining the site is growing each day and everyone out there wants to know what these celebrities are doing. The site has been in news for many controversial tweets by famous personalities. A few tweets that grabbed headlines and caused a ripple effect include Shahsi Tharoor’s calling ‘Economy Class’ a ‘Cattle Class’, Lalit Modi’s tweet on Indian Premiere League (IPL) and many more.  The tweet that made the biggest news of the last year was from a man from Pakistan. Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) live-tweeted the raid in which terrorist Osama bin Laden was killed.

There are certain things we should know about micro-blogging. There are a few must-know terms related to micro-blogging. One of them is hash tag (#). Tweeter users (generally called tweeple) must have seen the hash tag often in tweets. Hash tags allow an online community to easily stream a particular subject. It is a community-driven practice of tagging an individual tweet by using a hash in front of the tag such as putting #Indiancricket in a tweet about Indian Cricket. It also makes the tweet easily searchable online. Another term is re-tweet, it is used when you update someone else’s tweet on your page. ‘@’ is the sign used for specifying that a message is for a particular individual.

People using Tweeter has developed a terminology. They use tweeple for people using twitter, twaffic is used for users’ traffic on the site, twalking is used for tweeting while walking and twitticism is used for witticism used in tweet updates. There are several other terms and many are being added by its users.

The micro-blogging phenomenon is not limited to sharing text updates.12seconds.com is a micro-blogging video website. 12 Seconds limit the length of uploads to just 12 seconds. Making a video that’s interesting but is only 12 seconds can be a bit of challenge. Currently, they only offer integration with Facebook and Twitter. Some other websites such as Pluckr, Tumblr, Posterous, Plerb and Sweeter are also known among online users for their distinctive features. There are many sites such as twitpic, pikchur, twitgoo and others which allow users to share their pictures on Twitter.

There are many sites which provide an application through which you can shorten a Universal Resource Locator (URL)—you want to share with online pals. Some sites such as bit.ly, tinyurl, ow.ly and goo.gl provide an online tool for shortening URLs. These sites are useful because many URLs exceed the character limit.

|

Cloud computing is about accessing or sharing applications, software installed on a virtual server. It facilitates data storage solution to small companies. They need not to buy bulky and expensive servers. They can subscribe to cloud computing services and access their data anytime of the day provided there is no technical problem at host’s end and no Internet connection problem at company’s end.

Cloud computing service is useful not only for small companies but also for other online users. There are hundreds of websites which allow you to save your pictures, videos and other important documents on the Web. These websites provide 1GB to 50 GB free storage. Many websites provide the service for free and a few sites charge for premium service.

Sky Drive of Microsoft delivers online file storage and sharing solution in a free and easy to use way. Other websites providing similar services are esnips.com, hordit.com, gdisk.com, mediamaster and mp3tune (for storing music collection), Flicker and Picasa (for storing pictures and videos) and many more. People can not only save their data but also access several other features i.e. sharing files with friends and public, downloading data of your interest and upload data for public usage.

There are websites which allow you to use useful applications without installing them on your personal computer or laptop. For example: you want to play around with your pictures and you don’t have any photo correction software installed on your computer. You can visit aviary.com, phixr.com, graphita.com and many more similar websites those not only have photo correction tools but also provide image hosting services.

Some popular websites like Google and Microsoft has already launched ‘cloud service platforms’. Microsoft had started the Office Web Apps on ‘Sky Drive’ for users in select countries. The platform gives users the ability to view and edit Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote documents online via browsers.  Microsoft had launched such cloud functionality to get an edge in the battle against Google Apps and similar Web-based productivity suites. Using Google Doc users can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations online and can share and collaborate in real time with others.

However, there is a problem with professional usage of cloud computing in India where Internet connection is slow and not reliable. In cloud computing, users cannot access their data when their internet connection is down or there is any technical problem at host’s end. This is a major drawback of cloud computing; particularly for the companies those deal with customers on 24x7 basis and cannot afford non-availability of their data even for a few minutes.  Until Interne connection becomes faster and more reliable than what it is today; users can continue using cloud computing platform for personal purposes.

Note- After reading the article, I would like you to watch a funny video on 'Cloud Computing' (in Hindi) that spread like a viral on YouTube. In this video, an ex IT commissioner is trying to explain Cloud Computing on TV.

|

Why is doing homework with friends better? Piazaa explains it in many ways. First, when you are at sea then someone who is stable can be a lifesaver. Second, when professors or teachers ask, there any doubts, students remain silent. Piazza, the website, helps you to connect with studious friends and tech-savvy instructors. They can help you out in virtual classrooms where you can reach out to back benchers like the ever intelligent Ranchodas Chanchad (Aamir Khan) of the movie Three Idiots.

Have you ever faced a query that stumped all your classmates including the most brilliant student in your group? Even Google Baba fails to come up with a solution. If you have ever faced such a situation, then Piazza is the answer for you.

