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Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Government Monitoring of Email
Eyes Watering Over Soaring Onion Prices - Govt Curbs Export
Image source: http://www.topnews.in/law/onion-prices-soar-curbs-imposed-exports-243048
Maharashtra is supposed to be the country's highest producer of onions, about 31 lakh tonnes on an average. India is the second highest onion producing country after China and the biggest exporter of this essential commodity.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Watch "Sheila Ki Jawani" Tees Maar Khan (Full Song) HD
Katrina Kaif voted sexiest woman in the world - Photos, pics, wallpapers
No Boards For CBSE Students - Finally CBSE Students will Graduate Without Sitting for Board Exams
A: No.The internal school assessment marksheet will be identical to that issued to a student who sat for the board exam
Q. If you opt out of the CBSE board exam,will you get your results at the same time as someone who sits for it?
A: Yes
Q. Who will assess the exam papers?
A: For those who appear for the board exam,60% of the assessment will be done by the school and 40% by external examiners.
For those who opt out of the board exam,the entire assessment will be undertaken by the school.
Q. Who sets the exam papers?
A: The board will set the papers for both students who appear for the board exams as well as those who dont.In both cases,this will account for 40% of the total assessment.
Q. If you choose to not sit for the board exam,will the marksheet that you receive be adequate while applying to another board?
A: Yes.You can apply to a junior college in Mumbai on the basis of your marks even if you do not sit for the board exam.
Q. If you are a Class X student at a particular CBSE school,are you guaranteed a seat in Class XI in the same school?
A. Yes (irrespective of whether or not you appear for the board exam)
Q. Are all CBSE schools in the country giving students the option of dropping the Class X board exam?
A. Only CBSE schools that run till Class XII are giving students the option of dropping out of the board exam.
Q. When is the last day to finalize your decision?
Well, the last date to make your decision has flown past, so either way, whether you are sitting for the boards or not, it doesn't matter. So, just relax, and study for the exams like any other exam, without any stress. That's the whole idea.
While this piece of news may come as a good news for some, most may still be skeptical about the results and the consequences, either way. Whether this system will really work, only time will tell. For example, "Jyotsna Wankhade whose son will be appearing for the board exam says: In Mumbai, there are many issues and prejudices when it comes to students from other boards.We dont want to give the government another reason to not accept our sons application."
Being Too Clean Can Be a Health Hazard
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Original article posted on Xomba.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Search Engine Optimization, SEO, for Website Owners – Bang For Your Buck
Search Engine Optimization, SEO, is a subject which most website owners do not understand much of and hold in awe. Almost every business or professional service, needs to have a website these days. Since designing and developing a website is beyond the scope of the website owners and their IT department, if they have one, most people hire a professional company to design and develop the website, of course on payment. This is where the things get murky. The website developer will make your website but wants extra money for Search Engine Optimization.
Now, what use is a website of, if it is not optimized for search? Should you be paying for a product which does not meet your ultimate objective of being visible on the Internet? We have seen many websites, even those which are listed as recent works of the website developing companies, which are not optimised for search. When we were looking for a website developer for a client, we spoke to a couple of these people and asked them why the websites developed by them were not optimised for search. I got the answer that the website owners had not paid for SEO. Wow!
Now consider this, the developer wants extra money for doing basic things which are required to be done in accordance with the W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium guidelines. Let us take, for example, accessibility. It is required that web be made accessible to people with disabilities. One of the requirements is that all the images in websites be tagged with alt text, which will allow a vision impaired person using a screen reader to know what the image is. Search Engines also promote accessibility. But the website developer will not use alt text for the images unless you pay him for it. Search engines will accordingly penalise your website for having images without alt text.
This is ridiculous. First they charge you and do only half the job, and then, they charge you again for completing their original job. SEO as a service should start from the point of completion of development of a Search Engine friendly (optimised) Website and should mainly comprise of optimising the external factors which are used for ranking of web pages. Unfortunately the SEO companies as well as website developers are treating SEO as a completely separate business and are essentially looting customers.
