Communication on the internet takes place in two ways. Public and Private. Private is through chatting email etc, whereas public is through forums and blogs.
Blogs
When it comes to blogs the emphasis is only on the post and the author. People generally don’t bother to go through the comments from other readers of the blog. Take for example this post on 3 idiots by Sagarika Ghose. [ Just a blog post which I read recently :)] Here the author of the post is a professional journalist and shares her view on some topic which here happens to be the recently released movie 3 idiots.
If you look at the comments section of this blog post almost all the comments are about the views she has expressed and are directed to her. We do have a reply to this post option for all the comments here, but despite that the discussion is limited to the actual blog post. Not many responses are directed at other readers.
Forums
In an online forum, the emphasis is on the discussion. People from a specific group actively take part in a discussion here. An example which can be given here is the Pagalguy Forum which is the meeting place of hundreds of MBA students and MBA Aspirants of India.
A forum essentially allows you to post messages and comment on other messages. It is in structure similar to that of a blog, but the difference here lies in the fact that the discussion which takes place is not solely based on the orignial post. One essential requirement of all online forums is the presence of a large number of active contributors which you can clearly see in forums like Pagalguy. By the term active we mean contributors who create queries and respond to other queries.
In order to find peace among the chaos called forums one has to monitor it constantly.Every forum has a set of rules and structure which its users have to follow. A group of moderators and administrators have to regularly go through the contents of the forums and ensure that the forum rules are being followed.
Forums or Blogs?
Forums are an example of many-to-many mode of online communication whereas blogs are one-to-many mode of online communication. Both these are essential ingredients of the internet today and one cannot do without either of these. Judicial use of such sites has to be done to get the best out of each.
Its hard to imagine that barely ten years ago we didn’t have any Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, iPhone or even a phone for that matter. Much of the decade has been shaped by the internet and the next decade too will see the same sort of enormous change.
It was in 2001 when we got our first phone. A landline phone connection for which we had to wait for weeks. Within the next few years we have had a much greater number of mobile phones. Computers and other gadgets have become essential. Times are changing. And we got keep up with the speed at which everything is happening.
What people generally consider is that change will occur at the same pace it happened. Technology changes exponentially. There is a great pace at which everything grows now and what happened in the first decade of the millenium might happen in just a few years.
The rate of adopting new ideas is doubling each day. Both biology and technology are similar. They are both evolutionary processes. They create a capability and use that capability to bring on the next stage. With better interaction and communication this growth is bound to accelerate.
It was barely a few years ago when I first sent an e-mail. Now mail, instant messages etc are a part of life. A few days ago I made a list of the trends which I’d like to see in the year 2010. These are impending changes. Even if they don’t occur in 2010, they eventually will…
Tags: 2010, computer, evolution, facebook, gadget, Internet, iPhone, mobile, phone, Tech, technology evolution, Trends, Wikipedia, Youtube
My Virtual Life, Random | Alagappan | 
January 2, 2010 3:03 PM | 
Comments (0)
Time is a continuous passage of time and it is we who divide it into years, months and so on. And New Year too is nothing but just a noting of the passage of time. But the significance of this day is that is probably the only such occasion where all of us forget all barriers and come together in the hope that the year ahead would bring us joy and happiness.
The same time every year we look back at the year that was, how quickly the year has passed, all the good things, wonderful things, bad things and awful things we did throughout the year. However the past year was, we always look forward to a great year ahead. That is the special thing about this day.
As one of my college senior says - “This day symbolizes hope. Hope that there will be a refreshing change in our lives starting today. Hope that all the sorrow that had encircled us till now would vanish and joy will fill the lacunae that exist in their lives. It is with this hope that we coin various resolutions; the ones that cater to the actions we feel are wrong or unhealthy.”
Putting the past behind, I look forward to a great year for me, my family, my friends, for my country and the entire world in the new year and the new decade. Wishing you all a Happy New Year and a New Decade.
