My Digital Thoughts : Shashi's Diary

The Bystander Effect " is a situation where "people refuse to intervene when a crime is being committed - also referred to as the as "Genovese syndrome. The Wikipedia page for the Bystander effect  gives examples of incidents that have been affected by this effect. On the website of the  Charter of human rights and freedoms  says : Every person must come to the aid of anyone whose life is in peril, either personally or calling for aid, by giving him the necessary and immediate physical assistance, unless it involves danger to himself or a third person, or he has another valid reason My story stems from a recent trip to New York on the 2167 Acela Express. Across the aisle were a elderly couple. Since they were already on the train I think they got on the train in Boston. Before the train arrived at the Newark, NJ - Penn Station (NWK) the Amtrak conductor told them that thier station was approaching. As soon as the train stopped the husband went to ge...

Know who is willing to work for non-profit wages on short-term project. - needed ASAP to help drive traffic to a fun-raiser for Ssubi Foundation, www.ssubihut.com- the brain child of Laura Luxemburg, supporting 1/2M Ugandans of Luweero by supplying meds, ed, farm, & jewelery center to become sustainable. We need a social media intern to drive attendance to "THE CIRCLE", a play written by actress, Tina Lifford, an amazingly powerful adventure of 7 women, ages 17-70. Think "Vagina Monologues" meets "Love Letters". For more information, contact Susan@bigbiteprod.com project website : ssubihut.com

[<a href="http://storify.com/shashib/madhuri-dixit" target="blank">View the story "Madhuri Dixit Relocating to India" on Storify]</a> Famous Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit who currently lives in Denver, CO is moving back to India. She tweeted the news out a few hours ago and her fans in India will be overjoyed ( unless of course her Twitter account got hacked;) Just speculating here) She is currently having a culinary fight with famous masterchef Sanjeev Kapoor on the "Amul Food Food Maha Challenge" on Foodfood channel. This makes sense since she is now participating a lot in movies and TV shows and the 8375 miles and about 20 to 25 hours travel tme is quite a commute.  I was in India July-Aug of this year and the economy there is booming, we also hear o...

My first foray into online advertising was in 2003. Google had just introduced 'Adwords" and Hurricane Isabel was poised to strike. I got my Google Adwords account and seriously pondered what I would sell online. My only online marketing experience at that time was having Affiliate links to Barnes and Noble in 1999 and Amazon. I did what every entrepreneur should do - be first to market and also take a risk. My first ad campaign had a  budget of $75 and used the keywords " Hurricane", " Hurricane Isabel" to advertise for all things the book " The Magic School Bus Inside A Hurricane by Joanna Cole ". These were the early days of Adwords and online advertising and the only competition I had for my ad was another ad that advertised a Carribean beach resort . Business wise this was a poor decision on my part. During a Hurricane people are looking for information on disasters and maybe a ad selling emergence supplies may be a good idea but an ad...

Tom Jackman of State of NOVA Blog of the Washington Post posted an article today on my friend Heather Coleman. Heather tells her story of the affect of postpartum psychosis on her personally. Please read the article on Washington Post.com . " Postpartum depression affects between 12 and 20 percent of new moms in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though some mothers’ support groups think the number is higher. The symptoms can range from mild to severe, and can be an indicator of mental illness." Heather has told her story to "  warn both new mothers and their families of the serious dangers of postpartum syndrome." and also needs your help : a) Help DC Police let Officer Boone of Forestville connect with Heather Coleman ( Chief Lanier you must help)  b) Track down the Mr. James and Sister from Richmond  with the phone number  240- 216-XXXX who helped heather. Thank you all in advance for your help. Heather I s...

The Tirumala Venkateshwara temple is 3200 ft above sea level, and is about 10.33 sq miles in area. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven hoods of Adisesha, thus earning the name, Seshachalam. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri. It is around 500 km (310 mi) from Hyderabad, India  where my parents stay. Legend has it that anyone visiting this temple will be cleansed of all their sins. Since my childhood we have visited this temple once every few years and the last time I had visited here was in 2007, Learn about the temple at the website of the temple : http://www.tirumala.org/maintemple_about.htm The Wikipedia page of the Tirumala Venkateshwara temple   provides a interesting read. Some points of interest from the wikipedia page: Most visited temple with over 30-40 million visitors a year Second richest pilgrimage center  in the world ( just moved to 2nd place after t...

