How to Craft a Blog Post Title ?

Recently I been facing a problem when it comes to decide titles for my blog post. I want to keep my titles attractive and interesting. Somehow I am not satisfied with the titles that I put up on my posts. I have been struggling to appropriately title my post then suddenly I understand the mind set of Shakespeare when he wrote 'As You Like It'. When such a great man had trouble finding a suitable title who the hell am I ?

I guess the title is very important as it is the first impression and more often than not it decides whether you read through it or just let go of it. But then I also do not want the title to be just anything interesting, it should also be able to properly represent the content that follows. I do not know how to get the titles.

The easiest way I believe is to pick up the first few words of the post and keep it as title followed by ... I tried to but then I did not like the looks of it so decided against it. I am actually very fussy and want things to be perfect for me before I can let it out for others to see or read. As a result I spend more time thinking for a appropriate title for my post than I actually do to write a post. So next time if you think that the title is not good enough and there could be a better title do let me know.

How To Be Successful ?

"There are two things that prevent us from achieving our dreams: believing them to be impossible or seeing those dreams made possible by some sudden turn of the wheel of fortune, when you least expected it. For at that moment, all our fears suddenly surface: the fear of setting off along a road heading who knows where, the fear of a life full of new challenges, the fear of losing for ever everything that is familiar." quoted Paulo Coelho in "The Devil And Miss Prym".

Today I talked to one of my friends and I could make out that she was very low on confidence and that the fear of failure was all over her. I ran down my memory lane and tried to remember this quote, I had to finally search my library to pick out the book and read the beautiful words. I liked them so much and they were perfectly matched for the situation so I decided to put them here.

I would also like to quote another snippet from the same novel, "Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is that you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed." I guess if you have confidence on yourself and you will surely succeed in life. It is the fear of failure that keeps us away from achieving our goals. I would like to conclude with a beautiful quote of Shiv Khera : "Winners don't do different things, they do things differently."

Weird Games on Facebook

There is something about the games on facebook that attract me towards them and every time I play one, I make it a point that I am not going to take any of these stupid games any more but somehow I just fall for them all over again. Today I saw a game 'Get your next date', the name itself was so tempting that I decided to play it. As usual the results really put me off, I tried my luck three times and all three times I got the name of a family member. I once again decided not to play any of these games ever again.

But I played again, yes the game was so tempting that I had to go. I saw one of my friends result on my wall 'Date of the day' is Megan Fox. The big fan that I am of Megan Fox just dragged me to it. I played it and got some ugly result which I could not even publish to my wall. I had played it to get Megan Fox and I was not willing to stop before I get her as my Date of The Day. So I tried and finally got it. Yes I did, it is very easy from the page where you get your result and if you decide not to publish the result you get an option which says select another... so I selected another and another till I got Megan Fox and then I published it on my Wall with a message as if it came up by itself and that I am so surprised it actually did.

After I did all this I laughed at myself and also at several others who actually do the same and then feel surprised with the result. This is really weird but it is also fun. It is a good way to keep yourself busy when you want to be comfortable on your bed, a quilt covering the lower half of you and a hot coffee mug by your side. As I sip my cup of coffee, I play one of these games and feel good about it.

Marriage Fever

It is that time of the year when the marriages are at their best and everyday you encounter atleast a couple of marriages. As per my understanding this is almost the end of the season may be a week more to go. But I must confess many of my relatives, friends and colleagues got married this season. The best thing was the marriage of one of my best and oldest friend Rishi Kumar who got married on the 21st of November. It was a great wedding and I really enjoyed each and every moment of it. Though it was a very hectic tour for me. I left for Allahabad on 20th night and was back in Delhi on the 23rd morning leaving me with almost no time to rest. But then I guess you have to pay this price nothing comes easy and free.

Even this 27th I was to visit a marriage in Allahabad but could not go for several reasons, official work being the major cause. I also has a marriage in my relation on the 28th and my entire family went there, I missed that one too. It takes so much out of you to attend these marriages but then I also feel sad if I am unable to attend them.

The story of marriages started with the marriage of Neetu Sharma, a friend from my old company and one of the earliest friend that I made in Delhi, but the marriage was on Thursday and I was unable to attend it as I got occupied in office plus the fact that I would not know many people there also kept me back. Still I wanted to be there.

As all these marriages passed by I was thinking about the marriage of a very close friend of mine Yogesh. We are eagerly awaiting the news of his marriage. Every time he comes back from his hometown we are all like What ??? and he just smiles and nods away. It is high time sir ji get married.