Travelling to the Marina on Christmas day indeed was a bad decision. There was a huge crowd of people who like me wished to get a glimpse of the newly beautified Marina. Even with the supposedly modified Parking arrangement, it took about 15-20 minutes to take my car from the parking slot. But I did get to see the beach with some leisure as I reached the place a bit early before the rest of the crowd could come.
The marina now has a glossy touch with good marble flooring where we can sit leisurely and enjoy the scenic beauty of the magnificent beach. The entire stretch of about 3.5 km from the Port to the Light House has been beautified and has a wide path suitable for walking and jogging. I didn’t get to see the lightings in their full glory, but it is said to be exceptional.
The use of Plastic has been banned and attempt is being made to clean the beaches. But you just can’t help noticing the amount of plastic bags strewn all around. Another major part of the renovation funds went into the Parking arrangements. And I’d say the parking arrangement is very poor. They have just made space for parking of ‘n’ number of cars with no proper management of cars entering and leaving the lot. Ideally they should employ a few personnel to monitor it.
Our next destination was Ampa Skywalk, the newly opened mall on Ponnamallee High Road, near Aminjikarai and Anna Arch. This location too wasn’t spared by the crowd. Construction of this mall has taken a very long time and it is still not fully complete. The cineplex by PVR Cinemas and quite a few stores like Landmark, Spencer’s Hypermarket etc are yet to open.
The food court on the third floor with a variety of shops is fully operational and thats where the crowd was focussed on, apart from McDonald’s and KFC on the so called, ‘Upper Ground Floor’. The food court has something call the ‘Fcube’ Debit Card, which every diner has to obtain in order to place his order at any of the stalls. The card comes with a security deposit of Rs.10 refundable on return of the card. Valid for 365 days from the previous usage day, it can be ‘recharged’ in multiples of 10 based on how much you need to spend at the food court. The sad part though is that this card is not applicable for McD and KFC which aren’t a part of the food court.
Apart from the food court, there is nothing much in the mall right now. Once a few stores like Landmark, Spencer’s etc open there’ll be purpose to visit the mall. For now its just the satisfaction of having a look at the newly constructed mall which is going to have the city’s largest cineplex.
The one major difference in the two major places that I visited on Christmas 2009, was the way they manage their parking. The Ampa Skywalk has a multi stoery car parking where you can park your car with ease, while the beach has a 3.5 km stretch with a large area alloted for parking, but still it is difficult to park a car. But since the mall being a private place, their parking charges are exorbitant compared to other locations. I was charged 30 rupees for just over 2 hrs. At the marina it was free parking. But I wouldn’t mind to pay some nominal amount as long as I don’t have to suffer in such utter chaos.
PS: This PVR Cineplex will be the largest just for a couple of years I guess. Sathyam Cinemas plans to open another cineplex at the new Express Avenue Mall which is gonna come soon near Spencer Plaza. For details on the Express Avenue mall, click here.
PS: Few pics of the beautified Marina Beach can be found here - http://goo.gl/3KmH
Tags: Ampa Skywalk, Chennai, Christmas, Marina Beach, Parking, PVR Cinemas, Renovated Marina, Sathyam Cinemas, Skywalk, Spencer Plaza
Random | Alagappan | December 27, 2009 12:31 AM | Comments (4)
I’ve been neglecting my supposedly ‘new’ blog for such a long time that Google still ranks my old blogspot blog ahead of the new one. The reason for the neglect might have been because of my busy schedule throughout the semester and may also be because I’ve been posting regularly at my twitter profile - @alagappanr and my facebook profile = fb/alagappanr.
My blog was crying for some fresh content. So I guess its time I start posting content on this new blog and get its ‘page rank’ up.
So by the time I’m typing this post 7 semesters of my college life are over and I’m now just a few months away from being a full engineer. For all those curious guys who want to know about NITT Placements - I’m not yet placed and I don’t intend to talk about it here. 
