Sticking it to ’em
These Come From Trees Blog
This blog is the home of an interesting experiment in “environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper!” You’ve come across guerrilla advertising before: stuff that sneaks up at you from unexpected places, never from conventional media outlets. This blog aims to remind people not to waste paper, and it recommends doing so right at the places where we most often use paper, using its stickers. Wait, use stickers to save paper; isn’t that counter-productive? Well, it says here that on the average, one sticker winds up saving a tree’s worth of paper every year. Go read up on how you can help. Just don’t put one of these near the editor’s chequebook, okay?
By design
RADness
That’s short for “Random Acts of Designess.” A clunky name in need of a random act of copywriting, you may say. But this column says cut the snark and listen. It is aimed at designers, has a simple plan. “Surf the web, find a good cause that needs some help with it’s identity, or promotional material (or anything else design related). Do some appropriate design work that you believe will benefit the cause and together with an explanation, just send it to them.” Works? Well, I found it via the previous site in this column; RADness’s creator sent in a made-over logo to the These Come From Trees blog owner. Your turn now. Send this to designer friends. And if they ask you where to find worthy causes, give them the address at the bottom of this column. I can point them to some very worthy ones. Seriously.
Your page
Squidoo
Are you an authority on some subject? Of course you are. But are you online? Now, not everyone has the patience (or the savvy, or whatever) to, say, run a blog, or build a website. Squidoo offers you an alternative. You can sign up and build a single page—they call it a “lens” here—about your passion. It’s quick, easy to configure and maintain, and it’s free. Check out their FAQ page for a heap of useful suggestions, or just wander around a bit and see how other people are using their lenses.
In the style to which you are accustomed
Earth Day Footprint Quiz
We’re starting to hear a lot now about the our carbon footprint, and related matters. This site had its quiz up way before the buzz got loud enough for everyone to hear. It’s pretty simple. Select your country from the map on the first page, and then answer 15 questions. When you’re done, you’ll find out how much of the earth’s resources in terms of land and water you are using; your “ecological footprint.” And you can compare it with other people around the world, and, more importantly, what the planet can sustain. The answers can be sobering. Yes, there are also suggestions on how you can reduce your footprint. Every little counts.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, Mumbai edition, 19th August, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Sunday, 12 August 2007
Mousetrap - 114
Hungry
sigFood
The first time I glanced at this site, I read ‘sick food’ and thought it was about stuff like arrowroot porridge and hot soups. Further investigation corrected my mis-read. The ‘sig’ in the name is short for ‘Special Interest Group,’ and that is a pretty apt description. sigFood is a community of foodies, which, from the look of it has most of its membership in Bombay and Bangalore (there are a handful of other Indian and world cities covered too). It’s a very simple site: restaurant reviews by its members, all neatly tagged and categorised. The reviews are to the point and of a reasonably decent standard, though as with all group ventures, some are better—or worse—than others. The good part, to me, is that unlike the reviews one sees in the press, these aren’t necessarily about new, happening places; plenty of old favourites find space too. Bon appetite.
Au courant
This Is The New That
The world moving too fast for you? You haven’t kept track after pink became the new black? This is the blog for you, amigo. May you never be short of party small talk.
Ghost rider
KIDofSPEED & Elena Filatova
If you’re anything over 30 years old, the word “Chernobyl” will probably raise hairs at the back of your head. It’s when the world realised what could happen if nuclear power generation went out of control. The Chernobyl accident happened just over twenty-one years ago. Most of the surrounding areas of Ukraine and Belarus have been deserted all this time; entire cities now ghost towns, with nature taking over and nary a human being for miles and miles. Except Elena Filatova. Who has made trips through this spooky land all by herself, on her motorbike. Her English isn’t perfect, but has a sort of understated expressiveness all its own. And her photographs—lots of them—of the area more than make up for any slight gaps in the text. And if you, like me, wind up with a slight crush on the girl after you’re done here, go see her main site, http://elenafilatova.com/, where you’ll find links to her other projects. [Courtesy Devangshu Datta.]
All roads lead to..
RomeReborn1.0
How would you like to take a walk through ancient Rome? Not the city of magnificent ruin that tourists flock through today; I’m talking of the city that the Caesars strode through. Well, you can’t. Yet. But you can get a preview, and bookmark this site for later. Right now, you see a lot of stuff about how this digital representation was made (scans from a scale model combined with data from ancient maps) and details that there are several thousand virtual buildings, a few of which even have the interiors rendered. Its designers are, they say, figuring out ways to make it possible for anyone to take a virtual reality walk through those streets via the net. Until then you can check out the picture gallery and a few (rather unimaginative) videos.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, Mumbai edition, 12th August, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
sigFood
The first time I glanced at this site, I read ‘sick food’ and thought it was about stuff like arrowroot porridge and hot soups. Further investigation corrected my mis-read. The ‘sig’ in the name is short for ‘Special Interest Group,’ and that is a pretty apt description. sigFood is a community of foodies, which, from the look of it has most of its membership in Bombay and Bangalore (there are a handful of other Indian and world cities covered too). It’s a very simple site: restaurant reviews by its members, all neatly tagged and categorised. The reviews are to the point and of a reasonably decent standard, though as with all group ventures, some are better—or worse—than others. The good part, to me, is that unlike the reviews one sees in the press, these aren’t necessarily about new, happening places; plenty of old favourites find space too. Bon appetite.
