Watch out for my next web-venture

Y'day, I purchased the domain name "saywit.com" after finalizing the name for my next web venture.

Its Coming Soon... to the browsers near you on the first week of May 2007. Watch out!

What can't money buy?

At any point of time, the world can be measured as a combo of inventions and discoveries made so far. Both are infinite concepts that are open for exploration and is never-ending. My grandma used to say... "In our early days, we never had televisions, computers, and ipods. Yet we cherished every moment of life with joy and amusement". Now, we have a whole range of gadgets and appliances to spice up our lives. We too enjoy and cherish every moment of our lives... in a much sophisticated way though. But, the experience of joy is the same in both eons. This concludes that luxury is not a crucial factor for life's contentment.

Hmm... We work all day long trying to earn more money, so that we can raise the luxury levels of our living. But luxury alone does not contribute much to a happy living. Then, what would? Well... I don't know. I'd love if you guyz could pitch in your thoughts on this. Let me rephrase the question. What do you think plays an important role in shaping a life's experience other than money and what money (mastercard) can buy.

My best bet would be "Love from Family and friends". Then, I'd pick personal accomplishments. I know... This is a vague vague topic to be reminded of. But, its worth thinking of it at some point of our life.

Sony Vaio at my doorstep

Today, I purchased a Sony Vaio Notebook at Circuit City that came with an instant rebate of $250. It seems to be a hot deal that is valid until this month end. Its VGN-FE880, a high-end configured system that serves as a multimedia powerhouse with 15.4" screen, 2 Gig RAM, 160 Gig Harddisk, Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5500, and DVD double layer writer. It also comes with a free Lexmark All-in-One Printer.

Most prominent NRI lie

I met tons of people who tell it out loud and clear that they will return to India after a few years of stay in a foreign country (US in most cases). I used to believe them honestly. But, later they would whisper into my ears that they have no such intentions of getting back to India.

Why lie about returning to India when he knows for sure thats not going to happen? As a result, nobody believes if someone honestly talks about his plans of getting back.

How about using ambiguous words like...
I don't know
Probably / Possibly
Maybe
I hope so
Lets see...

Huh! I don't understand why anyone would prefer to replace the above words with a blatant lie ("Yes") about returning to his mother country. I can agree that it makes more sense to lie in special circumstances. But, not always and forever...

Probably, thats the way they are... Frankness may not be their cup of tea. Hmm!

Tips plz... Top Java Hosting providers? ? ?

Can someone recommend a good java hosting provider. I am creating a java spring webapp, and want a very reliable host. I searched all the web, but just found a handful of reliable blogs that shortlist the good ones (java hosting) in the market. Most of them are just self-promoting their services... as being the best of the lot.

I’d appreciate if you can list the top 3 java hosting providers that I can trust. Thanks.

Making of the Frankenstein

Here is how Webster defines "Frankenstein"

Frankenstein: a monstrous creation; especially a work or agency that ruins its originator.

I am reminded of the baddie in Spiderman movies... usually its the man controlled by machine, or a monster that goes out of hands. Now tell me instantly, what real-life concept would you equate to this word? Just curious to know your thoughts!

The first thing that came to my mind is our EGO that influences every act of ours. As a child, we had none. But, we nurtured it and let it grow like a wild plant in the garden. Now, it has outgrown all others to influence us the most.

For those not familiar with what ego actually is... here is an excerpt from About:

Ego is nothing but pride in its inflated form. An egoist claims much for himself and concedes little to others.

Here are a few snippets borrowed from sacred texts that explains what is ego & why it is bad.

"...The ego gropes in darkness, while the Self lives in light..." - Katha Upanishad

"The ego is like a stick dividing water in two. It creates the impression that you are one and I am another. When the ego vanishes you will realize that Brahman is your own inner consciousness." - Shri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa

Hey! Here is an idea to put the concept of ego to good use. How about compelling each corrupted person (politicians, officers, or anybody proved guilty) to ride on a donkey's back. This can bring insult to those corrupted individuals, and get the attention of the media and the public. This way, we can hit on their delicate spot of self-respect & social-prestige, and control corruption to some extent.

It sounds like we can extract the sweet of honesty out of a poison called ego. Just a thought...