In the past few months hundreds of things happened and that includes me writing my CAT Exam, The Great Chennai Run, a trip to Ooty+Coonoor, supposedly an agitation against the college mess, watching all seasons of 24 and TBBT, reading a lot of books among other stuff. I just feel this semester could have been a lot better and I hope the next one is.
It all started with the entry of Nokia’s 1100 mobile. Since it was very cheap and affordable I got a chance to own a mobile when I was in school. Didn’t use it much those days since most of my friends didn’t have a mobile.
When I entered NIT Trichy, I still used 1100 for almost a full semester before shifting to Motorola L7 also called as the SLVR. This mobile was slim and chic and was worth showing off. But one fateful day my roommate, Aditya, pounced on me and phone slipped off my hands and the glass screen had broken. Luckily the mobile was working. I used it without bothering to change the broken glass for more than a year.
During the early fifth semester I had a felt like changing the display. (Ya.! I did change the display after one and a half years) But sometime during Festember 08, the mobile took its revenge on me for not changing the display for a long time by disappearing from my desk in my department. After frantically searching for it for more than a couple of days I had to give up. I got a duplicate sim card and reverted back to my 1100.
After a couple of months, my bro went to the US leaving behind his Samsung E250 mobile. So I was granted another chance to use a multimedia mobile. After losing all the contacts I had in my old mobile I started gathering them again. Though it wasn’t as great looking as my L7 it was still good to use. But then bad luck returned. During one of my regular beach visits a few weeks back, I forgot the presence of the E250 inside my pockets and got myself completely wet. It was only after a few minutes I realized that it was shouting all the time for help. But it was too late. It had stopped working.
Luckily, I still have that good old 1100 with me. After making a few minor repairs here and there I’ve made it look as good as a new 1100 mobile and I thank Nokia for making such rugged and long lasting mobiles especially for people like me. Not surprisingly, the 1100 is not just the world’s best-selling cellular phone model, but also the best-selling consumer electronics device, having sold some 200 million units since 2003. This clearly shows that many people emphasize on durability more than looks.
The one thing I’m glad about is that I’ve had the same mobile number all these days even though I’ve changed my mobile quite a few times. So even though I lose contact numbers of others they still have mine and anyday I can use the ‘Can I know who this is?’ SMS to get back all my lost contacts. I hope the Mobile Number Portability option is implemented as planned (that is by around Sept 2009) so that I can keep using the same number even though I change service providers.
Washing clothes has been one of the most painful activities a person has to do when in hostel. Of course there are other alternatives to avoid doing this work. But postponing the ‘Washing Ceremony’ often results in the accumulation of a lot of clothes, which are then carried all the way to Chennai. I recently decided to start washing my clothes on my own by finding suitable time for it between the busy schedule which I have. 
Here are a few reasons why I’ll do it regularly from now on. \m/
7. It’ll please my roommate.!
If you divide my room into two my part of the room would be full of papers, clothes and books lying throughout and it’ll take more than a minute to even find my mobile from this mess. And Rachit’s half would be clean and neatly maintained. So it’ll be a relief for him to see my part of the room becoming more clean.
6. Keeps my room clean.
It’ll make my room a better place to live.
5. Reduces Luggage when traveling to Chennai.
Every NITTian who is from Chennai travels home at least once in a month. And it is during such trips that we take all our dirty clothes and give it for washing at home. It’ll please my Mom and will also reduce the luggage that I got to carry home each time.
4. Saving Laundry Charges.
I see a lot of guys giving their clothes in the laundry shop located within the campus. Washing one’s own clothes saves these laundry charges.
3. Preventing formation of Bacteria and Viruses.
Not washing clothes for a long time makes it a suitable dwelling place for various bacteria and viruses. So i’m now on a mission to kill all these organisms.
2. Finding Old Question Papers, Bills etc.
Finding such papers stuffed inside the pant pocket’s is common at least for me. Once I start washing clothes I find all these old cycle test question papers, CPC papers etc neatly stuffed inside my pockets.