Au courant
This Is The New That
The world moving too fast for you? You haven’t kept track after pink became the new black? This is the blog for you, amigo. May you never be short of party small talk.
Ghost rider
KIDofSPEED & Elena Filatova
If you’re anything over 30 years old, the word “Chernobyl” will probably raise hairs at the back of your head. It’s when the world realised what could happen if nuclear power generation went out of control. The Chernobyl accident happened just over twenty-one years ago. Most of the surrounding areas of Ukraine and Belarus have been deserted all this time; entire cities now ghost towns, with nature taking over and nary a human being for miles and miles. Except Elena Filatova. Who has made trips through this spooky land all by herself, on her motorbike. Her English isn’t perfect, but has a sort of understated expressiveness all its own. And her photographs—lots of them—of the area more than make up for any slight gaps in the text. And if you, like me, wind up with a slight crush on the girl after you’re done here, go see her main site, http://elenafilatova.com/, where you’ll find links to her other projects. [Courtesy Devangshu Datta.]
All roads lead to..
RomeReborn1.0
How would you like to take a walk through ancient Rome? Not the city of magnificent ruin that tourists flock through today; I’m talking of the city that the Caesars strode through. Well, you can’t. Yet. But you can get a preview, and bookmark this site for later. Right now, you see a lot of stuff about how this digital representation was made (scans from a scale model combined with data from ancient maps) and details that there are several thousand virtual buildings, a few of which even have the interiors rendered. Its designers are, they say, figuring out ways to make it possible for anyone to take a virtual reality walk through those streets via the net. Until then you can check out the picture gallery and a few (rather unimaginative) videos.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, Mumbai edition, 12th August, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Sunday, 5 August 2007
Mousetrap - 113
Whatcha wanna do?
SoYouWanna
The site’s promise to teach you ‘how to do all the things nobody taught you in school’ isn’t quite bang on—though I’ll admit that those that were, I didn’t pay much attention to at that time—but it is, nevertheless, a fascinating repository of tips and advice from its members. The subject range is huge. Just a random wander around the site, and I now know how to become a scuba diver, fake appreciation for art, hold a seance, become a cheerleader, and learn about pro wrestling story lines. Not likely to be much use, I’ll admit, but it was a happy hour spent. But here’s one I’m going to use pronto: so you wanna ask for a raise? (You’re going to hear from me soon, Editor Sahib.)
Q and A
Google Image Labeler
In June, this column featured a site called ESP Game. Well, it looks like big brother Google is muscling in on the act. It’s essentially the same method. You play with a random stranger, and you’re simultaneously shown images. Both of you provide descriptive labels, and get points for matching results. You can play anonymously, or through a free Google ID, if you want to track your points. Why am I suggesting you go to a me-too site? Well, I think Google search rocks, and anything that helps make it better is good for all of us.
Senior blogger
The Life of Riley
The generally accepted view is that blogs are things that young, tech-happy people use to tell the world—or their ten best friends—what they had for breakfast. This one breaks that stereotype. And how! You see, the voice here is a bit older than that. Olive Riley was born not in the last century but the previous one. She is 107 (she’ll be 108 on the 20th October) and going strong! She doesn’t type in her stuff herself, a young friend helps her with that, but the blog is all about her and her life. Aside from the conversations you can read, you also have audio and video to delight you as this sprightly lady talks about the years of her life, her memories of the changes. Fascinating reading, and all of it suffused with the spirit of this grand old lady. (Link via Prem Panicker.)
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, Mumbai edition, 5th August, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
SoYouWanna
The site’s promise to teach you ‘how to do all the things nobody taught you in school’ isn’t quite bang on—though I’ll admit that those that were, I didn’t pay much attention to at that time—but it is, nevertheless, a fascinating repository of tips and advice from its members. The subject range is huge. Just a random wander around the site, and I now know how to become a scuba diver, fake appreciation for art, hold a seance, become a cheerleader, and learn about pro wrestling story lines. Not likely to be much use, I’ll admit, but it was a happy hour spent. But here’s one I’m going to use pronto: so you wanna ask for a raise? (You’re going to hear from me soon, Editor Sahib.)