My Children's Day Gift

I consider myself so blessed and lucky to have such beautiful, caring and loving parents. Yes, it is a fact that all parents love their children like anything and they are always ready with a helping hand. But my case is a bit different, this children day my parents booked a 2 BHK flat in Olive County Vasundhara, Ghaziabad for me. This is the best gift that I have ever been gifted with. I am extremely happy and wanted to thank them for this gesture.

We had actually decided upon a house and the final settlement and the formalities took place on the 14th of November so I accepted it as a Children Day gift from my parents. I am very excited about the fact that I own a house but at the same time the pain of home loans and EMIs make me a worried man. I can now get the joke when people say that if they win a lottery, they will use the prize money to re-pay the loan that they have on their head. I must confess that it is a very bad feeling and always plays on my mind. But still I am now a proud owner of a beautiful house in Delhi NCR.

It would not be long before I move into my house and therby move out of the mess and pressure that the landlords pose. There are few landlords who are very good by heart but I have been with some very cunning people so I am also happy to walk out from them.

A big thank you to my parents for making me feel special and giving me the gift of my life. The only thing missing now is 'gharwali' and hope I will get one soon ;)

'Super Sachin'

I am a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar and I believe that his achievements are second to none. I could resist from writing when I read the great words of Shobhaa De for Sachin Tendulkar. You can read it here. It is the best article about Sachin that I have read in some time now. It actually sums up everything and I loved it. It is a must read.

I would also like to Congratulate him for completing 20 years in International Cricket. For your refernce I am posting a few links that shows you some facts about Sachin.
ODI Awards
Achievements of Sachin.
Awards

Student versus Professor

After having failed his exam in "Logistics and Organization", a student goes and confronts his lecturer about it.

Student: "Sir, do you really understand anything about the subject?"

Professor: "Surely I must. Otherwise I would not be a professor!"

Student: "Great, well then I would like to ask you a question.

If you can give me the correct answer, I will accept my mark as it is and go. If you however do not know the answer, I want you give me an "A" for the exam. "

Professor: "Okay, it's a deal. So what is the question?"

Student: "What is legal, but not logical, logical, but not legal, and neither logical, nor legal?"

Even after some long and hard consideration, the professor cannot give the student an answer, and therefore changes his exam mark into an "A", as agreed.

Afterwards, the professor calls on his best student and asks him the same question.

He immediately answers: "Sir, you are 63 years old and married to a 35 year old woman that is legal, but not logical. Your wife has a 25 year old lover, which is logical, but not legal. The fact that you have given your wife's lover an "A", although he really should have failed, is neither legal, nor logical."

An Apology Letter to My Stomach

I would start with a question to all you folks who read my blog, which part tongue or stomach you think is more important ?. Well if you analyze the question and think about it like seriously, the second thought that comes to mind is that both are important. Yes I said second thought because the first thought would definitely be that you are an Idiot.

I know this is a foolish question but it has been all over me since last weekend. We have been on a food riot almost the entire week and things have not eased till date. Every time I eat some spicy food, my taste buds and tongue likes it but I can actually feel my stomach revolting. But I am thankful to my stomach for holding up as beautifully as it did.

As I write this post I have home cooked chicken ready to be had and I will honor it just after I finish writing this post. I am a food freak and I love eating lots of food. But since the last week or so I have had too much to eat and trust me I am still hungry for more. People around me who know me well would agree when I say this. I must confess that I already have plans of some lovely food as I am to visit my sister next weekend.

I would like to publicly apologize to my stomach for overburdening it with heavy rich and spicy food. But I am afraid to say that even after all these efforts I am unable to disappoint my taste buds and the food festival will continue. So if you want some come get some.

Story of Anonymous Comments

There have been a sequence of events when I have recieved comments on my blog, from 'anonymous' users, that were not very pleasant. I am always open to criticism but I hate when people scribble rubbish and post it without their names. It was just yesterday when I recieved a comment on one of my posts by this anonymous user which was very rudely written and was full of crap. I was shocked to read such strong and vulgar words posted on my blog and that really pissed me off. I believe that if you have to write such strong words then you should be bold enough to post it in your name. Yesterday was the second instance when this has happened. I must confess it is a really bad feeling when someone tries to abuse you publicly. I am still unable to understand why people take out their frustration in such cheap manner.

I am also open to people criticising my blog posts, and I would love to improve in the areas that I may be lacking. I never intend to target a person or thing in my blog, the posts are generally based on my personal experiences so I cannot justify such actions by people. I would say that some people have used my post to take out their frustration. I pitty such people and feel sorry for them. But this won't help you guys be very clear about it.

Bug the life out of irritating callers

Almost all of us have been a victim to the irritating calls for the purpose of credit cards, mobile schemes, insurance, loan etc etc. So here are Ten ways to stop those credit card sales, mobile companies, insurance calls from irritating you:

1 After the telemarketer finishes speaking, ask him/her to marry you.

2 Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment, and ask him/her, if he/she will give you his/her home phone number so you can call him/her back.

