Social Networking Vs Blogging

This article provides an insight into the latest tradition of online users experiencing a paradigm shift towards Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. While it is true that SNSs are cool and that they also serve as microblogging systems, what about blogs? Blogging, as one of the many traditions in the Internet that always changes, had its time. This raises the question about the things that a user expects out of an internet service. As a personal blogger and a SNS user, I’m here to critique some of the changes I’ve witnessed.

Genuinely inspired by friends, and articles that are littered across the web, acclaiming the advent of Facebook and the like, I believe that information sharing is an important aspect of everyone’s life. We need access to the latest news, or information, all the time. The speed at which information is delivered is also an important factor that determines if a system is efficient and qualifies our necessity.

SNSs provide such services and have clearly emerged out of the shadows. However, the quantity, or the depth of information, that these sites provide, are frugal. For instance, these sites limit the number of characters that a user can post. While this may be right in the sense that people do not normally want to see so much information cluttered in their spaces, it is sometimes insufficient to express our ideas clearly. This is very much possible in blogs, which is how I’m sharing information with YOU right now. I’d then, for instance, copy and paste the post’s link in my profile for everyone to see. I’m referring this concern only to SNSs that limit the quantity of text that the user can enter, at any given time. You must know that there are certain sites, like Ning, that provide a blogging service within their social network, to share loads of information.

Within social networking sites, developers from around the globe, develop applications that pull information from the users and use it for their purposes. Though SNSs most definitely warn people of letting their personal information out, people still want to use it for the sake of fun. And regret later. Photo tagging is another concern where any person can let out anyone’s information without their permission. I would suggest the sites that they include a feature which allows a user to permit his/her name to be tagged on a photo. Blogging, in a sense, is more secure.

Sometimes, it so happens that people lose patience of reading paragraphs of text and yawn after seeing a long article. Movie reviews and music reviews are fun, but not informative articles. Videos are better than text anyway right? So, why not post videos in a profile? I agree to a certain extent that videos speak a lot louder (no pun intended) than pictures and text. However, information, such as tutorials, can be further explained, like snippets of code, in plain text, rather than videos. This also allows reusability of code(copy and paste it dude; why bother looking at the video again and again?) too. In this aspect, social networking sites do a better job than blogs, with fetching us videos that our friends post. However, not quite good in explaining things in detail.

One final characteristic that makes blogs excel SNSs is the language. When we practise writing a big article, we increase our vocabulary as well as the ability to express ideas clearly. Creativity included. If you’re working on your blog hard enough, you wouldn’t even need a typing class. It’d clearly be a typing practise and improve accuracy. We often tend to decrease our vocabulary while using SNSs, messengers and chat applications where we shorten words and aren’t worried about grammar. I don’t mean to say that it’s bad; I realize that it is informal, but think about it. You do lose grasp on the verbose you learnt. I did. I almost scourged the Web for words whose usage in sentences I forgot.

I finish this article by establishing my opinion that SNSs are good, but please, do not get addicted to it. Blogging is much better if you spend some time in it, articulating your thoughts on good articles and share useful information.

-Suresh Gururajan

 

Noir

It was a special occasion – her thirtieth birthday. Over the years, she had seen so many things – joy, sadness, and a lot of people. On this birthday, as in any other birthday, nobody wished her – no one even seemed to know that it was on this day, thirty years ago, that she was born – as a matter of fact, planted. The mango tree, however, wasn’t hurt. In a world, where humans didn’t even care for themselves, would she matter to anyone? She would, to people who work hard all day long and took shelter under her shade; to birds whom she protected and to all living beings who consumed her delicious mangoes. She was a blessed soul and never expected anything in return. God created and nurtured her and hence, she was grateful to Him and happy to serve the world.

As the gentle breeze rustled her leaves, she pondered on some memorable incidents – memories which she would cherish forever. The moments where birds would feed their children, hide under her when the storms came, of kids playing in the park and the like. However, she chose to forget those memories when one of her branches was sawed off; snakes gobbling the eggs of birds whose parents watched in horror unable to do anything. Such things did happen in the world but the world is rougher. How could she, standing in the same place all her life, know anything outside? She knew little besides the experience she gained from her past.

