Times of India redefines blasphemy

Times of India launched its campaign for their in-house TV channel Zoom-a lifestyle and glamour channel-in style. They printed a raunchy picture of a lady clad in a revealing outfit on the masthead. On the masthead, yes. Today is a day of shame, outrage, and blasphemy for Indian journalists and the people they serve.

When I was a kid my dad always used to scream at me, 'read The Hindu. Improve your English.' And whatever little English I can manage now is courtesy The Hindu. Now, how many of you will encourage your son or nephew to read the Times?

I can understand marketing pressure, but where does one draw a line? As a newspaper that reaches out to thousands of homes, won't you display some responsibility? Some soul? Some decency? I am ok with a Playboy or a Cosmopolitan publishing raunchy content. That's what one would expect from a publication like Cosmopolitan or Playboy. You walk into it with your eyes open.
But a newspaper? A medium that's supposed to power people stooping so low is unacceptable, disgusting, and cheap.

Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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Nucleus is accessible to blind users: Testimonial for a blog script

A visually challenged user of Nucleus CMS had this to say about the script:

"Just to say a great 'thanks' for your nice job. I'm totally blind and totally newbie in php and i've created my blog without any problem with the manual and the help of the forum. and, I could achieve my goal because you, the nucleus devs have thought about the accessibility of your software for blind users. Of course, I've some questions but now, my weblog which is about some cool utilities accessible with screen readers, is running on an accessible soft. Bravo for the job.
I've registered to the forum and I will ask some questions to get more from this good work. I've modified the tag of the nucleus button on the bottom of my page to claim that nucleus is accessible! lol" [Sof]

If only all developers think in the same lines of Nucleus developers!
Check out Nucleus CMS: an easy-to-use, feature-rich, and accessible blog script
Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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Windows XP SP2 and Norton Anti-Virus: Not compatible

If you are an XP user and are planning to upgrade to SP2, DO NOT. XP SP2 apparently does not work with over 200 programs/applications. Here is my personal experience:

• I installed XP SP2 on a PC that ran XP pro.


• The PC took ages to boot and after it did, it was too damn slow.


• I received some stupid error messages that went something like 'Instruction at location 000000x7 failed' or 'mm_tray.exe failed to initialize'.


• I tried to remove the SP2 patch through add/remove programs but the program refused to come up.


• My Norton Anti-virus popped an error saying some other program is trying to ram its trip.


• So, I uninstalled Norton from 'programs>Norton>uninstall' (add/remove programs did not come up)


• Everything is fine now, but hey I don't have the guts to connect to the net without my anti-virus program.

This is madness man. SP2 of XP is supposed to make my web experience secure, not eliminate it totally. I understand that MS had to take the call. Most of the security breaches-as I understand-are caused by legacy applications that allow malware to exploit a PC. And MS had to support these legacy applications. My first reaction to SP2 not being compatible with over 200 apps was 'WTF is wrong with MS? I thought they had a usability lab!'
Anyways, if you hear about this SP2 or get it on a free CD from PC Quest. Don't jump the gun. Wait and watch before you install it.

Note: I am not a technical chap. I use a PC though. And SP2 ruined my trip yesterday. So, if you find any inaccuracies, do let me know. I'd like some advice on how to get Norton working with XP pro SP2.

Related links

200 apps clash with XP SP2

Programs that are known to experience a loss of functionality when they run on a Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer

Windows XP SP2 is big step forward in security--but it can break things

Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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Seinfeld Scripts

All scripts of all Seinfeld seasons avaiable here. What a find! Man!!

"And I'll tell ya, I'm really enjoying this marriage thing. You think about each other. You care about each other. It's wonderful! Plus, I love saying 'my wife.' Once I started saying it, I couldn't stop - 'my wife' this, 'my wife' that...it's an amazing way to begin a sentence."
-Jerry Seinfeld, in The Wife

I know!

Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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Times of India: Exotic journalism ;)

A couple of days back I came across a post on vichaar.org. The article spoke about how Times publishes adult content on its portal homepage. I was not shocked and I took it all in with a somber resignation. I am not going into the morality (or the lack of it thereof) of posting such content on a space flocked to by thousands; I am merely sighing, 'how low will you stoop?' Why doesn't a Shivsena or a Bajrangdal protest against such blatant misuse of journalistic privilege?
Take TOI's city-based supplements. I have read issues of Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai. Not even a single issue contains news. The writers write about some party or the other; or about the Page 3 people. They publish pictures of these people. Yea, I can live with that all right. But the writing! These guys need some help. In the name of style they write nonsense. One of Times' headlines: Sonia queen. King Cong. I mean, hey, who is your chief editor? Is he still in high school? Some of the high-school news papers have better editorial skills than those at Times. I could go on but Jivha saved me the trouble. Take a look at his Times of India chronicles.

Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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Call Centers: Should we hide behind an accent?

Will Kelly wrote on his blog:

In a deep Hindi accent, the customer service rep identified herself with a spanish name! I guess they finally realize since the myth that Indian call center reps speak perfect English indistinguishable from American English has long since been a joke to anybody common sense that they are further perpetuating the ruse and are now trying to hide behind other "accents."

Such lies are a horrible way to conduct a business relationship and are ultimately an insult to the customer's intelligence.

Oh. Trust me, you don't need an American accent to talk to an American. I talk to them in my slow, 'Kongan' accent (as Chit would have put it) and make an effort to get the message across rather than trying to impress upon my American friend that I can sound like an American. I think all that a customer-support pro needs to do is to get through to the customer. Hiding behind an accent is, in a way, being dishonest, and which customer would believe a dishonest person who claims he is around to help the customers?

So all ye call center guys, go easy on the R. It is ok NOT to roll it. Be a friend, before you try to be an American.

Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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