3 Ask them to repeat everything they say, several times.

4 Tell them it is dinnertime, BUT ask if they would please hold. Put them on your speaker phone while you continue to eat at your leisure. Smack your food loudly and continue with your dinner conversation.

5 Tell them that all business goes through your agent, and hand the phone to your five year old child.

6 Tell them you are hard of hearing and that they need to speak up.... Louder... Louder... Louder!

7 If they start out with, "How are you today?", say "I'm so glad you asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems.... ........."

8 Tell them to speak very slowly because you want to write every word down.

9 Cry out in surprise, "Helen, is that you? I've been hoping you'd call! How is the family?" When they insist they are not Helen, tell them to stop joking. This works especially well if the telemarketer is really MALE.

10 Tell the ICICI call centre guy to call on your office number - and give him the HSBC call centre number.

PS: These points have been compiled by Deepak Kumar thanks to him.

Google Now Sells Ice Candies

This is an amazing picture that goes to show the popularity of Google. It also demonstrates the mindset of the business man who tries to cash in the things that are famous. But this in my opinion is really awesome. I was so moved by this picture that I immediately decided to put it up here and just let people dwell over it.

I have always been a fan of the Indian thought process and the various amazing sequences that people come up with in order to sell their products. The amount of thinking that goes into such ideas is simply unbelievable.

I rate this particular work as one of the best as this idea was not evolved or originated by any professional but a simple man who sells ice candies. I also think that this picture should make google proud as they have actually entered the heart and mind of common man and not only a specific class or kind.

PS: This picture was sent to me by a very dear friend Yogesh Kumar so a big Thank You to him.

Microsoft Windows 7 for Rs 40 only.

Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and is available for a cost of Rs 40 - 250 in Lucknow city of Uttar Pradesh. The news is shocking and goes to show the amount of piracy that is present in the country. About 50,000 pirated DVDs of Microsoft Windows 7 are estimated to have been sold here since the official launch on Oct 22, generating unaccounted business of around Rs 50 lakhs (nearly $100,000). The legal version of the new operating system launched by Microsoft Corp costs between $150-$300 (Rs 7,500 - 15,000) in the international markets. The company, however, tagged its prices 20 percent below international rates in India, where it is available in the Rs 6,000-Rs 11,000 range through official channels.

Piracy has been a known curse and we are getting more and more into it rather than walking out of it. Well if you take the buyers side then you believe that if a person gets a software for 250 rs then why would he pay 6,000 for the same, I personally know lots of people who use pirated versions of Operating Systems. In practical life, if you go for assembled computers, a good configuration with cost you maximum of 25,000 rupees with all equipments. Now if a free copy of an Operating System is available with a friend, would you ever go to buy the genuine version for 6,000 or so?. The answer is pretty obvious and is 'NO'. What should be done to prevent piracy? is a mystery question and no one has an answer to it.

Windows 7 has a lot of new features and after looking into it you can easily make out the effort and cost that must have gone into building it. If they don't get the price they demand, it is actually harsh on them and is like asking too much for almost nothing. Let us hope that this piracy issue ends soon, but at the same time I am also worried realising the fact that I may have to pay close to 7,000 rs for my copy of Operating System in the future or I need to learn Linux ;).

Orkut versus Facebook

Social Networking sites have been a hit for some time now. Orkut was the one which started it all and now there are several such sites, Facebook being the most famous amongst the other. I have an account on both these social networking sites and I have noticed that I have actually enjoyed Facebook more than Orkut. I don't have any specific reason for it but I guess we were tired of the ages old format and looks of Orkut. I could not see any major change that Orkut underwent since its launch in January 2004, if I recall properly I can only remember the limit of pictures being increased from 12 to 10,000 and few other security related changes where we can select a bunch of friends who can view the pictures and videos that are uploaded.

Due to these factors the fan following of Orkut was on a down slope for some time now. I can easily say that the competition of Orkut grew since Facebook gained popularity. The concept of Live Feeds that Facebook has is one really cool thing and makes you feel connected. Also the lightening speed with which you can upload pictures and videos to facebook is really good. I am in no way criticising Orkut but I believe that they need to change if they want to survive.

I took this matter up as I read that Orkut has actually released a new version where it has tried to catch up with the latest features and provide faster and easier access to friends. It has also provided the 'automatic friend finder' feature and a more interactive Activity Stream that is similar to status message update of Twitter and Facebook. This is a delayed change and should have happened earlier. It would not be easy to drag people back if they have called it quit from Orkut. But as they say Better Late than Never let us just wait and watch how much impact this new version has. In any case we always have the option to chose the one which we find easier and convenient.