Believing and knowing that India is a free country unlike Tibet, where there is suppression and religious freedom

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 against the Dalai Lama. So he decided to leave Tibet,” said Topden.

Going further Topden gave series of other reasons for Karmapa’s escape from Tibet, when he reached Dharamsala in January 2000, to meet Dalai Lama.  Topden who is also Spokesperson of Karmapa Reception Committee in Sikkim, said that Ogyen  was keen to receive oral teachings according to Karma Kagyu tradition from gurus of his lineage who had also received them directly from the 16th Karmapa directly, his predecessor, as they now reside in India. “The third reason was that he wanted to see the Dalai Lama and to receive His Holiness' blessings” said Topden. Read more at www.hindustantimes.com

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/dIB7MP

Advertisement:
Tibet (Lonely Planet Country Guide)
The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama
Seven Years in Tibet
Tibet: An Inner Journey
Tibet National Country Flag - 3 foot by 5 foot Polyester (New)
Black Bodhi Beads Tibet Buddhist Prayer Bracelet Mala

Funny but realistic @economist cover

3 fold increase in people connecting computers to their TV Study says

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 Social Tools 2. When Your Kids 'Check it Out!' 3. Time Warner Cable: Profits Rise, Fewer Subscribers 4. Healthier Food Ad Messages Generate Big Media Buzz 5. Shaun White Gets Behind The Wheel For BFGoodrich TAGS:  Research, TV, Television, Computers MOST READ 1. Android To Top U.S. Smartphone Market In 2012 2. Egypt Protests Prove Malcolm Gladwell Wrong, Wrong, Wrong 3. The Emperor Has No Clothes, But We Have Our 'Skins' 4. CBS Moves Slowing Into Streaming Deals, Netflix Eager To Sign 5. Survey: Almost Half Of Mobile App Users Click Ads By Mistake 6. Google Puts Resources Behind U.S. Hispanic Market 7. 2011: Year Of The Trigger? 8. Google's Mission And The Economic Colonization Of The Web 9. The Enemy Of Greatness 10. Netflix's Facebook Integration Marks Shift Away From Viewing 'Households' According to SideReel, an independent Web TV destination with a base of more than 10 million monthly unique users, 40% of respondents had connected their computer to their TV in the past month, a three-fold increase over last year's results. 60% of people connecting a device to a TV connect their computer, and 5% use a box like Roku, Boxee or Google TV. The survey was conducted to identify usage patterns in the areas of social media, Web TV, and the use of connected devices. The average user age in 2009 was 26, and in the 2010 results, 29, but the report notes that there is no correlation between age and time spent watching online. Average TV User Age (Winter 2010) Age Group 2010 2009 18-34 68% 80% 8-24 44 60 Source: SideReel, January 2010 SideReel CEO, Roman Arzhintar, noted that "... for many, traditional TV watching is starting to supplement online watching, rather than the other way around." Time Spent Watching Online TV Watch/Week % of Respondents > 5 Hours 78% 5-20 Hours 54 Source: SideReel, January 2010 Social Media is important, but only for 25% of online TV watchers. While 29 % used Twitter, none of the check-in services including GetGlue, Miso, Clicker or Foursquare have significant usage among SideReel's TV watchers. Only 10% of users want to broadcast what they are watching or want to watch to their friends. Only 25% of SideReelers want to know what their friends are watching - down 50% from last year.  24% of SideReel visitors subscribe to Netflix. 70 % of users who stream video via the Internet to their TV do so using Netflix. 30% of users stream video other than Netflix to their TVs. Viewing and Connected Devices (% of Respondents; Previous Month): 42% watched TV on a connected device via Netflix, or hooked computer to TV to watch  40% streamed video to their TVs 24% subscribe to Netflix 30% stream video other than Netflix on their TVs  Users who watch more than 10 hours per week are less likely to have cable than users who watch less than 10 hours online - these are likely tomorrow's cord cutters, or cord trimmers.  72% of SideReel users watch more than five hours of TV online per week. 30% of SideReel users own an iOS device. 16% own an Android device. More than 5% of SideReel users have an iPad - impressive for a new device. Ownership of Mobile Devices (SideReel Users) Device % of Respondents Owning iPhone 30% iPod Touch 22 iPod 5 Android 16 Source: SideReel, January 2010 For additional information about the survey and SideReel, please visit here, or for the infographics, go here.