Q and A
Google Image Labeler
In June, this column featured a site called ESP Game. Well, it looks like big brother Google is muscling in on the act. It’s essentially the same method. You play with a random stranger, and you’re simultaneously shown images. Both of you provide descriptive labels, and get points for matching results. You can play anonymously, or through a free Google ID, if you want to track your points. Why am I suggesting you go to a me-too site? Well, I think Google search rocks, and anything that helps make it better is good for all of us.
Senior blogger
The Life of Riley
The generally accepted view is that blogs are things that young, tech-happy people use to tell the world—or their ten best friends—what they had for breakfast. This one breaks that stereotype. And how! You see, the voice here is a bit older than that. Olive Riley was born not in the last century but the previous one. She is 107 (she’ll be 108 on the 20th October) and going strong! She doesn’t type in her stuff herself, a young friend helps her with that, but the blog is all about her and her life. Aside from the conversations you can read, you also have audio and video to delight you as this sprightly lady talks about the years of her life, her memories of the changes. Fascinating reading, and all of it suffused with the spirit of this grand old lady. (Link via Prem Panicker.)
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, Mumbai edition, 5th August, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Siteseeing - 9
PairUp
Every website with a few dollars to fling onto the table is talking communities and user-generated content these days. Anything more than small coins, and they commission a shiny logo with a half-shadow, throw in bevelled edges, stick a ‘beta’ below the site name, and hey, presto, Web 2.0!
This site, to give it is due, has focus. It aim—with a ™ at the end and all—is “Connecting business travellers.” Simple approach: upload contacts, share travel plans, and use the site to find people at the other end and set up meetings. You also get a heads-up when folks from your network are visiting your own stomping grounds. You have a fair amount of control over who gets to see what parts of your info, and yes, it’s free. The critical thing here, of course, is that you succeed in getting all your contacts on to the site too. Thing is, with so many prospective connectors falling over themselves to get your sign-up, is it worth the effort to go through the tedium of building your network on Yet Another Social Networking Site? Perhaps you suited folks who don’t want to be seen with the backpacker crowd would welcome the business focus? I dunno, really. I haven’t put on a tie since the last friend’s wedding. And for that, I knew the guest list. And the barman.
Published in Outlook Traveller, August 2007.
Tags: Outlook Traveller, Siteseeing, GT (It's a Guy Thing), Time Out, Mumbai, Man's World, Snapshot, In Search of the Perfect..
Every website with a few dollars to fling onto the table is talking communities and user-generated content these days. Anything more than small coins, and they commission a shiny logo with a half-shadow, throw in bevelled edges, stick a ‘beta’ below the site name, and hey, presto, Web 2.0!
This site, to give it is due, has focus. It aim—with a ™ at the end and all—is “Connecting business travellers.” Simple approach: upload contacts, share travel plans, and use the site to find people at the other end and set up meetings. You also get a heads-up when folks from your network are visiting your own stomping grounds. You have a fair amount of control over who gets to see what parts of your info, and yes, it’s free. The critical thing here, of course, is that you succeed in getting all your contacts on to the site too. Thing is, with so many prospective connectors falling over themselves to get your sign-up, is it worth the effort to go through the tedium of building your network on Yet Another Social Networking Site? Perhaps you suited folks who don’t want to be seen with the backpacker crowd would welcome the business focus? I dunno, really. I haven’t put on a tie since the last friend’s wedding. And for that, I knew the guest list. And the barman.
Published in Outlook Traveller, August 2007.
Tags: Outlook Traveller, Siteseeing, GT (It's a Guy Thing), Time Out, Mumbai, Man's World, Snapshot, In Search of the Perfect..
Pies and Prejudice [Book Review]
Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North
by Stuart Maconie
Paperback, 352 pages
Ebury Press
ISBN 9780091910228
England, to me, looks way too small to have a North, so this book is an education. My perceptions, I realised, cringing, are just the kind that I take voluble delight in castigating when I hear them in non-Indian accents about India. The England I know through books, movies and TV is London, plus stray other cities, plus an interchangeable bunch of counties in which thrived the Yorkshire dales and quaint accents of James Herriot’s stories and the never-was-land of Wodehouse. I know better now.
Maconie knows his subject intimately, and loves it unabashedly.
He explains the essence of Northness thus: Northerners, he says, are “different, we think; harder, flintier, steelier. We are the ones who turn the air-conditioning down in the meeting room, who want to sit outside the pub in October, who order the hottest curries, the strongest beer, the most powerful drugs. We like to think we’re different, and we cherish our prejudices.”
