Hari's Corner

Anybody who has a gmail or Yahoo e-mail address can access their e-mail using a desktop client with POP support. Although I guess a majority prefer the web interface for its convenience, I think a mail client is extremely useful and makes e-mail management a lot more sophisticated - and you get the best of both worlds in this case (web access as well as client access). The main reason I switched to a mail client is because gmail's new web interface is far too slow and unwieldy.

I use KMail in my Debian box, since it's integrated with the KDE PIM module as well as KDE's address book.

Here are some reasons you might want to switch to client-based e-mail access:

• Convenient way to read and compose messages while off-line and the ability to queue up messages to be sent at one particular point of time.
• Since messages are downloaded to your hard disk, you have a natural back-up for your important mail.
• Mail clients allow you to access multiple e-mail accounts within one single, unified interface. This facility also allows you to easily preserve old e-mail from previous accounts while switching to a new one.
• Transferring or backing up e-mail is as convenient as copying or archiving a directory.
• Since mail clients are desktop applications, they are responsive and stable whereas accessing webmail depends on the speed of the internet connection. Also a lot of webmail interfaces are bloated and slow (examples of this are the new gmail/Yahoo interfaces which really chokes the browser at times)
• Using a mail client feels more professional and business-like.

It's lucky I live in a country where superstores like Walmart haven't yet made an impact. I was reminded of this again, a few days back when I went to a small newly opened music store near my house. This shop not only offered a minimum discount of 10% for all products on display, they actually gave as much as 40-50% off MRP on many of the collections.

On more than one occasion I've come across an instance where a small shopkeeper/store owner is not only willing to give offer discounts to encourage sales, he is actually pleased to do so, in order to establish customer relationship. It's a myth that the bigger shops including supermarkets offer discounts because they can afford to. Fact is, they do enough business so they can afford to ignore individual customers far more easily and therefore they couldn't care less about customer satisfaction. The personal touch is also missing in the large supermarkets. Nobody even cares whether you're a regular customer for years at a supermarket (I know this by experience).

Big supermarkets and mega-stores offer (usually pathetic) discounts only to rid themselves of old stock and/or to undercut the competition and drive the small shopkeepers out of business. Apart from the ethical issues involved, indeed here's a good business reason for all of us to keep the small traders in business: preserve competition and don't let the supermarkets dominate the retail scene.

Here's my next Geeky and Meeky cartoon entitled "Not formal enough." I've not actually been drawing a whole lot lately and this was done some time back.

You know, the power of CSS is unbelievable when you really tap into its latent power. From the earlier theme, I was able to completely change the look of this site without touching a single tag of XHTML. Every layout change was made within the CSS file. This means the site looks exactly to web robots and other scripts. The changes are purely visual.

I still plan to use the older theme on and off as it's just one click away. But I just wanted to use this theme just as a variation and to get feedback from my readers. If you think this theme is too plain, just let me know.

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The ICL tournament is really getting my interest now. I think Twenty20 is here to stay. It's interesting to watch some of the international veterans like Lance Klusener and Craig McMillan still playing such competitive cricket. The intensity has definitely been higher than I expected at first. It's better than the current India vs. Pakistan Test Series which is going nowhere with such dead flat batting wickets. The fielding standards have been quite good too.

P.S. There seems to be (at least) a couple of other "Indian Cricket League" websites out there (and one of it claims to be an "official" website) which is bound to create some confusion. The site I linked to above *is* the official website of Zee TV's ICL.

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I am casually attempting to write a parody of Harry Potter. After all, I do write parody articles, so I thought I should try to attempt to parody a full-length novel. I've already fleshed out a first chapter and it seems to be quite easy since J.K.Rowling provides such excellent "parodyable" content to work with. I just hope this one comes good. Maybe if I really put in some effort into it, I might get it published.

It's not easy to sustain humour over several chapters and I'm trying to avoid the pitfalls of most parodies. Here I'll just try to write down a few rules to keep in mind for myself:

1. Don't resort to silly jokes. It just takes away from the "parody" aspect.
2. Be subtle to a degree. But not too subtle that the joke is lost on the reader.
3. Stick as closely to the original storyline to keep the comparitive value alive, but don't mimic the original too closely. Add variations to the theme to make it interesting.
4. Try and look for "clever" points to exaggerate and improvise.
5. Take a serious concept and twist it to a level where it becomes ridiculously funny.

Now, that's a handful.

This one goes into Policy.