Today was a very eventful day- It began with a visit to the White House and ended with a realization that your world is controlled sometimes by forces that you have no control over. I am a regular listener to WTOP ( other than when I am listening to Jack Diamond on Mix 107.3) and hear the every day headlines like " Fairfax woman wakes to man's hands around her neck " or  Dog shot after attacking school children on bus , and usually being human beings we always assume it is happening to someone else. We had some friends over and were our usual selves joking chatting and generally making a lot of noise and then we decided to move from the Family room to the dining room. We heard the door sensor beep and that was unusual as everyone was right there. Looking into the family room we saw the deck door was slightly open and a stranger was standing there.He said his wife was beating him and he was running away from her. My first reaction was how did he get to the de...

on my reading list

In an article on NDTV on the Osama Bin Laden's death there are two things that headlined my attention Osama was just 800 yards from the Pakistan Military Academy Bin Laden's killing at a compound near a city that is home to the military academy, a brigade and thousands of army personnel could prove to be an embarrassment to the Pakistani military Having grown up in India I am quite surprised that he could live in a house in what seems to be a close knit community ( I am going by pictures on TV) and Google maps  http://goo.gl/maps/XhY7  without detection for so long. Granted we do not know yet how long he was living here, granted press reports say the house was built  not more than 6 years ago. Maybe he had several of such houses built ( reportedly costing 1M). This did not look like a mansion and the surrounding houses seem typically for any South Asian town. In NDTV the Pakistan Ambassador to the UK Wajid Shamshul Hasan said that he thinks that the P...

If you are a regular commuter on the Dulles Toll Road and Route 267 to Leesburg you should be paying attention to the debate underground or overground. The budget debate affects you even if you are probably not going to the airport by metro. To Build the station underground or not,  is a $300 Million question   The Virginia transportation secretary said tolls would increase as a result of the decision, and the state would not tolerate it. Reason for building underground and incurring these costs: "Better for baggage-laden travelers, who will not have to trek 1,150 feet to an aboveground station to stand in steamy Washington summers or icy winter winds ( http://goo.gl/1WrPA )" "Preserves the architectural vision of the masterful Eero Saarinen that has made Dulles a design icon worldwide" People will not use the metro ( 5000 riders a day) The alternative is an aerial station in front of Parking Garage 1 across from the Main Terminal. When i drive to the Was...

The title of this post is  paraphrased from real telegrams that my family used to send when we made our annual vacation visits to my parent's place of birth in a rural village in the suthern state of India Andhra Pradesh . Every year till we went to high school we would make the journey from which ever city we lived in at that time to these adorable villages using autorickshaws , taxis, trains, buses culminating in a bullock cart ride for about 10 kms. There are several points to this post other than nostalgia a) Communications :it was not very long ago that radio(not the car radio) was an important tool for news worldwide. Compare that to today half (47%) of all U.S. adults get at least some local news   and information on their phone or tablet. I have used telegrams into the late 80's in India. T his website i found through a Google search tells you telegrams can still be sent Till I came to the US 12 years ago i was a avid letter writer. Some days i wish I ha...

The Tweetreach blog has a interesting post on tweets during the Oscar Awards night with a nice infographic We tracked more than a million tweets during this year’s Oscars telecast (along with partner Mass Relevance). So what did Twitter think of the show? Here’s our analysis of key moments and tweets from the show. Amplify’d from blog.tweetreach.com Twitter got pretty excited when: Melissa Leo dropped the f-bomb during her Best Supporting Actress speech Toy Story 3 won Best Animated Feature Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won Best Original Score for The Social Network The cast of Harry Potter, Twilight and other films were autotuned Oprah announced the Best Documentary Feature award (and when Banksy didn’t win for Exit Through the Gift Shop) Natalie Portman won the Best Actress Oscar The King’s Speech won for Best Picture Other spikes were when: Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake presented the animated awards James Franco dressed as Marilyn Monroe Christian Bale won Best...

Less than half of Americans admit to getting a good night's sleep.   According to a study released by the National Sleep Foundation, only 42 percent of Americans admit to getting a good night's sleep. That's less than half! Like so many others, bloggers often forego sleep in favor of balancing family, friends, and work. Add on the time spent tweeting, updating Facebook, or checking into Four Square and the average blogger has very little time left for themselves. The makers of the Sound Asleep™ Comfort Pillow are asking bloggers nationwide to join them in celebrating National Sleep Awareness Week by participating in the first ever One Week to Better Sleep Blogger Challenge. Developed with busy bloggers in mind, this weeklong health challenge is designed to help spread the importance of getting a good night’s sleep. Not a blogger? That’s ok, take the challenge anyway! Visit the One Week to Better Sleep Blogger Challenge on Facebook  (Facebook.com/TheSleepChall...