We go walkabout, from city centre to pub to concert to museum, as he chats merrily about wars, football, architecture, food, popular music (yup, the Beatles), Marx and Engels (“Eleanor [Marx] was married to Karl of course, who by contrast was a bit of a lardarse with rubbish hair who nicked all Freidrich’s ideas”), George Orwell, industrial decline, renaissance, Transcendental Meditation (“as it’s a trademark, TM™”), biting insults peppering even-handed overview. The cultural differences between North and South and the even lesser known (to the outsider) rifts within the north itself are fascinating. The rivalries of the natives—Lancashire and Yorkshire, Liverpool and Manchester—were ancient history, or jovial football rivalries to me, not simmering pressure cookers that explode every now and then even today. But no, it’s no sociological treatise, and it’s not a tourists’-eye view of the sights. This is from the inside, living, breathing, reminiscing with a chuckle or a sigh.
He’s a witty man, is Stuart Maconie. And he’s made a pretty good career out of it; the author note says he’s “known to millions,” with a reputation both in broadcast media and in print. And that’s one of the problems I have with the book. Not the fame; the wit. I will choose a funny read over high lit any day, but he never stops. Reminds me of some chaps I know, always the wise guy. It gets tiring, difficult to take in a book-length dose. I’d have enjoyed it more as, say, a weekly half-hour radio programme. More seriously, it’s a book that gives one the feeling that while it’s written from the inside, it’s also written for the insider. So many in-jokes, obscure references, untranslated argot that I kept flipping to the back, vainly looking for a glossary.
In this age of search engines and short attention spans, perhaps those quibbles are irrelevant. So read it in short spells, stay online while you read, and it’s worth your time.
Published in Outlook Traveller, August 2007.
Tags: Outlook Traveller
by Stuart Maconie
Paperback, 352 pages
Ebury Press
ISBN 9780091910228
England, to me, looks way too small to have a North, so this book is an education. My perceptions, I realised, cringing, are just the kind that I take voluble delight in castigating when I hear them in non-Indian accents about India. The England I know through books, movies and TV is London, plus stray other cities, plus an interchangeable bunch of counties in which thrived the Yorkshire dales and quaint accents of James Herriot’s stories and the never-was-land of Wodehouse. I know better now.
Maconie knows his subject intimately, and loves it unabashedly.
He explains the essence of Northness thus: Northerners, he says, are “different, we think; harder, flintier, steelier. We are the ones who turn the air-conditioning down in the meeting room, who want to sit outside the pub in October, who order the hottest curries, the strongest beer, the most powerful drugs. We like to think we’re different, and we cherish our prejudices.”
We go walkabout, from city centre to pub to concert to museum, as he chats merrily about wars, football, architecture, food, popular music (yup, the Beatles), Marx and Engels (“Eleanor [Marx] was married to Karl of course, who by contrast was a bit of a lardarse with rubbish hair who nicked all Freidrich’s ideas”), George Orwell, industrial decline, renaissance, Transcendental Meditation (“as it’s a trademark, TM™”), biting insults peppering even-handed overview. The cultural differences between North and South and the even lesser known (to the outsider) rifts within the north itself are fascinating. The rivalries of the natives—Lancashire and Yorkshire, Liverpool and Manchester—were ancient history, or jovial football rivalries to me, not simmering pressure cookers that explode every now and then even today. But no, it’s no sociological treatise, and it’s not a tourists’-eye view of the sights. This is from the inside, living, breathing, reminiscing with a chuckle or a sigh.
He’s a witty man, is Stuart Maconie. And he’s made a pretty good career out of it; the author note says he’s “known to millions,” with a reputation both in broadcast media and in print. And that’s one of the problems I have with the book. Not the fame; the wit. I will choose a funny read over high lit any day, but he never stops. Reminds me of some chaps I know, always the wise guy. It gets tiring, difficult to take in a book-length dose. I’d have enjoyed it more as, say, a weekly half-hour radio programme. More seriously, it’s a book that gives one the feeling that while it’s written from the inside, it’s also written for the insider. So many in-jokes, obscure references, untranslated argot that I kept flipping to the back, vainly looking for a glossary.
In this age of search engines and short attention spans, perhaps those quibbles are irrelevant. So read it in short spells, stay online while you read, and it’s worth your time.
Published in Outlook Traveller, August 2007.
Tags: Outlook Traveller
Sunday, 29 July 2007
Mousetrap - 112
Green stuff
Vegetarian Times
“Great Food, Good Health, Smart Living” says the site’s tagline. I inspected it somewhat dubiously, because though I haven’t been a must-have-meat eater for a decade or so, and I am a staunch tree-hugger, I can’t imagine going totally vegetarian. But this site, the online presence of a magazine, makes me think that I could, perhaps, maybe, possibly, if pushed, stop eating bits of dead animals. There are many, many recipes to choose from, and you can make your search even tighter by selecting options for egg-free, dairy-free, lo-cal and lo-carb, and of course the absolutely tightest, vegan. (Apparently the answer to my perpetual question, “what the heck do vegans actually eat?” is “lots!”) The recipes are skewed to a western audience, though, so you may have difficulties getting all the ingredients, even in this age of supermalls. Never mind if that happens. There are essays and features to read, which you can quote at your carni pals, newsletters, and a community.
