Stumbling blog
Well, I am officially back to blogging, starting today, simply because I just stumbled upon a job description which mentioned ‘Blogging’ as one of the desired skills. And because, I bought a new phone and wanted to tell the whole world about it.
I mean, I don’t deny it is a monster of a phone with 2GB RAM, Quad core processor, 4.7” display and a 8MP camera, but frankly, what is so special there to talk about?
So the point is, blogging is not dead. It is, quite clearly, a source of livelihood. What one really needs, to be able to blog frequently, is an endless desire, passion, drive, plenty of time and amazing features like the photosphere, wireless charging and an intelligent personal assistant which gives location based suggestions.
I mean, there is only so much time we all get to spend online in a day. And so many avenues to express our feelings - like, for instance…No, the LIKE button on Facebook. We all know how it can be massively useful when you want to tell someone you care or force someone to tell the world he cares. “Like/Share if you agree”. Subtle, yet powerful, like the vanilla version of Android.
Twitter is an amazing place as long as you are following the right set of people. Some are very perseverent when it comes to RTing all the nice things their followers have to say. This display of humility is of the highest order and comes with a WXGA IPS capacitive touch screen and a 320ppi resolution.
If you are the intellectual types, you sure must have an account in Quora. The sheer joy of reading through a answer and then gently upvoting it is a source of instant gratification. Think of it, where else can you possibly find answers to the most compelling questions like “If ke$ha comes to the UK, will she be called ke£ha?” or “After swatting flies, is it best to clean up their corpses or leave them as a warning to their brethren?” The answers are usually very comprehensive but in some cases, very straightforward. Will the Screen get shattered if you drop your phone ? A. Yes. Q2. Should I buy a case for this phone? A. Buy the case first, then the phone.
In short, there is hardly any time left for blogging after facebook, twitter, Quora and the likes. Oh! Yes, YouTube! That takes away whatever little time is remaining. It therefore requires a lot of discipline, determination and battery saver app to be able to gain that extra bit of time.
I am sorry if I constantly drifted away from the topic but it was too tough not get overawed but this amaaaazing phone that I am using to type this post, called the Google Nexus 4. It’s awesome!
Excerpt from my chat with Curiosity rover!
- Hey!! Curiosity!
- Oh! Hai!
- Nice name for a space rover. Makes so much sense. Infact, I can't think of any other name for you!
- OK. Thanks. Can we get started? I have, like, 5 earth minutes left.
- Heh. Sure. So I hear you are on a Mars expedition.
- Duh!
- Cool place huh?
- You bet it is. Minus 51 deg C the day I landed.
- Tell me more.
- There is Internet. Been sending out tweets from up there. You not reading them?
- Really? I don't see any foursquare check-in though!
- Hmm. You don't trust me!
- What else? Did you find water?
- No.
- Tigers? Did you find tigers? We have just 1141 of them left on Earth.
- Nope!
- Oil ? I am sure they sent you there to explore wells.
- No such luck either!
- Tcha!
- Wait. There is something else I see though. Very rare and seemingly extinct.
- What?
- A new post on your blog!!
What’s in a name?
“That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet”
Well, NOT so true after all, Mr.William Shakespeare.
I am RK. For those who’d forgotten, it expands to Radhakrishnan. I like my name. Perhaps I have grown to love my name since it is MY name and I have lived with it for 27 years. For reasons best known to my friends and family, it has taken different forms - Radha, RK, Krish, RD, Radkri, Krishna and whatever. Because, let’s be frank, who has all the time to walk to up to me and say “Hey! What’s up R-A-D-H-A-K-R-I-S-H-N-A-N !”
While ideally I would have chosen not to mess around with it, I understood the paucity of time people suffered from in pressing situations like coffee table interactions. I realized it was only appropriate that I proclaimed a nickname that could end all the confusion, save precious conversational time besides making me sound cool. A wonderful opportunity arose when I joined my first organization and I had to introduce myself to a bunch of fresh graduates. Everything since then is history.
As I stepped into my new role as an amateur coder I realized I saved 92 bytes of data every time I typed the shorter version of the name. Bingo! I step into the canteen and as I walk with a spring in my step - sweet music, everyone has started calling me RK!
Friend : Hey RK! What’s up?
Me: Nothing da. Just walked in for breakfast.
Another friend : Morning RK! What’s up da? New dress ah? Looking very refined and polished today!
Me: Ah! No! Same old dress I’ve been wearing since almost a year. *fresh burst of energy experienced*
Me: OK. OK. Have to rush to a meeting. Bye!!
Having a garishly ethnic name can have it’s traditional disadvantages like this man here has narrated. But what parents today really need to know is that such names are now not just uncool but extremely SEO unfriendly. I mean I may someday break Sachin’s record of a ton of 100s, travel to the Sun and back or become the CEO of Google Inc. but still not get featured on the 1st page of search results. Not when you have all these gentlemen listed below, already famous, complete with a wikipedia page dedicated to them.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
K. Radhakrishnan
M.G.Radhakrishnan
Venkatraman Radhakrishnan
C. Radhakrishnan
J. Radhakrishnan
Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan
R.Radhakrishnan
Varkala Radhakrishnan
Maythil Radhakrishnan
Jyothsana Radhakrishnan
Pon Radhakrishnan
Anitha Radhakrishnan
Radhakrishnan Nair Harshan
Karka Radhakrishnan
Sadhasivan Radhakrishnan
P.Radhakrishnan
P.M.Radhakrishnan
E.P.Radhakrishnan Nair
B.Radhakrishnan
L.Radhakrishnan
So. Hey prospective parents! This is the digital world. People spend more time online than they do talking to real people, where faces don’t matter but names do. So go ahead. And invest on a good SEO consulant before you name your child.
Diagnosed with allergy to citrus fruits. Dear life, please stop giving me lemons.
So when my friend from Baroda moved to Chennai last summer, it wasn’t the just the auto rickshaw guys who troubled him for not knowing the local language.
Translated version. Tamil is to a Gujju what English is to a German.