Piazza is essentially a ‘question-and-answer platform’ for students and teachers. Students can post their questions and their peers or teachers can answer.

Pooja Nath

Piazza has been developed by a Computer Science student of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K), Pooja Nath who was annoyed as she struggled with the nuances of assignments and did not feel comfortable asking her male peers for help. She also felt that online tools, like Google and Wikipedia, were not specific enough to answer the questions that her assignments posed.

Keeping this in mind, Pooja developed a website called Piazza of which she is now the CEO. The website provides students who want to work alone an opportunity to ask questions. Piazza also allows teachers to understand the problems that students face and tailor the curriculum to their needs.

Pooja says, the platform is in the beta form and the Piazza team is making efforts to make it a helpful one.  

Students can sign up on the website and create a virtual classroom. It allows only users with an official e-mail id of schools or institutions.  The administrator of Piazza verifies the credentials of any new instructor or professor joining the virtual classroom. Students new to the website can understand the functioning of a virtual classroom through an online video on its home page.

The website is popular among tech-savvy students especially in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and other European countries. Many Indian students from different engineering colleges are also using the virtual classrooms for enhancing their knowledge of their subjects.

|

Dear friends

The year 2011 has been a busy year for me. I did many things unplanned. I was not regular in updating the blog—Newsy Take. I don’t want to go this year dry so I am updating a story written by me on the change youngsters seek in our society. This year I started writing a column Net Connect on happening in the virtual world.  I will update a few of them. I am assertive that you will find the articles interesting and informative.

This following article has been published in Yuva Sambad.

This New Year—when everyone is busy making New Year resolutions and planning to live their life anew—we tried to find out what youngsters think on issues concerning them and what changes they want in the education system, in their city and in the attitudes of people around them. Are we listening to what they want?

We tried—in this news report—to find out what irks them and what solutions they can offer to correct the system.

We also spoke to a few children in primary classes to know what they want in their dream school. Ideas flooded in from children all over Bhubaneswar. Some wanted to replace bells with music, a few demanded colourful classrooms, some asked for pin-up idea boards in each and every classroom, some came up with the idea to provide digital recorders to students so that if they go to the toilet, when they come back they can catch up on what they have missed and so on. 

A report by Abhishek Pandey on their dreams, aspirations and their new ways of living their academic, social and personal lives.

Every child aims high in life. Following the well-trod paths, many want to be doctors; some students want to go for engineering or for the civil services. Many a time their parents force them to choose careers they think are good and sometimes students do not want to risk choosing a non-traditional career option.

But nowadays the situation is changing and there is no dearth of students who dare to think out of the box and do things differently. They are setting trends for others to follow. Vikas Mohapatra is one of them.

Vikas, an MBA student, says, “I love travelling and clicking photographs. Unlike other parents, my father never forced me to become an engineer, a doctor or an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer. I wanted to become a photographer and my father always encouraged me. He is liberal and believes that everyone has his or her own forte.” Vikas says, “This year, I want other parents to take a cue from my father and allow their children to follow their heart because I believe if your heart is not in your profession you cannot excel.”

Sonali Priyadarshini, an undergraduate, wants something else. Sonali said that she is fed up with eve-teasers. “Girls face eve-teasing and molestation. I want Odisha Police to deploy adequate personnel near colleges and coaching institutions to put a stop to such instances,” she adds.

“Girls should also take some preventive steps such as carrying a pepper spray and pop-up knives for self-defence. They should join self-defence training classes too,” she suggests. “I regularly go to karate classes and no boy can dare tease me, she says.

Jitendra Moharana, a student of Masters in Social Work (MSW), is aiming to do his bit for society this year. “Chewing tobacco and smoking cigarettes are injurious to health. Though there are laws against smoking at public places many people flout the rules with apparent impunity.  I have seen students smoking inside college premises and near schools or colleges. Professors and disciplinary bodies in school should take cognisance of these important issues and must take action. Shopkeepers cannot sell cigarettes and tobacco near schools or colleges as it is against the law,” Moharana says. This year, he wants to run a special awareness campaign in all colleges and schools across Bhubaneswar.

Youngsters live their life with a true sense of belonging with their friends in schools and the neighbourhood and even in the virtual world. However, many of them believe that elders have lost the sense of belonging. Raman Agarwal, a 17-year-old student, says, “People fight with each other in society on trivial matters. I suggest that elders should learn a few lessons in social behaviour from children who forget their fights with their neighbours or school friends the next day.”

He said that people today do not have time for their friends and family and sometimes even do not talk to their family for days because of the hectic lifestyle they follow. At home, they spend time seeing television or browsing Internet. Parents should spend quality time with their children.

These youngsters seek a change in the behavioural pattern of people in the virtual world too. “I am fed up with seeing boneheaded sentences as updates and tweets in the virtual world. Internet has grown up and we should too. People update useless status—sometimes about their personal affairs and many a time they intrude into others’ lives. It is high time everyone should learn online etiquette. People should not update anything that they do not want their parents or boss to read. One should also avoid texting while in office or in a group,” suggests Radhika Chaterjee, a management trainee.

