Ways to keep bloggers in check || Forbes Article

Boing Boing has an analysis of Forbes article on ways to keep bloggers in check

Is it me or does it read just like the strategy followed by IIPM in its recent attacks against bloggers. Its prudent that bloggers read the article and be aware of legal pitfalls involved. EFF should take note and lobby for measures to protect free speach on the web.

Once in a life time opportunity to win hearts || Blog Quake Day

There are still places that have not been reached in the earthquake affected areas of KashmirSome folks have reservations on how far we should go in making the region more accessible. This is not the time to debate on whether the terrorists will benefit from opening the Indo-Pak border. We should not let people die because we are suspicious of the aid ending up helping the terrorists.

Remember that conflicts like Palestine, Afghanistan and Kashmir are wars of the mind. Military might (legal or illegal) will never solve these issues. We have to win the heart and minds of people on both sides. Although a sad event, the Kashmir quake is a once in a life time opportunity to resolve the divide between India and Pakistan

Politics aside, there are real and immediate life threatening concerns here. The UN today again warned the world of the certain death toll if more resources are not diverted to the region today. For anyone who has ever lived in an area that gets snow will be able to relate vividly with what’s coming to the affected region in a few weeks. The aid work will slow down to a trickle, people will be trapped where they are as even helicopters won’t be able to navigate the mountains in that whether. We have but a few weeks to make sure help reaches the area.

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desipundit.com call to arms – BLOG QUAKE DAY

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BLOG QUAKE DAY

Firefox, Flickr and Flock – The holy trinity of blogging

Finally got around to test Flock. Its still not in full release but is revolutionary enough to turn heads. I am sure a lot of bloggers out there want an integrated solution that can bring together all components of web surfing and publishing contents (may it be posts, photos or links/feed) . Look no further – flock to it…

Things I would like:

1. Ability to wrap test around photos. Change the color of fonts. A robust spell checker
2. A feed reader. I have been using google reader and find it the best so far but its VERY slow – specially when one has 150 feeds .
3. Ability to publish a post to multiple blogs

Democracy and the individual – some thoughts

Recently I have tried to reason why the world is the way it is today.  My thoughts have been more towards the geo-political situation and the games governments play adn how it relates to society in general. 

Cause of most of the troubles today is ignorance.
A society should be driven by an efficient disbursement of knowledge. This will eliminate ignorance and makes individuals more receptive to new ideas.

A democratic form of government is the only governance model, which will promote such an evolution. A democracy inculcates a slow but steady expansion of the social belief system and ensures filtering of the best ideals. However, being weighted heavily by common good, a new idea requires formidable momentum and consensus to even get tabled. In the end the best meme survives (more on that some other time).
Individuals role
An individual is restricted by his/her area of influence and should endeavor to make it his proving ground. If each individual attains his full potential in his area of influence, the whole superorganism will be better equipped to move up the pecking order (e.g. of nations). This will expand the area of influence of the superorganism as a whole, which in turn would bring it closer toward its ultimate vision.

An individuals moral standing and character not only depends on him but also on the society he belongs to. A free and just society can only be established by moral people. It is the responsibility of those with good moral character to teach and encourage others to be morally responsible.

Persuite of life, liberty and justice does not fall under an individuals realm but is an off shoot of his social environment. A person will not gain moral character by being forced to behave morally. He must choose to be moral in order to benefit himself and society. Freedom is not an ends in itself; it is a means to achieving a happy life, which is an end in itself.

Freedom and Justice are opposite in nature. A society destined for greatness finds a way to balance these opposites. When balance is reached, Freedom can create better Justice, and Justice will create more Freedom.

Man’s mission in life is to constantly improve himself intellectually and morally. In his endeavor to improve the quality of life, an individual must take risks. To sacrifice freedom for security is foolishness. You cannot sacrifice happiness for security either. Although life is full of risk, the quality of one’s life is a function of one’s moral character and the freedom and justice enjoyed in society.