Recently, while happening to post a comment on a friend's blog I happened to notice that Blogger.com blogs no longer allow me to identify myself with a URL while commenting. To me (and a lot of other bloggers), posting a comment on a Blogger.com blog has always been like jumping through an obstacle course. And now the final straw: you can no longer leave behind any identifying information while leaving a comment other than a "nickname" if you choose not to log in to your google account. :crazy:

I don't care about not about getting a link back for posting a comment (a link back from a Blogspot/Blogger comments page is not worth the bytes wasted on it anyway). It's about identifying myself to the blog owner and other commenters. A nickname is just not enough sometimes. I felt that using the URL field is a fair and acceptable way to tell the blog owner (and other commenters) who I am. I know blogs where there are multiple commenters with the same nickname and the best way to publicly identify themselves is by their URL. By denying a URL, Blogger has effectively reduced me to anonymity. I refuse to post anonymous comments as a matter of principle even if the blog owner knows me from my usual nickname. I know for a fact that there are few other bloggers with the nickname "hari" (it's not just a theoritical objection: I've seen instances where another "hari" has posted comments on the same blog where I have).

So I am no longer going to post comments on Blogger blogs any more. If I know you well enough, I can always comment on your articles by e-mail and you can publicize that if you wish. If I don't know you well enough to have your e-mail ID, then you wouldn't really be upset that I haven't commented on your blog now, would you? And more in general, I'm not going to post comments on blogs where I feel ignored and where the blog owners refuse to reciprocate or even reply over a period of time.

My apologies to my regular readers for this rant. But here's your incentive to move away from Blogger hosted blogs (if you still have one). You are not really in control of any of the features at all, are you? You are at the mercy of a third party's privacy policy and I'm sure you would be the first to get annoyed by things like this.

Papa Hari News Service

In an innovative move in line with the current obsession with the Search Engine rankings of internet sites, the Papa Hari Research Institute has come up with a new ranking system for real-life human beings. Speaking to mediapersons at a press conference, the Papa Hari Research Institute President, Papa Hari declared that this system of ranking would ensure peace and harmony in a world filled with strife, violence and hatred. Calling for all human beings on the planet to come up and get themselves ranked, Papa Hari stated that anybody who left themselves out of it now would not be recognized as existing, once the Papa Hari World Government comes to power. "Not getting a rank now means you're practically a non-entity. Nobody acknowledges that you exist. Even you yourself will be forced to acknowledge that you don't exist. The PapaRank™ system will revolutionize the world and give people an idea of how important they really are."

Unveiling the system of ranking, Papa Hari assured everybody that it was an open, unbiased and honest process. "Our algorithm for ranking is completely open source, unlike a certain popular search engine on the internet today," quipped Papa Hari, amidst titters, "The process is as follows. Every human being has one chance in a lifetime to spin a wheel of fortune. Once the wheel stops at a number, that's your rank for life. Having a rank of zero means you're on the lowest level of society. Having a high PapaRank means that you're always on the top of the Papa Hari Police database. We will find you wherever you are within seconds. Isn't that a good enough incentive to spin the wheel and determine your worth?"

Elaborating the system, Papa Hari said that there would be 2 kinds of wheels. One would be the "free wheel" with numbers from 0 to 5. The other one would be a "paid wheel" with the numbers 6 to 10 embedded on it. "To use the paid wheel to determine your ranking, you would obviously need to pay!" said Papa Hari, smiling, "We haven't fixed the rates yet, but we're in the process of determining it." He added that the Papa Hari World Government would reserve its right to arbitrarily fix or take away a PapaRank™ for whatever reason they chose. "We initially wanted to brand every human being with a hot iron on the chest to embed the rank for life, but we thought that that would not allow us to change a rank when needed. So once the Papa Hari World Government comes to power, it would be compulsory for every human being to carry a rank card on their persons at all times."

Fielding questions from anxious reporters and newspersons, a Papa Hari Research Institute Spokesman later said that the Institute had spent a lot of time and effort in developing a system which would give people a chance to determine their worth. "We know that most people are uncomfortable with their own self-worth and always love comparing themselves with their neighbours. By allowing our system to rate your worth, you can be assured of complete impartiality and accuracy and it also gives you a quantitative, objective value instead of subjective opinions." He added, "by opting for the Paid Wheel, you ensure that your future worth cannot drop below a certain level, subject to our conditions of course." When reporters objected to the ranking system, calling it discriminatory and arbitrary, the Papa Hari Spokesman pointed out to a popular search engine on the internet and said, "Look. People will always accept others' estimation of their own value. We are only extending the same principle. In truth, the PapaRank™ system gives every human being an opportunity to live a life of dignity and self-respect."

Asked for their reactions to the ranking system, many world leaders reacted negatively and feared that it would take away their role in determining their people's worth. "We will fight this battle in courts," said the leader of a powerful democratic nation, "We will never allow an entity like the Papa Hari Foundation to take away what is legitimately ours. The ranking system will be a failure." Many others also questioned the practical benefits that would arise from such a ranking system. Papa Hari was unavailable for comment on the prevailing criticism, but a secretary brushed aside all the doubts, saying "once the Papa Hari World Government takes over, the point is moot."