Eclectic Omelette

On Vox: Just a passing thought, ignore me please ...

2008-07-04T10:26:40Z

(15:38:35) Vanlal: we're having a discussion on how to filter content in a social network
(15:38:38) Vanlal: http://www.plurk.com/p/z0ph
(15:38:55) LJ: i want to start a blog - a collaborative blog on marketing
(15:39:02) LJ: i'm looking for - uh - collaborators
(15:39:43) Vanlal: cool. Got a hook?
(15:39:56) LJ: not yet
(15:40:13) LJ: dude, twitter has what plurk and pownce and all others dont have - momentum
(15:41:11) Vanlal: you're missing the point.
(15:41:20) Vanlal: people move with their social nets
(15:41:36) Vanlal: Mine has decided that Twitter doesn't work for us
(15:41:43) LJ: hmm
(15:41:43) Vanlal: and we've all de-camped
(15:41:53) Vanlal: which is true.
(15:41:54) LJ: well you have a good online social web, so it works for you
(15:42:21) Vanlal: twitter is great for the A list bloggers who have millions hanging on their every utterance
(15:42:49) Vanlal: Theycan broadcast freely. With Plurk you're forced to listen to feedback.
(15:43:29) Vanlal: I've found that most bloggers aren't concerned about feedback, they just want to publish their **ORIGINAL** thought out there ASAP
(15:43:56) Vanlal: original being a huge overstatement
(15:44:11) LJ: yup
(15:44:23) LJ: see thats why i am not yet hot on microblogging
(15:44:33) LJ: i dont see a real use in day-to-day life yet
(15:44:41) LJ: and i dont find it pervasive
(15:45:32) LJ: my linkedin network is best positioned to make use of such a rapid-conversation tool, but they dont have it
(15:46:07) LJ: plus unless twitter/ plurk can work beautifully on my mobile device it is virtually useless
(15:48:18) Vanlal: what'd make sense is a service that marries itself into an existing social network.
(15:48:49) LJ: exactly
(15:49:01) LJ: which is why i said, LinkedIn is crying out for one
(15:49:10) LJ: it is the perfect network - useful
(15:49:40) Vanlal: Take your linkedin example with plurk for example. Integrate plurk and you can have asynchronous conversation with your linkedin network
(15:50:01) Vanlal: useful for you - corporate stud/whore :-) Not for everyone else
(15:50:22) LJ: lol
(15:50:44) LJ: well, most of these soc nets have open API's - wht stops plurk from integrating with facebook!
(15:51:59) Vanlal: That's the whole point. Sell that concept to FB & Plurk

Originally posted on vanlal.vox.com

On Vox: Some photos from last week

2008-06-30T08:18:56Z

Originally posted on vanlal.vox.com

vanlal @ 2006-01-25T12:56:00

2006-01-25T07:26:10Z

Once...

I was a Christian
I was certain
I loved the Lord
I talked to Him each night
I cried when He replied

They asked me to confirm my Faith
I had doubts, questions...
The pastor said, "Don't worry.
After the ceremony, you'll be certain."

He taught me the responses

So we stood up before the people
He asked the questions
I answered them,
Faithfully.

And my faith died
For certain

A decade and a half later,
I'm still waiting

For certain

vanlal @ 2005-09-02T07:47:00

2005-09-02T02:18:29Z

Gar jamaal-e yaar nabuad baa khayalash hum khusham,
Khaana-e darvesh ra sham’ee ba az mehtaab neest.

If I cannot see her, at least I can think of her, and so be happy;
To light the beggar’s hut no candle is better than moonlight.

--Amir Khusrau

vanlal @ 2005-08-24T23:02:00

2005-08-24T17:39:48Z

Egyptian Testament

Going through the browns
of Pharaonic history;
not heiroglyph by heiroglyph
on brittle papyrus;
or tomb by Pharaoh on tomb
in the Valley of the Kings;
but just flipping though history
with half bored casual fingers,
I came across a testament
of an Egyptian overseer,
(an abstemious fellow
who couldn't have come to much good)
which said: "I did not take away
a man's daughter nor his field."

Others obviously did.
Grabbing the felahein's daughter
and his field at the Nile's edge
was a common pastime, it seems.
For all you know
Ra may have created the peasantry
precisely so that
ploughed field and virgin girl
could be made available
to the Pharaoh's overseers.

