Anything Under the Sun!!!

SpiralFrog.com, a site supported by ads, which would provide free music and video download, is being launched in U.S. and Canada. This site would pay a certain percentage of their ad revenue to record companies and in turn, would be a legal downloading site. This is being done in view of reducing the popularity of illegal sharing and downloading sites.

So, what are the pros and cons of such a site???

Pros:

1. A legal way of downloading
2. Reduction in piracy
3. No threats of adwares or spywares
4. You cannot post copies or videos taken from SpiralFrog

Cons:

1. You need to register on to this site and if you don’t login every month, whatever you have downloaded gets locked and you can’t play it.
2. Not compatible with Apple’s Mac or Ipod.
3. Universal Music group is the only major label that has licensed its music to SpiralFrog.
4. So, right now only around 800,000 tracks and 3,500 music videos (though they are planning to increase that number in sometime).

Don’t know if a Pro or Con:

1. Doesn’t allow the user to burn tracks onto a CD.
2. The tracks carry copy protections, like iTunes, etc.
3. Users are allowed to copy their downloads to no more than two portable music players or compatible mobile phones at one time.

There are also other issues which the site might face. For example, how many users would actually go through the ads? Would the ads generate any revenue? Another setback for the site is the delay in its launch (it was supposed to be launched by the end of 2006). Apart from all that the users of this site would be music lovers, who would want a hassle-free and faster way to download. So, it’s for us to decide whether sites like these are meant to stay or not.

Why does a certain President of a certain country commits bundles of blunders (which are extremely obnoxious and slanderous)? And why did people of that certain country choose that guy as their Prez (hmmm…making others wonder about their thinking capabilities and voting opportunities)?

His country is being visited by a monarch of another certain country. And even this visit is not devoid of his hillarious antics. He actually slipped up on the monarch’s age (one of the many he keeps slipping on). He was commenting on the monarch’s last visit to the country. “You helped us celebrate our bicentennial in 1796…Er, 1976″, slipped our Prez. This one was smiled away by the monarch. But even then Prez couldn’t stop slipping. He winked at the monarch in the presence of around 7,000 guests, and this time inviting the monarch’s “frosty glare”.

Well, this is nothing unusual for the Prez who loves adding words to the English taxonomy and inventing unusual paradoxes. He is also famous for his “out-of-the-world”, extremely “intelligent” comments. Just chanced upon a few.

1) “I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound largemouth bass in my lake.” –on his best moment in office, interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, May 7, 2006.

2) “I think — tide turning — see, as I remember — I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of — it’s easy to see a tide turn — did I say those words?” –asked if the tide was turning in Iraq, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006.

3)”Politics comes and goes, but your principles don’t. And everybody wants to be loved — not everybody…. You never heard anybody say,’I want to be despised, I’m running for office.” at Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007.

4) “That’s why we are inconveniencing air traffickers, to make sure nobody is carrying weapons on airplanes.” at Washington D.C., April 3, 2007.

These are just few of them. But this man is “famous” for his “over-the-top” behaviour and absurd comments (and he’s completely oblivious of all his misadventures… hmmm…sigh!!!). Yet he is definitely entertaining and amusing. Three cheers for the Dubyaman!!!
 

Must have heard of this certain “disease” subtly called MTI, and expandedly known as Mother Tongue Influence.

This is a “disease” most of non-English speakers suffer from (though no one would want to admit it). Having this disease could make you almost an outcast. Society finds it really difficult to keep such “diseased” people among their circle. Though it’s not actually communicable or an epidemic, it’s dreaded like any other disease.

Who all suffer from this “disease”? Most of us actually…

So, what is this “disease”? It’s a speech-related problem which would make us incomprehensible to a lot of people or in more complicated words, MTI is the influence of your mother tongue on your accent, basically while speaking English.

Do only south Indians show the symptoms? Not only south Indians, all non-native speakers of English do (that would make all Indians vulnerable).

If a south Indian and a north Indian suffer from this and are talking about making things ’simple’, you might hear it as either “simbl” or “simpal”. Or you could hear “konstrukson” (construction), “bhaat” (what), “aadio” (audio), brekphast (breakfast). These are the few symptoms of this “disease”. So, beware of “the disease”.

But jokes apart. Does it really make any difference? We speak English and as far as people can understand I don’t think any kind of influence should actually bother anyone. English is a universal language and is all accepting. The English we speak can be termed Indian English and is completely acceptable, then why do we make such a hue and cry and mockery out of it?

Happy Women’s Day!!!

This day belongs to the Women of the world,  women who have been called the “fairer sex”, “weaker sex”, “the better half”, etc etc. But what are women actually?

Are we the “fairer sex”? Not really… How can a person’s skin colour determine what sex they belong to? Or the sex determine what colour they should have? (ahem ahem…) So, calling us the “fairer sex” doesn’t make any sense, does it?

So, are we the weaker sex? Definitely not (guys can shake their heads negatively as much as they want to). Women may be physically weak (though not all) but their mental ability to withstand all problems has to be appreciated. And even in the area of physical strength, it’s only because not all of us have been trained to be physically strong (its feminine to be weak!!!). Now whose fault is that?

And how about being the “better half”? Well, I would agree to that only if it didn’t sound so sarcastic (it does sound sarcastic). It’s not that I am trying to look at the darker side of everything, but the “worse half” always love to indulge in sarcasm.