Most of the things required for optimising a website are actually a part of the development process and if the website owners know what these things are, they can ensure that the coding is done accordingly. Therefore it is imperative that website owners know what SEO is and how they can demand for the basic elements to be incorporated in the website itself.
Our book, Search Engine Optimisation - A Handbook of Easy Tips, Tools & Techniques has been written with this in mind and covers the basic requirements of SEO for website and SEO for content. Website owners will find this book handy and will be able to cut costs in the website development process and also get better results for their money.
The Kindle version of the book is available at http://www.amazon.com/Search-Engine-Optimisation-ebook/dp/B004CJ816A
The paperback book is currently available at the publisher website at http://www.pustakmahal.com/book/book/bid,,7766A/isbn:9788122311525/index.html The book should be available in stores and other online book stores as well, in a few days time.
Online Stores
http://www.a1books.co.in/search-engine-optimisation/itemdetail/8122311520/
http://www.flipkart.com/search-engine-optimisation-varinder-taprial-book-8122311520
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Top 10 Hot Toys For Your Kids This Christmas 2010
Check out the Christmas Corner for your Christmas Shopping!!
Original article posted on Xomba.
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
Book on Search Engine Optimisation - Handbook of Easy Tips Tools and Techniques
- Understanding how Search Engines Work
- Understanding Search Engine Optimisation
- Tips and techniques to optimise website design
- Tips and techniques to optimise content
- Tips for choosing an SEO company
- Handy tools available on the web
- Promoting your website or blog
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Lit Agency Starts Manuscript Review Service
Laser Dentistry – Changing the Face of Dental Treatment
Understanding Lasers and Its History
Application Of Laser Dentistry
Laser Dental equipment : http://www.kavo.com/Default.aspx?navid=27&oid=002&lid=en
Image shows the latest KEY Laser 3+ from Kavo.
- Detect early cavities
- Cavity removal
- Teeth whitening
- Cosmetic Dentistry
- Gum reshaping
- To seal tubules which decreases and/or eliminates the uncomfortable sensitivity of teeth.
- Can be used for hardening bonding materials used in fillings
- To remove bacteria from periodontal pockets
- Minimise bleeding in surgical procedures
- Minimise bacterial infections during surgical procedures as the high-energy beam has a sterilizing effect on the area worked on.
- Dental lasers may be used to quickly reduce pain and inflammation of the temporomandibular jaw joint.
- Dental lasers may be used for the painless and suture-free removal of benign tumours from the gums, palate, sides of cheeks and lips.
- Low intensity dental lasers reduce pain associated with cold sores and minimize healing time.
- Photobiomodulation can be used to regenerate damaged nerves, blood vessels and scars.
- Optical Coherence Tomography is a safer way to see inside tooth and gums in real time.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Vicodin – Should it Be Banned?
- Using the drug even after the pain for which it was used is no longer there
- Inability to cope with routine things
- Feeling physically ill
- Trying to buy Vicodin without prescription or looking for doctors who will prescribe Vicodin
- Your family or friends indicate that your behaviour has changed after starting the medication
- History of head injury or tumor,
- Low blood pressure
- Liver or kidney disease
- Stomach or intestinal disorder
- Mental illness
- Spinal disorders
- A history of alcohol abuse
- Hypothyroidism
- Adrenal gland disorders
- Asthma, other breathing disorders like COPD or sleep apnoea
Monday, October 11, 2010
Beware of Mosquito-Borne Diseases Malaria, Chikungunya and Dengue Fever
Malaria
**Useful Resources for Malaria:
National Institute of Malaria Research
Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Malaria in India
All about Malaria
Chikungunya
**Useful Resources for Chikungunya:
How to Recognize Chikungunya Fever Symptoms
Treatment and Prevention of Chikungunya Fever
WHO / Chikungunya – Complete Information
Chikungunya - Frequently Asked Questions
Molecular and serological diagnosis of Chikungunya virus infection
Dengue Fever
**Useful Resources for Dengue Fever:
What is dengue and how is it treated?
Dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever
Information on Dengue Fever: Signs Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention
CDC - Dengue
- Taking prescription anti-malarial drugs.
- Practise the 5 “D”s – Don’t go out during Dusk and Dawn. Dress so your skin is protected from mosquito bites (long shirt sleeves and pants). Apply mosquito repellent containing Deet to bare skin and clothing. Drain out water to avoid stagnation and dry out the containers.
- Use mosquito netting to sleep. It is proved to be the most effective way of preventing mosquito bites.
- Sleep in an air-conditioned room or well-screened room.
Original article posted on Xomba
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Social Media Management – Why a Business Can Not Ignore it Anymore
Summary: Social media is yielding an ever increasing importance in the establishment or sustainability of a business. Social Media Management encompasses a holistic strategy to listen, converse, monitor and manage conversations to enhance and preserve your brand reputation. It is not only about having a presence in the social media but also to keep a track on all the conversations about your brand taking place on various networks and taking preventive or corrective action to avoid small issues snowballing into major disasters for your business.
A random patient of a hospital in Thane, near Mumbai, had this to say about his experience at the hospital,
“I am (name hidden) from thane. I got dengue on 26 july 2010 i was admitted on
This man does not seem like a regular user of Internet by his language, but then that only goes on to highlight his suffering and desperation to get justice for the wrong that purportedly was done to him. Even though I did not scour the entire Internet and the Social media for the number of people who had shared the story, I could easily find at least four or five sites/blogs who had taken up the cause. I do not know whether the hospital has even noticed this post by one of their patients much less responded to it.
To give the benefit of doubt to the hospital, maybe, it did not happen the way the patient has described it or maybe it is all an attempt by a competing hospital to tarnish the reputation of the said hospital. But the sad fact is that every time a person is reading the post of this patient, the hospital is losing credibility and maybe a patient.
For all the benefits of advertisement and promotional expenditure made by a company or a positive article about the company in the media, one negative post by a user can damage a company’s business irreparably.
Social Media – Social media in it’s broadest sense is any media which allows for social interaction or exchange of user generated content. So it can range from niche forums, groups, social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, Orkut and Twitter and personal blogs. Most people, rather businesses presume that the social interaction does not have far reaching consequences and hence is not required. What they have forgotten is the age old marketing technique of “Word of Mouth”. Social media is nothing but a word of mouth build up of a brands reputation. Only difference is that in case of social media the word spreads much faster and is not bound by the geographical limits. In fact it is universal.
Social Media Presence – Even today most small businesses and some big business houses as well, do not have social media presence. Call it arrogance or ignorance; they are just not realizing what a load of opportunity costs they are suffering. In the olden days, the very same businesses used to have a customer satisfaction feedback system in place, wherein they would ask the customers to rate their product or/and services. Some of them still do. But what the higher management in these businesses has not understood is that the system had its lacunae. For one, most customers thought it to be waste of time. Secondly the system was very easy to game. Employees could get together and weed out the negative feedback at will. And to think that the only time the business was engaging the customer was just before and after making the sale.
Social media these days offers an opportunity to the businesses to engage with prospective as well as existing customers on a regular basis. To top it all it is free, mostly unless you start paid marketing online.
There are many social media websites which can be used for engagement with your customers. One needs to identify the websites depending on their business, region and objectives. Your social media presence comprises of creating business profiles on such websites and then following it up with updates regarding new products, news, press releases and of course when required public relations and responses to public reaction on some events. Effectively used the social media can provide you with a handy tool to not only enhance your business but also to avert adverse publicity because of a frustrated user or just some competitor trying to sabotage your brand. By quickly responding to a negative conversation on your brand, you can mitigate the damage such negative conversations can have on your brand’s reputation.
After you have created a public profile for your business, you need to create a following and the best way to do it is frank and honest communications. Even amongst the followers, though you need to treat them equally, there are users who you can identify as influencers, i.e. people who are experts in the subject or those who have a tremendous loyal following. Such influencers need to be engaged with, promoted and positively utilised to serve your interests.