She saw vast changes around her life – there was this Oak tree, 100 years elder to her, who constantly complained of noises outside the part. The main road was not far away and the noisy traffic seemed to annoy the old fellow. He had died just a few weeks ago, in his sleep. Then, he fell hard on the ground. A few days later, he was swept off, and then on, she was alone. Nobody to talk to except with God. He would often answer her prayers by sending the rains, which cleansed her. Made her happy.

She saw that the park beside the main road was once a building – a school perhaps, where children came and studied everyday. After the school hours, some of them would sit in her shade or sit leaning against her trunk. Old buildings were being replaced by newer ones except for the old university that stood tall as a landmark despite the numerous changes happening around it. The university was even older than her. The times, now, are so advanced that people from the university would come and monitor her heart, just like they do to people, using strange equipment. They would pour the right quantity of water she needed, at drought. She returned, as a token of gratitude, with juicy mangoes every year.

Years ago, she had witnessed the effect of war on people. Everyone was hungry and ate just once a day. They were overjoyed when she bloomed mangoes. And now, these hungry people wouldn’t even return to see her on her birthday, but people are people. They forget good things you do. However, she had no regrets on the way she lived. She contemplated the future and sighed. She was not going to see it anyway would she?

-Suresh Gururajan

 

Cheating the DESERVED

This post is taken from SPY’s blog and is located here.

Often in our life we don’t know what we deserve. But that too comes to light once we start practicing things which are meant for the deserved. This is the point where we need to be wise enough to make the right decision and lead our life in the correct path. But this is the same point, I don’t know for what reason, where the human mentality drives the man crazy in the wrong path.

A little description about the environment at that situation would help us understand the radicals which affect our mind to take such drastic turn. At first a person aims at certain objective. This aiming can be done with various motives. Either he might think himself capable, knowingly or unknowingly. Or he is in a forcing situation where he needs to meet the objective.

Then he takes necessary steps to get the objective. During this process the human will come to know about his real ability. Now the person has four options.

i)If he realizes that he is well accustomed with the task, he starts practicing the task in a more promising way to attain the objective.

ii)If he realizes that he is not that much in line with the task but he is not in a forcing situation, he might leave the task not obtaining the aim.

iii)On the other hand if he is in a forcing situation and is not capable , he might try to make himself capable or

iv)he might find some shortcuts or crooked way to meet the objective.

If the person takes the first choice, he is correct and is in a correct path. This turns out to be a good one. Now consider the second option. It is when he gave a try, found out he is not he man for the job and give-up, go search for his correct path. This choice will surely help the person to find the right path some way or the other. He will surely be doing great in HIS task later. The third choice is volatile one. If the person is in a forcing situation then he tries hard to develop the skills needed to obtain the objective. During this process he might eventually end up developing real skills, so that he might take the first choice. Or knowing he will not be able to master the skill, he devises some shortcuts to obtain the objective. This last decision of making shortcuts is as stupendous as a suicide. He can surely attain the objective. What he doesn’t know is that in the future he will surely face a situation for which he is trained for and will not be successful. This choice can be illustrated by the decision made by a frustrated student. Knowing that he have taken the wrong turn in his career path, many students struggle hard and finally end up with no knowledge about the career and have knowledge only about some so-called “Techniques” with which they can do nothing.

The greatest of all the tragedies is, the truly deserved ones end with no opportunity. This leads to a chain of unfavourable actions. The wrong ones are chosen for a task where he might apply his crookedness to achieve his objective, which leads to degradation of the final output. This is not only a suicide but also a murder. The person is not only cheating himself but also the truly deserved ones. The person who has the true eligibility might sometimes miss his opportunity to succeed.

As quoted in a film, even the smallest decision might change your life. It not only changes yours. So be wise in following the correct path and lead a happy life.