The survey was conducted to identify usage patterns in the areas of social media, Web TV, and the use of connected devices. The average user age in 2009 was 26, and in the 2010 results, 29, but the report notes that there is no correlation between age and time spent watching onlin Read more at www.mediapost.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/ezjltI

Stirring the debate again : Who Will Win the Android vs. iPhone Race? @emarketer

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 all smartphone users will own a device running the Google OS. That same year Apple’s share of the market will hold steady at 30%, up only slightly from 2009. Read more at www.emarketer.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/ePmQPD

Empty boxes outside college dorms indicate brands that are popular?

Students love Dell

Google makes it harder for spammy on-page content to rank

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 improve our search quality. Just as a reminder, webspam is junk you see in search results when websites try to cheat their way into higher positions in search results or otherwise violate search engine quality guidelines. A decade ago, the spam situation was so bad that search engines would regularly return off-topic webspam for many different searches. For the most part, Google has successfully beaten back that type of “pure webspam”—even while some spammers resort to sneakier or even illegal tactics such as hacking websites. As we’ve increased both our size and freshness in recent months, we’ve naturally indexed a lot of good content and some spam as well. To respond to that challenge, we recently launched a redesigned document-level classifier that makes it harder for spammy on-page content to rank highly. The new classifier is better at detecting spam on individual web pages, e.g., repeated spammy words—the sort of phrases you tend to see in junky, automated, self-promoting blog comments. We’ve also radically improved our ability to detect hacked sites, which were a major source of spam in 2010. And we’re evaluating multiple changes that should help drive spam levels even lower, including one change that primarily affects sites that copy others’ content and sites with low levels of original content. We’ll continue to explore ways to reduce spam, including new ways for users to give more explicit feedback about spammy and low-quality sites. Read more at googleblog.blogspot.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/eyqSKR

Pizza companies getting ready for SuperBowl cheese off

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 pizzas sold last Super Bowl -- the biggest sales day in company history. With about 2,800 U.S. outlets both years, including about 50 in Dallas Fort Worth, that works out to about 340 pizzas per outlet. Read more at www.dallasnews.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/fNVogU

We are all Men of a Certain Age : TNT getting more interesting

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 discovery of TNT's drama "Men of a certain Age" comes this email from Klout announcing that I had been chosen to preview Southland. as a Klout influencer, I got a link to the preview and a nice talking card with it's own Police siren and a Southland shirt which I wear a lot nowadays. ( Read disclosure about the Klout influencer)

I watched an episode yesterday and Southland is interesting. It is different in the sense that there is no excess glamour and seeing it made me feel like I was watching a real police reality show. Based in Los Angeles and starring Among others REgina King who also  starred in the comedy "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous,". I felt like this was shot by a camera following real police officers.
From the website : About Southland

From Emmy Award winners John Wells, Ann Biderman and Chris Chulack comes a raw and authentic look at a police unit in Los Angeles. From the beaches of Malibu to the streets of East Los Angeles, "Southland" is a fast-moving drama that will take viewers inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims and their families.
Michael Cudlitz ("A River Runs Through It") plays John Cooper a seasoned Los Angeles cop, assigned to train young rookie Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie, "The O.C."). Cooper's honest, no-nonsense approach to the job leaves Sherman questioning whether or not he has what it takes to become a police officer.

Michael Cudlitz ("A River Runs Through It") plays John Cooper a seasoned Los Angeles cop, assigned to train young rookie Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie, "The O.C."). Cooper's honest, no-nonsense approach to the job leaves Sherman questioning whether or not he has what it takes to become a police officer.

Cudlitz and McKenzie are joined by other cast members, including Regina King ("Ray," “Jerry Maguire”), who plays Detective Lydia Adams. Adams lives with and is the primary caregiver of her mother. Her partner, Detective Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott, "Boiler Room") is an unhappily married father of three. Michael McGrady ("The Thin Red Line") plays Detective Daniel "Sal" Salinger. Sal oversees fellow gang detectives Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro, "Drive," "Ugly Betty") and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy, "Alpha Dog"). Arija Bareikis (“Crossing Jordan”) plays patrol officer Chickie Brown, a single mom who dreams of being the first woman accepted into SWAT

I may not have started watching this if not for the prompting from Klout and that is more so because I feel like there are many Police dramas to watch. But this one seems different. Hope to watch another episode next week and report back.

Are you watching TNT? what is your opinion? What dramas do you recommend TNT or otherwise?