The Burra Sahib and the Mem are in the verandah,
Hobson-Jobson
A friend sent me a link to this electronic version of a 120-year-old dictionary, which I had never thought to look for, since I have a copy of the book (a more recent edition, though). Its more formal name is : A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive. Naturally, only the shorter name is remembered. It is a dictionary of the Raj, of distinctly Anglo-Indian words, many of which took on shades of meaning or spellings quite different from their origins. “Bungalow” is still in use, of course, but what about “bobbery-bob?” And there’s “dumb-cow,” meaning to cow, or scold someone, for instance, derived from “dhamkao.” It has detailed etymologies and citations, and is an easy book to get lost in, and the digital version is even more diverting. Just by the way, “hobson-jobson,” thanks to the book, now also refers to the process of adapting words from one language to the cadences of one more familiar. I’ll let you go look up the original meaning. [Courtesy Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan]
Au courant
This Is The New That
The world moving too fast for you? You haven’t kept track after pink became the new black? This is the blog for you, amigo. May you never be short of party small talk.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, Mumbai edition, 29th July, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Vegetarian Times
“Great Food, Good Health, Smart Living” says the site’s tagline. I inspected it somewhat dubiously, because though I haven’t been a must-have-meat eater for a decade or so, and I am a staunch tree-hugger, I can’t imagine going totally vegetarian. But this site, the online presence of a magazine, makes me think that I could, perhaps, maybe, possibly, if pushed, stop eating bits of dead animals. There are many, many recipes to choose from, and you can make your search even tighter by selecting options for egg-free, dairy-free, lo-cal and lo-carb, and of course the absolutely tightest, vegan. (Apparently the answer to my perpetual question, “what the heck do vegans actually eat?” is “lots!”) The recipes are skewed to a western audience, though, so you may have difficulties getting all the ingredients, even in this age of supermalls. Never mind if that happens. There are essays and features to read, which you can quote at your carni pals, newsletters, and a community.
The Burra Sahib and the Mem are in the verandah,
Hobson-Jobson
A friend sent me a link to this electronic version of a 120-year-old dictionary, which I had never thought to look for, since I have a copy of the book (a more recent edition, though). Its more formal name is : A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive. Naturally, only the shorter name is remembered. It is a dictionary of the Raj, of distinctly Anglo-Indian words, many of which took on shades of meaning or spellings quite different from their origins. “Bungalow” is still in use, of course, but what about “bobbery-bob?” And there’s “dumb-cow,” meaning to cow, or scold someone, for instance, derived from “dhamkao.” It has detailed etymologies and citations, and is an easy book to get lost in, and the digital version is even more diverting. Just by the way, “hobson-jobson,” thanks to the book, now also refers to the process of adapting words from one language to the cadences of one more familiar. I’ll let you go look up the original meaning. [Courtesy Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan]
Au courant
This Is The New That
The world moving too fast for you? You haven’t kept track after pink became the new black? This is the blog for you, amigo. May you never be short of party small talk.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, Mumbai edition, 29th July, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Sunday, 22 July 2007
Mousetrap - 111
Connector
Mashable
I’m a keen student of developments on the web2.0 front, particularly the social networking scene, out of both personal and professional interest. And usually, the one site that has the quickest and most comprehensive coverage is Mashable. And it’s not just for folks like me. Its just as appealing to anyone interested in keeping abreast. Their most recent act of beauty: a series of collections that would make any webhead drool. A random sampling: 20 Ways To Aggregate Your Social Networking Profiles; 90+ Essential Music and Audio Websites; 120+ Resources for Bloggers; 230+ Keyboard Shortcuts for Top Web Services; 90+ Online Photography Tools and Resources; Online Productivity Toolbox: 30+ Resources to Get Things Done. ’Nuff said?
..6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..
Assignment Zero
One of the offshoots of citizen journalism is a phenomenon called “crowdsourcing.” What this means is that instead of single amateurs hammering away in isolation, they divide various aspects of the task among the crowd, and handle them independently. For example, interviews with different people, photographs if scattered areas, real world research, fact-checking . But then the various components are put together to make a whole, with, perhaps different members of the team handling things like editing copy. This site is one such experiment, a collaboration between NewAssignment.net and that geek icon, Wired magazine, as well as “those who choose to participate.” Which means you could sign up too, since all assignments are posted online. It has both professional newsgatherers and rank amateurs. The results of their first assignment are online (the assignment was, heh, crowdsourcing), so you can go make your judgements right away.
It must have bee love, but..
Dear John Letter Generator
A wee bit of nonsense for the weekend. A Dear John letter is one that writes “finis” to a relationship. I’m told (obviously I haven’t written any; perish the thought) that they’re very difficult to write. This site lets you choose from a host of drop down menus for almost every phrase, and then delivers a finished letter. And there are enough choices to cover most moods, so, hey, drop by for a giggle, but you never know, you might wind up using one for real.
