Where is my home?

Delhi is beginning to get colder. This morning there was also a light drizzle.

Why does such weather make one happy?

Tens of millions of years ago where human ancestors were born in Africa or Eurasia, the climate may have been just like this.

Since then not only humans but weather too probably drifted away from what was paradise.

However, occasionally, we can still experience it.

Have a great day!

 

Technorati tags: weather, happiness, paradise

Milan's first Twittergram

Milan's first Twittergram
Originally uploaded by Robert Scoble.

Robert Scoble recorded a Twittergram to announce the birth of his son.

Something about the first cry that just gets your attention. It’s different than any cry that’s come since.

Source: Two days of Milan — his first Twittergram story — BlogTalk Radio « Scobleizer

I know what Robert is saying.

Nearly 15 years ago, when I heard my own son cry for the first time, I was startled. It was a voice that I recognized instantly--and unmistakably. It was my grandmother's!

When he cried again, I tried to hear carefully. The resemblance was much less obvious.

It was gone in a few hours.

 

Technorati tags: birth, cry, atavism

The menace of chain mail

Did you receive the warning that:

• Some erasers contain formaldehyde?
• Most major brands of lipstick contain dangerous levels of lead?

No?

Surely somebody tipped you off about Microsoft and AOL coming together to give away thousands of dollars?

How do you deal with these forwards?

I've tried pointing out obvious errors in the story with a link to snopes.com, or other sites debunking urban legends. Mostly it doesn't help. Some cheerfully say oops, and send another forward within the next hour. Others remonstrate that they were only trying to he helpful.

It doesn't occur to the decent, and otherwise intelligent folks, that they jeopardize their own and their friends' email addresses, while wasting everyone's time, attention and patience.

I wish Google--because they are the best, but also other email providers--would add the following functionality to their email:

1. Trap email with dozens of addresses in the body or the headers at the sender's end, warn him or her of the danger and offer to strip out the addresses. (Facility to strip out email addresses from forwards would be useful otherwise too.)
2. Block suspicious messages (like they do with attachments) at the source,inform the sender that the story could be a hoax, provide links to verify the facts, and suggest that the message could embarrass the sender.
3. Let people elect to have their email address removed from suspect chain mail messages, before these are sent out. Of course, this can work only if the sending and receiving address are with the same email provider, or across co-operating providers.

Meanwhile, please, somebody suggest what to do.

 

Technorati tags: chain mail, urban legends, wish list

No Robert, small publishers needn't worry

Robert Niles argues that if service providers are allowed to offer premium access to corporate clients, it threatens net neutrality.

He would like to see legislation to prevent the such a move.

The industry's plan ... would charge individual publishers different rates for bandwidth based on negotiated deals. AT&T, for example, could cut a deal with Fox News, serving its content to subscribers at a faster rate than that of the New York Times. And people-powered sites from DailyKos to Free Republic would be left with the digital scraps, their readers waiting while AT&T gives higher priority to requests for webpages from its corporate partners.

Source: It's up to Congress now to protect Net Neutrality

Bandwidth cost is hardly the dominant factor in distributing content. It is zero for millions of bloggers. Who pays their bandwidth cost?

Answer: Those who derive economic profit from their outpourings.

Technology has made the Long Tail of publishers economically viable for hosting services that find a way to make a profit from them.

For a healthy tail, it is necessary that its economic viability be preserved, but that's not a task for legislation or government policy.

I don't worry about Fox News, they have to worry about blogger.com.

 

Technorati tags: market, net neutrality, The Long Tail, people power

Problems installing Windows Live Writer

The new Windows Live Writer is out and making waves in blogosphere.

I had the misfortune that it failed to install on either my desktop or laptop, connecting through two different networks. This happened with XP Professional and Home editions.

The problem got solved following advice on this page.

If you are having problems installing Writer, Messenger 8.5 or Mail, in particular if the the Windows Live installer disappearing halfway through (after a Windows Vista UAC prompt if enabled), this may help.

1. Close all Windows Live applications
2. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Windows Live and delete the Installer folder
3. Navigate to C:\ProgramData and delete both Windows Live Installer and WLInstaller directories if you have them.
4. Reboot (important!)
5. Reinstall the application you want to install

Windows Live Installer problems? Try this. - LiveSide - News blog

(Step 3 is not for XP and I didn't do anything here. You may read the full post and discover more about the problem and a link to the official solution, none of which I have tried.)

Post made from the mint fresh Windows Live Writer 2008!

 

Technorati tags: WLW, troubleshooting, installation, Writer, blog editor