If this was bureaucracy
four thousand years back,
what are we fretting about?

Patwaris* of the world!
Have a good time!

-- Keki N. Daruwalla

*Patwari: The village revenue official.

Insecurity

2005-08-18T15:04:30Z

Lezz: homo habilis!
Lezz: i've become the quintessential yuppy these days
Lezz: i 'read' books by downloading them as audio books and listening to them in the car while driving to work

Is that what I'm NOT DOING?!! What's wrong with me?

In the depths of solitude

2005-08-12T04:47:48Z

Engel <3 captures poetry brilliantly with her lenses.

In The Depths of Solitude

i exist in the depths of solitude
pondering my true goal
trying 2 find peace of mind
and still preserve my soul
constantly yearning 2 be accepted
and from all receive respect
never comprising but sometimes risky
and that is my only regret

a young heart with an old soul
how can there be peace
how can i be in the depths of solitude
when there r 2 inside of me
this duo within me causes
the perfect oppurtunity
2 learn and live twice as fast
as those who accept simplicity

-- Tupac Shakur (1971-1996)

vanlal @ 2005-07-16T13:43:00

2005-07-17T12:52:23Z

Continuing the theme of Evil Empires...

Coca Cola threatens an Indian photographer with a lawsuit
Mr. Haksar, a leading international photographer and winner of the 2005 Cannes Silver Lion, has placed a large billboard in one of Chennai's busiest areas... with his own "work (which) is solely an expression of creativity."

The billboard features the ubiquitous red Coca-Cola wall painting, commonly found across India. Directly preceding the Coca-Cola ad, and part of the billboard, is a dry water hand-pump, with empty vessels waiting to be filled up with water - a common scene in India, particularly in Chennai.

... the law firm of Daniel & Gladys, who represent Coca-Cola's Indian subsidiary, sent a letter to Mr. Haksar threatening him with serious legal actions unless the billboard was replaced 'unconditionally and immediately'. Coca-Cola would seek Indian Rupees 2 million (US$ 45,000) for "incalculable damage to the goodwill and reputation" of Coca-Cola, and also sought an 'unconditional apology in writing'.

Mr. Haksar's billboard highlights the severe water shortages being experienced by communities that live around Coca-Cola's bottling plants across India.

Coke is drawing a lot of heat on the IndiaResource.org site.

vanlal @ 2005-07-14T06:57:00

2005-07-14T19:49:37Z

You heard it here first...

Bloomsbury is the new Empire of Evil.

Pass it on...

The Lotus

2005-06-13T17:33:02Z

Love Came to Flora Asking for a Flower

Love came to Flora asking for a flower
   That would of flowers be undisputed queen,
   The lily and the rose, long, long had been
Rivals for that high honor. Bards of power
Had sung their claims. "The rose can never tower
   Like the pale lily with her Juno mien" --
   "But is the lily lovelier?" Thus between
Flower-factions rang the strife in Psyche's bower.
"Give me a flower delicious as the rose
   And stately as the lily in her pride" --
But of what color?" -- "Rose-red," Love first chose,
   Then prayed -- "No, lily-white -- or, both provide;"
   And Flora gave the lotus, "rose-red" dyed,
And "lily-white" -- the queenliest flower that blows.

    - Toru Dutt

vanlal @ 2005-05-22T23:03:00

2005-05-22T17:34:08Z

I rarely take these quizzes seriously but this one made me sit up and take notice.

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.

</td>

Cultural Creative

75%

Existentialist

69%

Materialist

63%

Postmodernist

50%

Idealist

38%

Modernist

31%

Romanticist

19%

Fundamentalist

What is Your World View? (corrected...again)
created with QuizFarm.com

Nearly everyone I know scored "Cultural Creative" as well.

Hmmm... Why does this smell like a clever marketing ploy?

Thanks for the link, Geegaw.

vanlal @ 2004-10-02T06:50:00

2004-10-02T13:51:08Z

Daughter

You look at me
and I
am aware of the years
that went behind
bitter struggle
savage anger
a trifling fear perhaps
that this was not what
was meant to be
a son would make
easy the promises
of tomorrow

I, daughter, make
tomorrow
a challenge

--- sridevi nair, Bangalore