Going online to find health related information is not as prevalent as we think. More people rightly look for health professionals and then family. Good report to see. Amplify’d from pewinternet.org Many Americans turn to friends and family for support and advice when they have a health problem. This report shows how people’s networks are expanding to include online peers, particularly in the crucible of rare disease. The most striking finding of the national survey is the extent of peer-to-peer help among people living with chronic conditions. One in four internet users living with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions, lung conditions, cancer, or some other chronic ailment (23%) say they have gone online to find others with similar health concerns. By contrast, 15% of internet users who report no chronic conditions have sought such help online. Read more at pewinternet.org   See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bs0f5

Great feature from the census department. Amplify’d from media.prnewswire.com Profile America -- Sunday, February 27th .  Today marks the birthday of a remarkable woman doctor -- Alice Hamilton , born in 1869.  She was the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard University , where she taught for many years.  At the same time she became a leading expert in the developing field of occupational health.  Hamilton was a pioneer in the field of toxicology, studying job site illnesses and the dangerous effects of industrial metals and chemical compounds on the human body.  After receiving many honors, she died at the age of 101.  In the U.S., there are 170,000 medical scientists, more than half of them women.  You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov . Read more at media.prnewswire.com   See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bryg4

URL:   http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008236 An Adobe-sponsored study found flashy iPad ads were more engaging and effective than their static print counterparts, and earlier research from UM and Time Inc. indicated that videos were the most desired feature of iPad ads. See this Amp at http://bit.ly/e8OXx9

Message from Founder of EpicChange.org In parallel with our current efforts to support Mama Lucy's dream to build a secondary school, we've begun to reach out for grants to support the future of Epic Change. We recently applied for a $25,000 grant from WeMedia and we'd love your vote in support of our application. It literally takes less than 2 minutes. To vote, click the "I agree" icon on our application here . You'll need to register in the upper-right hand corner to make your vote count. It's quick and simple. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

I really love the #sbbuzz tweetchat that Pam O Hara and Michelle Riggins of batchblue.com started this according to me the first small business tweet chat. They have been busy cooking something new up at batchblue.com and I was thrilled to see this post about today's #sbbuzz chat Amplify’d from sbbuzz.wordpress.com When we started the #sbbuzz chat 2 years ago today, our primary goal was to connect with other tech savvy small business owners and work together to tackle the myriad challenges that the onset of social media, cloud computing, mobile technology and virtual collaboration present to small businesses.  We never anticipated that this effort would result in such amazing conversations, so many new friends and business opportunities, and even a few new employees.  We count this project as a HUGE success. To commemorate the anniversary, we will be hosting our first #sbbuzz chat of 2011 this Tuesday, February 8th from 8:00 – 10:00 PM EST. Please join us ...

Network Solutions® launched a raucous mockumentary video featuring the antics of Go Granny played by Academy Award winning actor, Cloris Leachman. This is the first time the leading web services company is releasing an internet video campaign during Super Bowl weekend, which will also be aired across key social channels including: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, BlogHer and a dedicated video page at www.networksolutions.com/video. See this Amp at http://bit.ly/egC0Ay

Seems a little restricted to allow free access to Facebook only. Will be interesting to watch. When Google gave free internet they did not have any restrictions. Go Google ! Amplify’d from www.cnn.com Seven carriers -- AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways and Virgin America -- are giving free access to the social networking site over their inflight Wi-Fi service. "Facebook continues to be the number one website visited by travelers using Gogo at 30,000 feet," said Jim Berrien, the chief revenue officer at Aircell. "Our commitment is to offer great inflight experiences to our users, and unique marketing opportunities to advertisers." Read more at www.cnn.com   See this Amp at http://bit.ly/hUfTJZ

Great article in the Dallas News on how social media is being used for SuperBowl 45 written by THEODORE KIM. You should definitely go to read the entire article : http://goo.gl/E9tUU an extract is below. Did you see tweets from @visanfl ? Last year, the NFL upped its Twitter engagement and, for the first time, tried to curate discussion about the Super Bowl by tagging all of its game-related tweets with the moniker #sb44 . This year, the league launched a section of its website devoted entirely to Twitter. It even has a sponsor: credit card giant Visa. Amplify’d from www.dallasnews.com The Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers are stoking the passions of millions on Facebook . Athletes are tweeting out Super Bowl party plans. And companies from Coca-Cola to Mercedes-Benz USA have unveiled elaborate social media strategies that just a few years ago might have seemed nonsensical. Consider Super Bowl XLV in Arlington the Social Media Super Bowl, the first in which ...

Great article in the Dallas News on how social media is being used for SuperBowl 45 written by THEODORE KIM. You should definitely go to read the entire article : http://goo.gl/E9tUU an extract is below. Did you see tweets from @visanfl ? Last year, the NFL upped its Twitter engagement and, for the first time, tried to curate discussion about the Super Bowl by tagging all of its game-related tweets with the moniker #sb44 . This year, the league launched a section of its website devoted entirely to Twitter. It even has a sponsor: credit card giant Visa. Amplify’d from www.dallasnews.com The Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers are stoking the passions of millions on Facebook . Athletes are tweeting out Super Bowl party plans. And companies from Coca-Cola to Mercedes-Benz USA have unveiled elaborate social media strategies that just a few years ago might have seemed nonsensical. Consider Super Bowl XLV in Arlington the Social Media Super Bowl, the first in which ...