1. Finding Money..!! $$$$$$
It had been a habit for me to keep coins and currency notes in my pant pockets instead of the wallet. Once removed I often forget to take the money out of it. And it is upon occasions like these that I discover such treasures from my pockets.
One of the worst aftermaths of terror strikes, war is ‘Disability’. It is often the most neglected aspect. Wars and Terror attacks not only cause loss of life and property but also disable victims.
More than loss of life, the worst consequence is disability due to war as the victim and his family has to struggle and suffer throughout their life.
Today(3rd December) is World Disability Day. It is an important day for the 70 million people with disabilities in India as well as so many more all over the world. NO steps have been taken by the Government of India to help them. Even the basic rights of education, employment and access are not available to people with disability.
The annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3 aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. Dignity and justice for all of these people is the theme of this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities. I take this opportunity to spread the awareness oh behalf of these people.
By the time I had switched on the TV yesterday, the result of the India-England match was irrelevant. The terror attacks in Mumbai naturally overshadowed mere cricket. It is natural and understandable that England should want to call off the tour and go home. News reports suggest that the rest of the matches have been postponed. A postponement can last more than a year or can be used as a diplomatic term for abandonment.
I feel that the tour must continue fairly promptly, even if England take a break to let things calm down and return after Christmas. England owe it to India and their fans to demonstrate that life must go on after such senseless carnage. The cliche about not letting the terrorists win can sound trite, but it is a valid one. Even though reports suggested that the terrorists were seeking British and Americans, the bulk of those who died or were wounded were Indians. England should stay and compete as a mark of respect to them.
Naturally, the protection of the England players is paramount to the ECB. I am sure that everything will be done to ensure their safety. It might be wise to move the second Test from Bombay. But our shared humanity and the demonstration of the continuation of normal life in the face of those who want to take away our freedom is also important. If we wanted to ensure that everyone was 100 per cent safe from terrorist attacks all the time, no one would travel on trains or enter restaurants in urban areas. The cancellation of the tour wouldn’t remove the threat, but nor, I feel, would its continuation enhance the threat.
There is no use in conducting the rest of the ODI series especially after these threats, and a 5-0 whitewash. But the Test Series has to go on in order to show the people that cricket can help in restoration of peace.
Life has to go on, otherwise we become paralysed by fear. We live in a dangerous world but generally the security services protect us. Playing a Test match is no more dangerous than attending the market. The best tribute to those who died in the latest shocking attacks would be to play on in their memory.
Another semester of my undergrad came to an end this week. It went past as fast as the preceding ones did. Semesters in NITT have always been very small. And within these few months we do a lot of non-academic stuff, keeping us busy throughout. And time flies so fast. People say time flies when you are having fun. We did have a lot of fun this semester.
The semester started with all third years moving to the Garnet Hostel which is one of the new hostels to be built. After getting settled in our rooms we started setting up the LAN within the hostel. The G-LAN is one of the best in the campus and is almost always overflowing with data. It has data starting from various Software to various sitcoms to hundreds of movies, books and almost anything you can imagine.
Then the gaming craze started afresh. We started DOTA n WOW within our hostel now rather than going all the way to Octa. (It would be known to all those gaming freaks like me. If you aren’t one, then do click on the links to know more). We guys played day n night like mad. Then came Festember- NITT’s Cultural Fest. It was one of the best ever.
Festember posts
* Day-0
* Kuraloviyam
We guys had dinner almost everyday in the Dhaba - the roadside food-haven. It was far more better than our so-called mess. The mess food was crap and was the worse than what we had in the previous years. So if one guy felt like eating outside he’d drag everyone around him to have a enjoyable time together having dinner.
I got my Laptop - ‘ACER - Travelmate’ this semester. Spent a lot of time ‘loading’ data into it. I also spent most of my time watching sitcoms n movies. Amid all these things, I lost my mobile too. 
My Motorola - SLVR L7.. It was one of the things which i could never have lived without. Lost thousands of phone numbers. But Life does go on in spite of all these incidents. So yet another wonderful semester came to an end. Hoping for a better one ahead.
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