Buy from Amazon :
Men of a Certain Age: The Complete First Season
Southland: The Complete First Season (Uncensored)

Women trust "familiar" bloggers more than store Web sites @blogher survey (h/t @mediapost)

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 products market in the U.S., and more specifically, how online relates to offline purchasing. "Trusted blogs have as much influence on purchase decisions as traditional media," said Stephanie Smirnov, president of DeVries Public Relations. Overall, women are just as likely to trust the beauty product advice from a parenting -- 43% -- health -- 42% -- or lifestyle -- 37% -- blog as from a beauty and fashion blog, at 43%. Still, women buy beauty products offline at a rate four times greater than online, as women say they typically research online and buy offline. For the "Beauty is in the Eye of the Blog Holder" study, BlogHer fielded a 25-question survey across 25 million BlogHer network users, with a sample size of 1,074 total women across the United States. Along with larger players in the women's lifestyle arena like NBCU's iVillage, Meredith Women's Network, and Glam Media, BlogHer competes against a long list of smaller players, including SheKnows, Total Beauty, and Sugar Inc.

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 products market in the U.S., and more specifically, how online relates to offline purchasing. Read more at www.mediapost.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/euVnZG

Is your tweet audience International ?

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

Online Video : Audiences don't think of themselves as targets. @mediapost

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 great you are, and all the wonderful things you can do for them -- so stop calling, emailing, throwing rocks at their windows and singing on their front lawn with a boom box over your head. It's annoying. Amazingly, audiences don't think of themselves as targets. They don't think of themselves as belonging to this demographic or that group, or as male and female 18-34. They don't even think of themselves as consumers. They just do what they do and react positively to what they like and negatively to what they don't. When they watch television, interact on social networks, watch videos on YouTube, read online magazines and newspapers, they're there to be informed and entertained. That's it. In the golden days of television advertising, advertisers knew where and when their audiences could be reached. Consumers didn't have to be concerned with how they wanted to be reached, because there was no choice in the matter. If they wanted to watch the TV show, they had to watch the ads. So audiences sat obediently with their frozen dinners, being bombarded with catchy phrases like Act Now! Don't Wait! Limited Time Only! Eventually, viewers learned to make sandwiches during the commercials, but they still had to be back in that chair for the show. That captive audience has now escaped into the wild, running free through time and space with their DVRs, desktops, laptops, PDAs, cell phones, smartphones, iPads and millions of other devices designed to entertain and inform them on their terms, not yours. Where the rules used to be, "This program is brought to you by The Car Company," the relationship is shifting to, "This marketing opportunity to sell me a car is brought to you by Peggy Jones from Pasadena." If Miss Jones from Pasadena doesn't like how and when you are approaching her, she and all her friends will go elsewhere. There's a saying that goes something like, "No one likes to be sold to, but everyone likes to buy." So, if the question is, "How do we reach consumers who don't want to be reached but want to buy?" then the answer is to offer them marketing, advertising and social media content they actually want, when they want it, by going with a "message as content" approach. As with the Trojan Horse, branded online videos are welcomed into their lives and the messages jump out (except in this scenario, the messages don't kill everyone in their city). More specifically, brands, businesses and organizations have to create and optimize video content that is searchable and will be found when their audiences are interested and looking. Be in your audiences' minds when they are making purchasing decisions by consistently producing entertaining, memorable and unexpected video content that builds awareness. Understand what excites your viewers, and create and promote content that satisfies their needs. Encourage interaction, engagement and sharing by integrating video content with traditional and social media initiatives. 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. Read more at www.mediapost.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/fuP7cb

Nearly two in five US companies will maintain a public-facing blog this year @emarketer

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 normally set by the company’s CEO. Asked what made a blog great, respondents cited an engaged community nearly twice as often as any other attribute.

See more at www.emarketer.com

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/dJmW1d

10 Reasons to Start a Business This Year - WSJ.com @rosalindnyc

URL:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704739504...

Realistic, simple and good advice...

See this Amp at http://on.wsj.com/eQJIba

School to teach social entrepreneurism

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 ethnicities and ages are listening to a lecture on "innovation and learning within organisations", near the Bow flyover in east London. All are students on the three-year part-time BA in social enterprise run by health and social care organisation the Bromley-by-Bow Centre, in partnership with the University of East London (UEL). Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

 

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/gji9FH

From @tbd Man attacked by kids at L'Enfant Metro -- bystanders watch, film it (video) - @TBD On Foot | TBD.com

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 you do not know them. I am however heartened by the news "DC's Guardian Angels will up their patrols on #WMATA trains & stations following recent violence: http://tbd.ly/hCsEjo" tweeted by @tbd.

This is very unAmerican behavior. I know this country has heroes. Folks like the passengers of "United Airlines Flight 93" and many serving and retired Armed Forces personnel and of course the DC Guardian Angels who will now patrol the Metro.

What do you think ? Do we play a role in incidents of this type?

Glad to be back at Network Solutions after vacation