My Digital Thoughts : Shashi's Diary

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...

Blogher has a new research called Beauty is in the Eye of the Blog Holder What Influences Women to Purchase Beauty Products? at http://www.blogher.com/beauty-eye-blog-holder-0 . MediaPost has a good recap. Amplify’d from www.mediapost.com Despite increasingly close ties between brands and bloggers, many have asked whether such partnerships bear financial fruit. The answer, according to women's media network BlogHer, is a resounding 'Yes!' Indeed, according to a study conducted by BlogHer, blogs are more than two times more likely -- 63% -- than magazines -- 26% -- to have inspired a beauty product purchase over the last six months. What's more, women respondents said they turn to and trust "familiar" bloggers more than store Web sites, social networks or even message boards when seeking beauty product recommendations. The survey, conducted by BlogHer in conjunction with DeVries Public Relations, attempts to shed light on the huge $7 billion health and beauty...

This is from my bit.ly report and the top 10 audience for my links. The caveat is that I do not use bit.ly all the time and sometimes my links are also from goo.gl yet I thought this was an interesting mix. What do your your analytics tell you ? United States 747 Canada 68 United Kingdom 38 Nigeria 25 Ireland 25 Lithuania 25 Netherlands 20 India 20 Korea, Republic of 8 Italy 7 See this Amp at http://bit.ly/e5Xh84

The author David Murdico advises "Marketers and advertisers can no longer dictate what consumers think and buy. Instead, we have to work hard at understanding a changing, shifting pattern of behaviors and habits -- and then present video ads, branded entertainment and social media marketing initiatives to our target audiences only when and where we are welcome" I think we should look at our insights as media consumers and what we like or see and believe that holds good. The mantra should always be useful and entertaining. The opportunity to sell is not brought to you by the company but a network sonnection who believes in the company and is your peer/friend. Amplify’d from www.mediapost.com Brands, businesses and organizations spend valuable time and resources targeting audiences, predicting where they can be reached and determining how they want to be reached. The answer is simple: They are everywhere, and they don't want to be reached. They don't want to know how gr...

The article says "Marketers say engagement is key" and the truth struck me as I saw a comment on my post on the Network Solutions' blog this morning about a post I had made on the blog. How simple the conversation is- reader posts comment and you get a chance to reply. This is similar to what Marsha Collier writes in her book The Ultimate Online Customer Service Guide http://amzn.to/hBLaF6 - even if you sell online you cannot ignore the personal touch is worth it's weight in gold. it's something every small business owner knows and needs to be reinforced with online merchants. A corporate blog is a great communication tool and I have learnt on a trial by fire basis too Amplify’d from www.emarketer.com Among Fortune 1,000 companies surveyed by blog printing firm Blog2Print , nearly a quarter had a corporate blog. The marketing department was most often responsible for writing it, followed closely by a social media or blog specialist, and the tone of blog was nor...

URL:   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704739504... Realistic, simple and good advice... See this Amp at http://on.wsj.com/eQJIba

The University of East London (UEL). has a three-year part-time BA in social enterprise run by health and social care organisation the Bromley-by-Bow Centre. In talking to many GenY folks and from articles, many young folks prefer to work for companies that have a social goal and may find this course useful. Any one know of courses here in the US? Amplify’d from www.guardian.co.uk Social entrepreneurs have traditionally gone it alone, working long hours to try to build their dream and change society, picking up any free tips and advice available along the way. But as education and training providers realise that more people want to run businesses that are not brutishly capitalist, a greater number of courses are being introduced that focus specifically on social enterprise. So what do social enterprise courses offer? And will they really help you on your way to becoming the next Yunus or Bird? On a bitingly cold Thursday afternoon in December, a semi-circle of people of various e...

Man attacked by kids at L'Enfant Metro -- bystanders watch, film it (video) - @TBD On Foot | TBD.com : "On Sunday night, Allen Haywood was randomly and viciously attacked by two kids on the platform of the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station. Dozens of people witnessed it. Several people filmed it. Nobody helped." I was reading this story on TBD and I am shocked . This is the capital of the superpower of the world and this happened at 7.15 p.m not even at an unearthly time which is bad as well . I grew up in India and usually I was very confident that if anything like this happened passersby would always come to the rescue. The least anyone could have done is to call 911. I am also ashamed that many folks took out their cameras to record a video. In this day and age reporters covering events and incidents usually sacrifice their story to help the victim and hope that stands true. I think we need to develop a culture where some sacrifice is called for in helping others even if yo...