3D Rangoli
Julian Beever’s pavement drawings
Here’s some eye candy to take you through to Monday. Beever is pavement artist with a difference, He creates these magnificent works which, viewed from just the right angle, give you the illusion of reality. Words won’t do. Go see.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India,22nd July, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Mashable
I’m a keen student of developments on the web2.0 front, particularly the social networking scene, out of both personal and professional interest. And usually, the one site that has the quickest and most comprehensive coverage is Mashable. And it’s not just for folks like me. Its just as appealing to anyone interested in keeping abreast. Their most recent act of beauty: a series of collections that would make any webhead drool. A random sampling: 20 Ways To Aggregate Your Social Networking Profiles; 90+ Essential Music and Audio Websites; 120+ Resources for Bloggers; 230+ Keyboard Shortcuts for Top Web Services; 90+ Online Photography Tools and Resources; Online Productivity Toolbox: 30+ Resources to Get Things Done. ’Nuff said?
..6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..
Assignment Zero
One of the offshoots of citizen journalism is a phenomenon called “crowdsourcing.” What this means is that instead of single amateurs hammering away in isolation, they divide various aspects of the task among the crowd, and handle them independently. For example, interviews with different people, photographs if scattered areas, real world research, fact-checking . But then the various components are put together to make a whole, with, perhaps different members of the team handling things like editing copy. This site is one such experiment, a collaboration between NewAssignment.net and that geek icon, Wired magazine, as well as “those who choose to participate.” Which means you could sign up too, since all assignments are posted online. It has both professional newsgatherers and rank amateurs. The results of their first assignment are online (the assignment was, heh, crowdsourcing), so you can go make your judgements right away.
It must have bee love, but..
Dear John Letter Generator
A wee bit of nonsense for the weekend. A Dear John letter is one that writes “finis” to a relationship. I’m told (obviously I haven’t written any; perish the thought) that they’re very difficult to write. This site lets you choose from a host of drop down menus for almost every phrase, and then delivers a finished letter. And there are enough choices to cover most moods, so, hey, drop by for a giggle, but you never know, you might wind up using one for real.
3D Rangoli
Julian Beever’s pavement drawings
Here’s some eye candy to take you through to Monday. Beever is pavement artist with a difference, He creates these magnificent works which, viewed from just the right angle, give you the illusion of reality. Words won’t do. Go see.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India,22nd July, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Sunday, 15 July 2007
Mousetrap - 110
I’ve got your back
Fight Corruption Now
That there is corruption in India is beyond doubt. That there are people who fight it, from outside the system as well as from within, is, thankfully, a certainty too. Sadly, these warriors have it all against them. The tragic cases of Satyendra Dubey and Shanmughan Manjunath come to mind. This site is run by a lady called Jayashree J N. She is married to M N Vijaykumar, an IAS officer in Karnataka, who happens to be one of those upright officers who is not only clean, but has begun to fight back, making official complaints about corruption. Naturally, corruption has been fighting back too. Ms Jayashree says that “his fight against corruption has resulted in harassment and threats, I thought it is high time I also independently, actively take up the issues he has raised by mobilizing like-minded persons throughout the country. I do not want to make the mistakes others have made under similar circumstances by keeping quiet and raising voice only after something bad happens.” Good luck, ma’am. (Link from Annie Zaidi.]
Queen—er—Camel takes pawn—um—rabbit
Arimaa
The problem with chess, say some folks, is that its rules and logic are such that a computer can be programmed to play it better than even the best human players. This enthusiast started out by making up a game to play with his little son, Aamir. (The lad asked his father what the name of the game was; loving daddy said “Rimaa,” or Aamir said backwards. The tot said “Arimaa?” and that stuck.) The game is played on a normal chessboard, with chess pieces. But the pieces are not called by their chess names; instead they’re named after animals, in descending order of power. The rules of the game, says its founder, are difficult for a computer, but fun and interesting for humans. It’s not kid stuff, however. Strategy is king (heh), and the game has grown a wide following around the world. It even has its own world championships. The site demos the rules, and if you get hooked, you can play online, with other players, or against a computer, or download the game. Or shmooze in their forum. Right. Where were we? Elephant to F5. Your move.
And there’s the one about..
Anecdotage
A nice little diversion for the weekend, with enough ammunition here to take you through many a party, speech or motivation seminar. You have little stories, trivia, quotations, hilarious incidents, and lots more. The site search lets you find things by keywords or, if you prefer, within sections. Or you could just browse around randomly, which is much more fun. And yes, there’s a forum, and a gift shop, and, well, lots more. Now shaddup, junior. I was going to tell you a really funny story. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but have you heard the one about M K Gandhi..?