 

Rediscovering Myself

On the road to a long and arduous journey called life, I lost myself in its dense forests, not knowing where to go and how to proceed further.  Realizing now, that life has so much to offer than I had initially thought, I begin a new voyage – a journey to rediscover myself. The nostalgia for days left behind and memories long forgotten has rekindled a passion which cannot be described by words. Fortunately, I recorded almost half of my life in paper which would keep the old days still fresh as ever.

 

Solitary, I sit here and look at the sky gazing at the stars reflecting upon the times that were memorable – times that haunt me in the dark. The magic of such days still linger and evoke a smile when ever I feel distressed.

I often wonder why the world changes all the time – couldn’t it just be constant and never change? Why is it that the world moves on to discover lots of things without which life could have been much simpler? And sustainable. To seek necessity our of luxurious things doesn’t make the world a better place to live. While peace of mind achieves this to a certain extent, I feel that people should socialize more and adjust among themselves to make their environment better.

Humans, as I realized, are blessed with their senses which makes them unique from the other life forms. Also, each human is different from the other. And when humans control their senses and their uniqueness, what is the point in being a human? Whenever I see people around me, I often think of how they were, a few years ago and how changed they are, now. And when the change is for the good, I feel happy for them.

The world, as of now, is driven by competition – nothing is spared and only the fittest survive. Competition would, in a way, surface the dreams, hopes, and passion that advocate success for great people. However, negative competition may spark a virulent change for the rivals as well as their environment.

What I have done so far does not account for even a small percentile of what life teaches us. Why is it that when I look at my past, I feel that it was much better than the present. Mistake. The only way you can rediscover yourself is by looking at yourself. And when you realize that your past life was better, you shouldn’t strive towards the past. Past is something that is over. Left behind. It leaves nothing but memories. Present occurs forever. Striving towards making your present, better, is rational.

Having realized this, I try to get the melancholy of the past out of my mind and assess what can be done to make the present, beautiful. Life has so much to offer and I wouldn’t restrict myself to anything. I’m going to let my imagination soar. I’m going to be what I was created for. I’m going to be myself again.

 

A Mother

I found this wonderful poem on Moallima’s Blog, CrystalsBouquet.

A lady who gives birth to an innocent life,
A lady who takes pains for her young life,
A lady who sacrifices her desirous mind,
A lady who sheds the tears of affection behind,
Of course is a Mother.

A lady who stands by always around her child,
A lady who feels the very essence of her child,
A lady who serves indeed without compensation,
A lady who is the only care taker one in a million,
Of course is a Mother.

A lady who is like a charm the luckiest,
A lady who shares the grieves very deepest,
A lady who absorbs all wounds so wisely,
A lady who teaches never to be wily,
Of course is a Mother.

A lady who never shirks her duty,
A lady whose deepest love is for eternity,
A lady who can listen to the heartaches,
A lady who whose patience never shakes,
Of course is a Mother.

A Mother is the most glorious blessing in this world,
A Mother is the tenderness of pearl so lustrous,
A Mother is the reality of the illusionary dream world,
A Mother is the symphony of a music so sensuous.

-Crystal

 

Narrowing the focus

Taken from : http://careyrowland.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/narrowing-the-focus/

When you are young, your horizons expand. Your world gets wider and wider.

It starts when you’re born. . After cacooning in total darkness and protective custody for nine months or so, suddenly there you are splashed down like a space capsule into a wave-tossed world. It’s probably confusing as hell for a young soul, a rude awakening for sure. But then who remembers it? I don’t.

Your senses go to work immediately, trying to make some sense of it all, not that you have any sense yet–just senses. More than likely, they are overloaded right off the bat. But then somehow you manage to pull it together and register your protest to this rude awakening with a scream. Good for you. If you’re lucky like most people, you’re mama will cuddle you and offer a warm welcome even in the midst of this strangely cold environment.  But if mama rejects you then only God can help you. Maybe you’ll make it through the other phases into real life, or maybe you won’t.

If you do make it, and years go by, your senses slowly learn how to deal with life, and they develop a collaborative arrangement with your body that informs your body of what is happening around you and then your brain tells you how to respond in any given situation. And God helps if you let him.