I chanced upon this article and thought you may like a perspective from an Indian newspaper on Tibet. I would love to visit Tibet specially the train that goes from Beijing to Lhasa the world's highest railway, a 710-mile line that crosses the vertiginous Tibetan Plateau and forges a steel bond with the once-secluded Buddhist holy city of Lhasa.see article in NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/world/asia/02tibet.html Disclaimer: This blog is my own, contains my opinions and observations and do not necessarily reflect those of Network Solutions or its clients. Amplify’d from www.hindustantimes.com Karma Topden former Indian ambassador to Mongolia on Sunday explained that Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s flight to India eleven years ago was fallout of the mounting pressure from Chinese to support Gyaltsen Norbu, Panchan Lama – the second highest spiritual head next to Dalai Lama that had been appointed by communist regime. “ The Karmapa did not want to be put in this position of going a...

I got this from @mediaPost research newsletter and I used to do this often i.e connect my computer to the TV but I no longer have to. I use either the Wii or mt Sony Bravo connect box to watch Netflix. I have a internet switch so I can add another device if need be and I am not sure if it is going to be the Roku box or Google TV. My decision will be based on the number of Indian channels that will be offered for free on any box. Do you watch internet Tv on your computer or on the TV? Amplify’d from www.mediapost.com SHARE TOOLS PRINT COMMENT SUBSCRIBE RSS RELATED ARTICLES 1. Report: CMOs Eager To Integrate Soci...

I think the spot that Apple wants to be is in the hands of people all over the world which is android's reach. The real competition is now getting on as many phones and android not being tied to a particular phone does that. I haerad yesterday that Blackberry may get the ability to run Android Apps, which is good for BB users. On the other hand there is no real reason for Apple to compete with Android. They are earning great profits, they have happy and passionate raving fans as customers. Just like Mac, the iphone develops its own audience that can only grow albeit not as fast as the android. Again android is open source and there are no Wall Street pressure on that so they can innovate and experiment more. See this funny pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldviewfinder/3384112680 / Amplify’d from www.emarketer.com eMarketer estimates that after exploding from just 6% of the US smartphone market in 2009 to 24% in 2010, Android will continue to gain share through 2012, when 31% of...

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In a note from Matt Cutts on the official Blog , Google refutes some of the buzz around web spam myth. Matt Cutts also explains what web spam is . The article is a good read and definitely wanted to make you aware of it as well. Amplify’d from googleblog.blogspot.com January brought a spate of stories about Google’s search quality. Reading through some of these recent articles, you might ask whether our search quality has gotten worse. The short answer is that according to the evaluation metrics that we’ve refined over more than a decade, Google’s search quality is better than it has ever been in terms of relevance, freshness and comprehensiveness. Today, English-language spam in Google’s results is less than half what it was five years ago, and spam in most other languages is even lower than in English. However, we have seen a slight uptick of spam in recent months, and while we’ve already made progress, we have new efforts underway to continue to...

Whether you are into sports or not , this is a interesting story of the biggest pizza event of the year and face off with Pizza Hut, DOminos and Papa John's Amplify’d from www.dallasnews.com Pizza Hut, which moved its headquarters from Addison to Plano last week, expects to receive 1.3 million orders for at least 2 million pies, spokesman Chris Fuller said Thursday. That would be a gain of nearly 20 percent over last year’s Super Bowl estimate of 1.7 million Pizza Hut pizzas. Last Super Bowl, the chain had about 6,200 U.S. restaurants (not counting counter-style outlets in malls and airports). It has a similar number now, which averages out to about 300 pies per store. Meanwhile, Papa John’s, one of Pizza Hut’s main rivals and the nation’s No. 3 chain, expects to sell 1 million pizzas in the U.S., according to John Schnatter, founder, chairman and co-chief executive of Louisville-based Papa John’s International Inc. That’s up from 900,000 pi...

I chanced upon the TNT show " Men of a Certain Age"  as I was exploring the VOD ( Video on Demand) on DirectTV., the fact that Ray Romano was in the series showing his grey hair was why I stopped to look at this TV serial. After a few episodes I am now officially a fan. The story line has a happily married Scott Bakula  Andre Braugher trying to get out of living under the shadow of his celebrity dad , Ray Romano is divorced ( Not his fault actually in the story) and getting to date again and Andre Braugher  Scott Bakula living life large as a bachelor. They meet regularly for breakfast and kid each other just like regular guys. The story is realistic as well as very entertaining and I cannot wait for them to appear in the VOD ( I do not have TNT in my channel line up) of course full episodes are available online  http://www.tnt.tv/series/menofacertainage/chevy/ This is my story so far as to why I started paying attention to TNT  and a few weeks after my disco...