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, 15th July, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Fight Corruption Now
That there is corruption in India is beyond doubt. That there are people who fight it, from outside the system as well as from within, is, thankfully, a certainty too. Sadly, these warriors have it all against them. The tragic cases of Satyendra Dubey and Shanmughan Manjunath come to mind. This site is run by a lady called Jayashree J N. She is married to M N Vijaykumar, an IAS officer in Karnataka, who happens to be one of those upright officers who is not only clean, but has begun to fight back, making official complaints about corruption. Naturally, corruption has been fighting back too. Ms Jayashree says that “his fight against corruption has resulted in harassment and threats, I thought it is high time I also independently, actively take up the issues he has raised by mobilizing like-minded persons throughout the country. I do not want to make the mistakes others have made under similar circumstances by keeping quiet and raising voice only after something bad happens.” Good luck, ma’am. (Link from Annie Zaidi.]
Queen—er—Camel takes pawn—um—rabbit
Arimaa
The problem with chess, say some folks, is that its rules and logic are such that a computer can be programmed to play it better than even the best human players. This enthusiast started out by making up a game to play with his little son, Aamir. (The lad asked his father what the name of the game was; loving daddy said “Rimaa,” or Aamir said backwards. The tot said “Arimaa?” and that stuck.) The game is played on a normal chessboard, with chess pieces. But the pieces are not called by their chess names; instead they’re named after animals, in descending order of power. The rules of the game, says its founder, are difficult for a computer, but fun and interesting for humans. It’s not kid stuff, however. Strategy is king (heh), and the game has grown a wide following around the world. It even has its own world championships. The site demos the rules, and if you get hooked, you can play online, with other players, or against a computer, or download the game. Or shmooze in their forum. Right. Where were we? Elephant to F5. Your move.
And there’s the one about..
Anecdotage
A nice little diversion for the weekend, with enough ammunition here to take you through many a party, speech or motivation seminar. You have little stories, trivia, quotations, hilarious incidents, and lots more. The site search lets you find things by keywords or, if you prefer, within sections. Or you could just browse around randomly, which is much more fun. And yes, there’s a forum, and a gift shop, and, well, lots more. Now shaddup, junior. I was going to tell you a really funny story. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but have you heard the one about M K Gandhi..?
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, 15th July, 2007.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Sunday, 8 July 2007
Mousetrap - 109
And they all lived happily
Godawful Fan Fiction
Fan fiction is writing by fans of a popular fictional character or book or whatever that uses those characters in their own scenarios. With the web, the genre’s practitioners do not lack for a platform, and for like-minded souls. Of course, not every fan can write for toffee, so the results can be rather, erm, uneven. Authors tend to be rather pleased that people care enough about their creations to want to create more scenarios and stories for them, so tend to not prosecute fan fic authors. (And, besides, these folks aren’t going to endanger future royalties.) This site doesn’t either. What it does is worse: find the worst examples available online and put them up for public scorn. (Warning: not for kids, the Harry Potter section notwithstanding.)
The Count
Dracula Blogged
Bram Stoker's Dracula covers a six-month period. This blog treats the sections of the novel as if they were a blog, and publishes them over the same length of time as the story covers with posts corresponding to the dates indicated in the text, “starting with Jonathan Harker's May 3rd Bistriz journal entry, and finishing up with November 6 and the final Note.” So you’re not too late to the party. Go read it as it happens. Tonight. With the lights out. And the windows open.
’Scuse me
burrp!
Planning on a night out in different city? Or even in your own? Want to check out what people are saying about restaurants pubs, bars and so on? Check this site out. It’s less than a year old, and has grown to cover Bombay, Calcutta, Bangalore and Madras right now (though Bangalore is the only one that it doesn’t refer to by the ‘official’ name). It features reviews and ratings by its members, not professional reviewers. The paying customers, in other words, telling you what they like and what they don’t. It also has a section it calls India’s first lifestyle-focussed online. It’s called blah, and, from the bits I read (and, to be honest, it wasn’t much, so I may be wrong), yawn, the name’s apt. Stick to the reviews, and you’ll get that satisfied, full feeling.
Rickshaw (2)
India On Three Wheels
Last week, this column featured one of the teams in the Rickshaw run (go to the online archive to get the URL if you missed it). And while I was looking around for other team sites, I found this one. It is the account of a journey across the length of The Grand Trunk Road, in, you guessed it, an autorickshaw. The protagonists are a trio of American brothers, and this site describes their journey. Loads of nice pictures and video to go with the text. A nice change, to see one’s own country through foreign eyes.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, 8th July, 2007.