Another important issue which many businesses have not utilised is having a business, company or corporate blog. A blog allows you to unashamedly talk about your company; it is your blog, after all. You can use it to give details of products, upcoming events, promotions and your corporate social responsibility initiatives. A blog also has the advantage of being easily optimised for search engines by way of constantly changing content, something a website can not allow you to do. Therefore a blog can be used as a channel to get your customers to your website. A blog also gives you the opportunity to reward your employees by speaking about their achievements and how they made a difference and finally your own employees can be used to not only contribute to the blog but also to spread the word about it through their own personal blogging or social networking efforts.
Social Media Reputation Management
Even if one does not have a proactive, outbound social media policy, one still needs to know what people are talking about your brand, your competitors and your individual products or services. We saw in the example above, how a user started a negative conversation and the same was picked up by a few other websites. There is every chance that a negative conversation explodes into a publicity nightmare for a business. Therefore one has to take prompt corrective action at the earliest suitable opportunity effectively nipping the issue in the bud. Unfortunately action can be taken only when one comes to know about such negative conversations starting. This is where the aspect of “listening” to conversations on the social media comes into play. If you do have a social media presence, chances are that a conversation in your network will reach your eyes pretty soon. But what if you are not part of the network where such a conversation starts. In this case you need dedicated professionals, who may or may not be your employees, to keep a watch on the social media networks across the board and apprise you of such developments.
How Does One Do It?
It sounds like a tall order to manage so many activities, networks and people at the same time. But it is not so difficult. There are social media management tools, paid as well as free ones, which can help you get started. The social media is getting inter-twined and is allowing a networking of networks. You can use tools to post status updates to multiple sites with one click of the mouse. There are social media alert tools available which will alert you to any conversation about your brand on any or selected networks. There are tools available to counter negative publicity about your brand. It is all out there, what one needs to do is develop a strategy, pick up the right tools and then do the right things.
About The Author
Sunday, September 26, 2010
What A Judgment? Fan Club Exemption!!
Take for instance, the money you spend on your clothes which you wear to work. Aren't you wearing decent clothes to work so as to maintain your popularity amongst your colleagues and the superiors. Try going to your work place in tatters and you will be ticked off immediately, if not fired. Why should this expense not be exempted?
In fact everything about you, the kind of house you are staying in, the locality, the car you drive, the luxury you can afford in a way promotes your profession. No one is enticed to follow the profession of a guy who lives in a chawl, and does not have access to the the materialistic goodies of life.
In this era of sycophancy it is important to have a fan club in each and every profession. You need subordinates who will say yes and support you in your innovative, even stupid ideas to move up in life. One also needs superiors who will overlook your mistakes and still give you good reports in the annual appraisals. Don't these groups of subordinates or superiors form a fan club for the individual and whatever money one spends on them, parties, dinners, birthday gifts etc should be exempt from taxation. And what about that Tiara or a new dress one's wife buys for attending the company party and enhancing your popularity in the company circles.
Take the logic a bit further. One's children are their biggest fans. And, by God, you do need to maintain your popularity with them and parenthood is a full time profession. So next time you buy that PS3 or Nintendo, remember to put it in your exemptions. Will this happen? Fat chance!!
We should stop and wonder why this judgment came through. Is the judiciary crazy enough to not recognize the implications of this order? No it is the money talking. The plaintiff had money to fight the case for more than five years. He had enough money to hire a good lawyer. He had enough clout to swing the argument in his favor, assuming that he did not buy the judge off. He sure had enough time to wait for the right, buyable one, to come along.
There are enough people in this country who know things are wrong, who want to set things right, who want to fight and present their arguments to the judiciary but they just do not have the time and the money to go through the process. That is why the Rich get their way and the others just have to comply with the regulations and rules which in all probability have been left behind by the Britishers when they left the country.
This judgement, if upheld, will be the greatest slap on the face of the Indian Common man, who will not only spend money on being a fan but also bear the brunt of paying more taxes because his star will not be paying the taxes he/she owes to the government. The Rich get richer and the Poor get poorer.
Laloo's fans! Anyone?
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