Time passes; your opportunities for personal development grow and grow. Your world gets wider and wider. If you are blessed, you’ll eventually learn how to live life and enjoy it instead of just having some meaningless routine.

Lately I’ve noticed that when folks get old that whole process seems to reverse. The senses seem to wither away, becoming less precise and less dependable as the days roll by. One or the other of them may even shut down altogether, even before that big bucket comes along and you kick it. And it’s not just a person’s senses that slowly fade away. It’s also their sensibilities.  Old folks just aren’t tuned into what’s going on like they were back in the day. Any particular person may be sharp as a tack with the long term memories and all, but there just doesn’t seem to be many reasons left for them to be tuning into all the other stuff that’s happening around them in this life, especially the useless stuff like who’s the latest movie star and drivel like that.

Most folks will go through this process, having their awareness gradually narrowed until at last it’s just a little speck of consciousness–a little essence of _______(fill in your name) that slips into the universe, whatever that is. For me, it will be meeting the resurrected one, Jesus.

Some folks, though, will not have the experience of that slow narrowing. They will not grow old and pass into eternity. Perhaps their demise will come suddenly, like it did for the person whose foot I saw on the telly last night.

I turned the damn thing on after Pat and I arrived at the hotel room here in Honolulu. And so there on the tube is Anderson Cooper reporting on the pile of Haitian rubble behind him. He gestures downward; the camera pans to a human foot, the only visible part of body that’s covered with a broken concrete slab. Whoever that person was, he or she did not grow old.

Or, It didn’t look like an old foot.

 

Dear Diary – Euphoric Wanderings

Taken from : http://toocliche.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/dear-diary/

Dear diary,

I really dun get y ppl have to write down dear diary while writing in diaries. Why can’t you just write out your thoughts as you think of them. You’re already talking to yourself in your head, don’t need to make urself seem crazier by pretending to talk to an inanimate object.

Dear diary,

I am fully aware by saying the above, iI am putting myself up to seem much more insane as being a person who is bugged by something totally irrelevant but then again it has been no secret that i am crazeeee (emphasize on the wailing eeee). N I’m bored in class while writing this so i guess u guys get my predicament.

Dear diary,

How do writers get focused? When i start writing of course ideas flow like a river but I find myself thinking of ideas for more than just one story. And i want to write them all because I’m afraid I would forget later. Result is I have a bunch of unfinished stories which I don’t know which to finish first. Problem is I like the freedom of writing stories based on my mood so I dun like it when i feel i hav to stick to one story just to finish it. SO what happens is i stopped putting in my stories in here bcos i jus dun feel like continuing the story tat i have posted in here yet.

Dear, dear diary,

I am in a rut. A rut of circumstances and my own creation. The weird part is I am somewhat comfotable in my rut. I have no willpower to get out of it anytime soon. But time is not waiting for me, this rut will soon turn into hell if i dun start to change it.  Urgghh.

Dear, dear, dear diary,

I feel like a dandelion seed, idly waiting for a strong wind to blow me away in a new direction. To put it simply, totally useless and helpless.

 

Leashed Passion!

Many of you might wonder what LEASHED PASSION means. Well, it’s a drawing by Laurie Lipton and I’m going to describe that image now.

What’s so special in this post? Well, it’s just that if you have some time to think, just read on and imagine the things I write. After you’ve read on and have an image of the things I described, please scroll down and look at the image and see how far my description and your imagination have matched. So, here’s what Leashed Passion is all about.

“The little child, sitting on top of the gray-coloured beast, smiled as though he achieved something great. He had blonde hair which were not neatly trimmed, but instead, grew almost to his shoulders. He held the leash to which the beast was tied. There was something haunting about the whole scene. The room was painted with shades of blue and white with different fractals one could imagine. The child wore a shoe, a canvas shoe, used by most people for jogging, yet, why should a child wear one? The smile on his face was genuine, pure hearted and bore no hint of evil. His little hands gently caressed the black fur of the beast which seemed to obey every word the child said. Toys were strewn all over the room, which represented a typical baby’s room.”