A movie for mixed emotions

Today, I saw "The Pursuit of Happyness" at a nearby Cinemark, and I should say it is among the best ones of its class. This movie, based on the true story of Christopher Gardner is highly inspirational, and brings out mixed emotions within us. One is of course the determination to achieve something substantial in life.

Further, this movie instigates the philanthropic nature within all of us. Its sad to find people struggling on a daily basis to make ends meet. I feel each of us should have the philanthropic nature running alive in us as long as we live on this planet.

We often spend hundreds $$ on cool gadgets, weekend parties, luxury items, etc... Why not contribute a small fraction of our salary for the poor & needy. It does not hurt much! does it? I'm sure many of us do our best, and many others don't. Its a shame on those cold-hearted people who care less about others, and selfish for the most part.

To serve as an eye-opener, just ask yourself this one question: "On an average, How much service do you do to the society each year? (in any form including money, things, work, ...)". If you have not defined it, this may be a good time for you to put some thought on it.

Well... talking about the movie, Read the article on Wikipedia for some interesting notes that include trivia, and differences between the film and actual events. I personally loved the movie, and the message it delivers. The scene I liked the most is when the commentator says "This brief moment is called happiness" during the climax of the film.

The four kinds of People

Bhartrihari in his famous book 'Niti Shatakam' says that there are four types of people in this society. The first is the 'Satpurusha' who serve others unselfishly; second are the ordinary beings who try to do good to themselves first, and then to others; third the 'Rakshasas' who do things for their own selfish interest and care less about the harm they may cause to others. Finally, there is the fourth type to whom he cannot attribute a name, as they are still worse than the Rakshasas. These are the people who like to harm others with no benefit to anyone.

Bhartihari narrates about only the four types. Here is one more we can add to the list... A person who intends to harm others inspite of getting hurt in the process. An example is a modern day terrorist. At present, the third & fourth type of people are in majority, the second type is less and the first type rare. That is why, character and man-making education are of utmost importance in today's context.

Here is a typical example of Rakshasas in our society... An engineer takes bribes during the construction of a bridge/dam to lower the quality of the construction. As a result, he has served his selfish interest in money, and cared less about the possible breakdown in the construction that can cost many lives & money for the nation.

Ref: RKVM

Better interest for your savings

Check out the crisp review of high yielding savings accounts from a fellow blogger. Until recent past, ING Direct and only a few others offered high interest rates for your online savings account. Now, big players like CapitalOne and Citibank jumped into the game, and started to share ING's pie. Most of them (if not all) are FDIC insured to guarantee that your money is in good hands. Go ahead and exploit your options... Check this for more info.

Writing better blogs with metaphors

Spice your blog with anecdotes, analogies, metaphors and similes. Most of the blogs (mine included) have decent content, grammatically correct for the most part, and exemplifies a casual writing style. But, I don't find many blogs that can cheer its readers, bring out a smile on their face, and yet dont drift away from the main topic in hand.

I found some interesting articles by fellow bloggers on how to write better blogs. Check them out...

1. How to make your blog readers read your entire post
2. Great blogger block advice from a prolific blogger
3. How to write great headlines for your blog
   

Out of the entire list of tips, the one advice that caught my attention is that analogies, metaphors and similes are great ways to capture reader’s attention. This is so very true. I frequent blogs like GigaOM and Ouch My Toe, and noticed that this writing style is being used very well to the possible extent.

GigaOM is one of the few refined bloggers whose blog-posts have a touch of wit & humor along the sides of quality content. This makes me appreciate his blog even more. Among personal blogs, Ouch My Toe has the exact style I am talking about. I feel refreshed on reading any of his blog-posts, just as how I feel after listening to melodious music. These blogs are real fun to read...

Practicing such a writing style can kindle our creativity, and will sure help us in a bigger picture of social-life. Since personal blogs are considered to be the best choice for experimenting with our linguistics, lets give it a shot. Boy! this means I may need to give more thought for every blog. Hmmm~

By the way, speaking of wit-humor, do you remember how Chandler (Mathew Perry) in Friends season used to make timely (in)appropriate comments for normal situations... I enjoyed it!

Anyways, here are a couple of good resources to get us started on creative writing... The 25 Funniest Analogies
Metaphors & Similes.

Update: I forgot to mention Kathy Sierra's Blog "Creating Passionate Users". Its extremely well written, and a pleasure to read. Check it out~