There are other students who want to bring about a change in the educational system and make it interactive. “Every student should be given an opportunity to express their ideas. I suggest every school should have a mechanism by which students can convey their ideas to the school management and teachers; be it pin-up idea boards in every classroom or through student parliament or any kind of open forum. Their ideas should be taken into consideration,” suggests Jyotirupa Mohanty, a student of class XII.

Niranjan Sahoo, a student of class IV, wants drastic changes in the way schools function. He wants that there should be no compulsory subjects and there should be more periods for sports and co-curricular activities. He wants colourful classrooms and looks for bells to be replaced with music. Students can be given digital recorders so that they do not miss important lessons while they are not in the class room. He said that these are the possible and easiest ways of making learning interesting and fun.

Other children of his age group in government schools want that the government should build infrastructure in their schools to provide facilities as good as those available in private schools. A student from a government school on condition of anonymity said, “We do not have football or basket ball grounds in our school. There are many students who can perform better than their counterparts in private schools provided that they are given proper training and facilities.” He urged that this New Year the government must come up with some schemes for providing similar facilities to government school students.

Wishing You All a Happy New Year in Advance

|

Police officials came down heavily on media persons for their extensive reporting on an eleven-year old school girl Divya, who was sodomised in a school premises and died of profuse bleeding from her private parts.

Investigation officer (IO) and Station Officer, Anil Kumar, has summoned over 21 journalists under section 160 of CrPC and have demanded proof of their media reports.

Not only that, police officials are allegedly making threatening calls in newspaper offices and warning reporters to not file stories on the issue or face consequences. Even, several vehicles meant for transporting newspapers were halted by the police officials and did not allow passing for so called flouting the norms.

The draconian act of police in absolving the culprits in rape cum murder case was exposed by the print and electronic news channels.

Police officials have arrested as many as four people in the case but have failed to prove who the real culprit is? Even, they could not conclusively prove that which is the place of crime? Police theory has numerous loopholes and Justice for Divya has become a people’s movement that is gathering momentum after leaders cuttinmg across party lines, social activists, students, youths have come forward for demanding the arrest of real culprit?

It is important to mention that police officials even did not spare the victim’s family members and resorted cane charge on them while they were staging silent protest in front of the school where the little girl died.

Does the right to speech and expression exist in real means in Kanpur?

Can police force the media persons to reveal its news sources, though even court gives them freedom for not telling their news source?

Media advocacy in several cases has brought justice for the victim’s family. Is this an attempt to put a stop on advocacy or missionary journalism?

Many more questions are being raised in media foray and these questions remain unanswered ......And, until these questions are answered. People of India could be hapless in seeing in near future cases like Priyadarshini Matoo, Jesica Lal, Nitish Katara, Nithari getting solved .....

- Busy bee

|

A nine-year old girl Divya Bhadauria was raped brutally inside a school premises in Kanpur. Divya died of profuse bleeding of around 4.5 litres blood from her private parts.

Words have to be censored harshly, if I choose to explain her sufferings and pain before her death.

It’s gory. It’s horrific. It’s unexplainable.

Her mother Sonu is still in utter shock and six year old younger sister Deeksha is waiting for Divya to come and play hide and seek with her, unaware of the fact that her sister is no more in this world.

I might have been completely driven by my intense emotions while covering the issue for HT. I might not report objectively. I might not be fair with the accused Piyush Verma or whosoever it is.

But, I am sure about one thing, a girl had been raped inhumanly and a mother has lost her nine-year old daughter. And, there is someone bloody out there who is responsible for all this mess. The girl deserves justice and the pervert deserved to be hanged till death.

But, police is insensitive and irresponsible for what reasons ? The insensitivity shown by police is sprinkling salt on the festering wounds of the deceased’s family. Police beaten up the guys, who took the girl to the hospital after school-maids literally threw the girl at her house after her condition deteriorated. Police also managed to implicate a middle-aged man for the crime and made him confess that he has committed the crime six days ago.

Autopsy reports, circumstantial evidences and statements of key people contradict police theory. The weak case will collapse in court of law. But, they hardly care. They are real dabang – fearless - in Mayawati’s fearless society.

Justice for Divya needs mobilisation of people, a people’s movement to ensure that no Divya becomes victim next door or inside your house in future.Its your movement. Come on, come out. In real world, in virtual world. Everywhere.

******

One more thing for parents, please do trust your children and take their complaints of any kind of sexual assault seriously, as more than 80 percent children in India are victims of sexual assault. And, the close relatives, teachers, uncles, neighbours are culprits in 60 percents of cases.

So, there is no good reason in not trusting your own kid.

At last, please do pray for the girl Divya so justice served without much delay.

Busy bee

|