Note: This column was actually supposed to run on the 1st July, 2007, but the entire Trends page was dropped, because, I'm told, very few of the writers could deliver, thanks to the floods and the power outages in the city.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Godawful Fan Fiction
Fan fiction is writing by fans of a popular fictional character or book or whatever that uses those characters in their own scenarios. With the web, the genre’s practitioners do not lack for a platform, and for like-minded souls. Of course, not every fan can write for toffee, so the results can be rather, erm, uneven. Authors tend to be rather pleased that people care enough about their creations to want to create more scenarios and stories for them, so tend to not prosecute fan fic authors. (And, besides, these folks aren’t going to endanger future royalties.) This site doesn’t either. What it does is worse: find the worst examples available online and put them up for public scorn. (Warning: not for kids, the Harry Potter section notwithstanding.)
The Count
Dracula Blogged
Bram Stoker's Dracula covers a six-month period. This blog treats the sections of the novel as if they were a blog, and publishes them over the same length of time as the story covers with posts corresponding to the dates indicated in the text, “starting with Jonathan Harker's May 3rd Bistriz journal entry, and finishing up with November 6 and the final Note.” So you’re not too late to the party. Go read it as it happens. Tonight. With the lights out. And the windows open.
’Scuse me
burrp!
Planning on a night out in different city? Or even in your own? Want to check out what people are saying about restaurants pubs, bars and so on? Check this site out. It’s less than a year old, and has grown to cover Bombay, Calcutta, Bangalore and Madras right now (though Bangalore is the only one that it doesn’t refer to by the ‘official’ name). It features reviews and ratings by its members, not professional reviewers. The paying customers, in other words, telling you what they like and what they don’t. It also has a section it calls India’s first lifestyle-focussed online. It’s called blah, and, from the bits I read (and, to be honest, it wasn’t much, so I may be wrong), yawn, the name’s apt. Stick to the reviews, and you’ll get that satisfied, full feeling.
Rickshaw (2)
India On Three Wheels
Last week, this column featured one of the teams in the Rickshaw run (go to the online archive to get the URL if you missed it). And while I was looking around for other team sites, I found this one. It is the account of a journey across the length of The Grand Trunk Road, in, you guessed it, an autorickshaw. The protagonists are a trio of American brothers, and this site describes their journey. Loads of nice pictures and video to go with the text. A nice change, to see one’s own country through foreign eyes.
Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com. The writer blogs at http://zigzackly.blogspot.com.
Published in the Times of India, 8th July, 2007.
Note: This column was actually supposed to run on the 1st July, 2007, but the entire Trends page was dropped, because, I'm told, very few of the writers could deliver, thanks to the floods and the power outages in the city.
Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap
Sunday, 1 July 2007
Siteseeing - 8
Arzoo
After he and Jack Smith sold Hotmail to Microsoft for 400 mill, Sabeer Bhatia started a new company, Arzoo, which aimed to play matchmaker between tech experts and companies that wanted their services. Perhaps the plan wasn’t unique enough; certainly the timing was unfortunate. Arzoo dotbombed in 2001. Last year, Bhatia made it over into a travel portal but didn’t make too much of a noise about it. Recently, the site’s new avataar completed a year of operations, and badly written press releases flowered in journo inboxes, announcing a new and improved look. Not having seen the old design, one assumes, going by this underwhelming version, that it was horrible. (Get a decent designer, folks. And lose that awful logo!) Anyway, what’s on offer? There’s a bunch of decent holiday packages, national and international, service apartments, and an airline search-and-book section. A quick trial of this last service threw up a large array of options, each claiming an “Arzoo Rate.” But, I found, when I went directly to an airline’s site, I wound up with cheaper flights with the same parameters. So, nice to compare rates, but I’d have bought direct. Overall, not exactly one’s heart’s desire, but with some work on the details, it could be a useful site to bookmark.
Published in Outlook Traveller, July 2007.
Tags: Outlook Traveller, Siteseeing
After he and Jack Smith sold Hotmail to Microsoft for 400 mill, Sabeer Bhatia started a new company, Arzoo, which aimed to play matchmaker between tech experts and companies that wanted their services. Perhaps the plan wasn’t unique enough; certainly the timing was unfortunate. Arzoo dotbombed in 2001. Last year, Bhatia made it over into a travel portal but didn’t make too much of a noise about it. Recently, the site’s new avataar completed a year of operations, and badly written press releases flowered in journo inboxes, announcing a new and improved look. Not having seen the old design, one assumes, going by this underwhelming version, that it was horrible. (Get a decent designer, folks. And lose that awful logo!) Anyway, what’s on offer? There’s a bunch of decent holiday packages, national and international, service apartments, and an airline search-and-book section. A quick trial of this last service threw up a large array of options, each claiming an “Arzoo Rate.” But, I found, when I went directly to an airline’s site, I wound up with cheaper flights with the same parameters. So, nice to compare rates, but I’d have bought direct. Overall, not exactly one’s heart’s desire, but with some work on the details, it could be a useful site to bookmark.
Published in Outlook Traveller, July 2007.
Tags: Outlook Traveller, Siteseeing
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