So, what are we actually? We are the ‘wo-men’ from where the ‘men’ come. So, why do we need all these adjectives? Let us be what we are – WOMEN!!!

“Why did you leave journalism?”

I have been hearing this question from the time I dropped the idea of pursuing my higher studies in journalism and instead landed in a completely different job. So why the big leap? And that too at a time when media’s the most sought after career.

Well, we are taught a lot of things in the classroom. But its not the real thing. You get to know the real thing only when you land up right in the middle of the s**t. Not that I had the “chance” of getting stuck there. I wanted to get into television; news scripting or editing. But the plight of the news channels today made me reconsider my decision. On second thoughts, I realized, “Why should I compromise on my values and be trampled on by some money-loving ‘news makers’?”

They are ‘the news makers’; they create news if there isn’t any. Or just exaggerate any news story, unnecessarily hype it so that people are stuck to the news channels. If there’s a main news story, it would be shown on the channel the whole day, pushing the viewers to desperation to look for other options (though people love to devour “interesting” stories, but it becomes unbearable after some time). Why don’t the media barons realize this?

News channels are the most viewed ones especially during a crisis or disaster. So, why not make it effective journalism? Something worthwhile, something that would really help people. But does anyone care? Do people like us-ME and YOU-really care?

“JMM MP Mahto, 41, was killed by suspected Maoist rebels on Sunday evening near Narsingh village of Jamshedpur district, about 140 km from here. “

This news has been flashing on all the news channels from yesterday. Saw it in the newspaper today morning. Well, to be frank didn’t read the whole news story but was trying to link it to my friend. My friend and room mate is from Jamshedpur. But didn’t give much thought to it.

Later, when I met her after coming back from my uncle’s place she told me that her uncle had died, her dad’s sister’s husband and that he has been murdered. That’s when it struck to me that she was talking about Sunil Mahato. Though he’s her dad’s cousin’s husband they are a close-knit family.

The whole of Bihar and Jharkhand is protesting. But how far does all this high-tension drama go? There will be investigation and then maybe CBI probe. Will it give the desired results? Will the real perpetrators be punished? Or will it be like those scores of incidents which go unpunished every year?

Sunil Mahato leaves behind his wife and two young children-the youngest one is only a year old. So, what happens next???

Language is a method of verbal communication. The communication method used by animals cannot be called language as they do not follow a systematic verbal method. Language has evolved along with time especially the second most widely spoken language of the world-English and language is what I want to discuss about here.

English has accepted many new words from different languages which have gradually become part and parcel of the language. Its ever-evolving and continuously changing, this continual process has lead to the wide vocabulary of English. When English language has gradually accepted these changes then how can certain people call a certain form of English ‘pure’ or ‘correct’? No form of language is ‘pure’ or ‘impure’; every form is just a dialect of the language. According to the modern linguists, American, British, Australian or even Indian English is merely a dialect of the English language. Though the pronunciation of the people of South England is considered to be the standard for pronunciation of English words in a certain widely used pronunciation dictionary, it can never be called the most ‘pure’ form of English.

Similarly, there has been a lot of debate about Indian languages too. Certain variation in a language makes the language ‘impure’ according to certain scholars. Language is prone to changes and variations. Every Indian language has undergone a lot of changes. Some people consider the Hindi spoken by the non-native speakers of Hindi as ‘incorrect’ or ‘impure’. They say that such people tamper with the language and the language is losing its ‘purity’. Now if that is the case then Hindi too cannot be considered as ‘pure’ as it has evolved from Sanskrit and it is a variation of the mother language. Therefore, no one has any right to call a certain form of any language as ‘correct’ and another as ‘incorrect’.

The top story today is the supreme court's reaction to the OBC reservation issue. The SC has questioned the Govt on the long term effects of this reservation. It might widen the already existing disparities in the name of caste. The SC has asked the Govt the motive behind bringing out such a reservation. The bench consistin of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice Lokeshwar Singh Pant said that the matter needs judicial review. The SC has also asked the students to end the strike. The students though are happy that SC is supporting their cause they have no intention as yet to end the strike.

The reservation issue has been around for quite some time now. I completely agree with the SC's observation. This reservation can definitely divide the country completely at a time when this caste differences are on the decline. Moreover, reservations shouldn't be made on the basis of caste. Reservations could be provided for people below poverty line or those whose annual family income is below a certain limit. The OBCs already have certain amount of reservation and increasing it to 27% is unpragmatic, plain impractical. There are people in this category who can afford to pay the extra amount to get a seat. So why not make reservations for people who can't afford it? Admissions should be made on the basis of merit not on the basis of caste. Otherwise the concept of equality in our constitution will just be a misnomer.

Hi

i thought of changin my world a bit..got this idea of bloggin..a gud way to spend my time without feelin guilty abt wastin it..Well d intro part..I m Dhanya..finished my final yr BA journalism exams last month…

i wrote an entrance yesterday. Its one of the best colleges in India. Actually the second best for journalism. There were 2 papers-English and GK. English was really easy, all school stuff. GK was little difficult. They ask about all international figures, had read about them somewhere or the other but couldn't remember. Some really strange names too who I have never heard of before. So i have decided that I'l read more about such people from now on

Heard some not so good things about the college. The usual stuff of back door admissions in spite of having entrance exams. They don't let out the marks which makes the whole process more suspicious. So me not keepin any high hopes. Lets see.

well then c ya…tc…