Let’s see how far the description has matched the picture.

Here’s the actual picture.

 

A Place Called Solitude

A lonely place

To some, solitude may seem a curse as they feel they’re isolated from their relatives and beloved friends. But what I feel is that solitude, as a character given by a being called God, is a blessing, as it helps reveal some of the deepest thoughts within us. The indissoluble bonds of life are all too often stressed to the point of exasperation and the only thing that people may seek, in that situation, is a place called Solitude – a lonely place with no one to talk to, a place where the beauty of things around us – nature, children and trees, unfold in great magnitudes.

The fast moving life of the city, in many aspects can make a person resort to isolation. It replenishes their inherent energy and takes them to new and fresh levels. Surrendering to isolation does not make a person better – it totally changes the attitude of the person which may become undesirable in certain cases.

Alone

Some of the resplendent ideas of a person can be surfaced by keeping him in this dark and creepy world. It’s eerie, but when people are left alone to think for themselves, they do so in a multitude of ways before finally settling off for a calm and a normal approach to the world. Thoughts, which run in their minds like an infinite waterfall, are cleared in the blackness of life and the person begins to see a better and desirable ways to reach their goals.

Unfortunately, isolation is often misinterpreted as a sign of emotional disgust and hatred. Maybe it is true, but I haven’t had any such experiences that would affect me so.

The place called solitude offers you much more than you expect – the only thing is what you see in it. If you think isolation results in emotional failure, think again – it may actually brighten you up. Thinking about your life for a period of five minutes is enough to have a flow of coherent ideas and a mystic peace. Try it, if you want to. I did and I don’t regret it.

 

The World and Chaos

What makes the world run? What is the factor that constantly changes the world? If you think order is what changes, maybe you’re wrong. In a world of order, randomness rules. One should remember that as the world moves on, then so is the distance between things. Everything is in disorder. If humans evolved over time, why not the other creatures? Why’s the level of oceans increasing and the land sinking over time; can’t it be the other way? Though light is filled everywhere, why does darkness always make it there first? There are many questions like these which can’t be answered through an argument.

According to Hesiod’s Theogony (the origin of the gods), Chaos was the nothingness out of which the first objects of existence appeared. In a similar way, the book of Genesis in the Bible refers to the earliest conditions of the Earth as “without form, and void”, while Ovid’s Metamorphoses describes the initial state of the Universe as a disorganised mixture of the four elements:

Rather a rude and indigested mass:
A lifeless lump, unfashion’d, and unfram’d,
Of jarring seeds; and justly Chaos nam’d.
No sun was lighted up, the world to view;
No moon did yet her blunted horns renew:
Nor yet was Earth suspended in the sky,
Nor pois’d, did on her own foundations lye:
Nor seas about the shores their arms had thrown;
But earth, and air, and water, were in one.
Thus air was void of light, and earth unstable,
And water’s dark abyss unnavigable.

There are many explanations as to who or what Chaos is, but most theories state that it was the void from which all things developed into a distinctive entity, or in which they existed in a confused and amorphous shape before they were separated into genera. In other words, Chaos is or was “nothingness”. Though some ancient writers thought it was the primary source of all things, other writers tell of Gaia (Earth) being born from Chaos without a mate, along with Eros and Tartarus. Then from Gaia came Uranus (Heaven or Sky) which gave us Heaven and Earth.

Chaos has been described as the great void of emptiness within the universe from which Eros came and it was he who gave divine order and also perfected all things. In later times it was written that Chaos was a confused shapeless mass from which the universe was developed into a cosmos, or harmonious order. For instance, as above, Hesiod’s Theogony says that Erebus and Black Night (Nyx) were born of Chaos, and Ovid the Roman writer described Chaos as an unordered and formless primordial mass. The first Metomorphoses reads, “rather a crude and indigested mass, a lifeless lump, unfashioned and unframed, of jarring seeds and justly Chaos named”.