Saturday, May 31, 2008

Viacom vs Youtube.com vs TalentTrove.com

I was surprised to see my Youtube.com videos in another website www.TalentTrove.com.



I would not have stumbled on this website had I not searched "Google.com" for my name, in the process of checking my blog-site page ranking.

The site(www.talenttrove.com) is still in the "beta" stage but one can find tons of videos on the site. I suspect they are all taken("Leeched") from different websites while some are uploaded by users.



In the "About us" columnn, the following words describes the reasons for starting the website.

"We started TalentTrove with true artists in mind. From singing to advanced needlework, all talent is an art and will now have the chance to be appreciated. Why have your talent lost on sites full of random videos only two people on the planet understand? Here at TalentTrove, you will have the ability to surround your uploaded talent with others sharing common interests. Talent categories, personalized pages and social networking will allow you to show the world your talent. Think of it as a virtual stage, gallery, studio, TV station, you name it. It's a place where artists of every type, from anywhere, can get a real shot and meet some contacts and friends in the process."

I didn't know that I was so talented- talented enough to have someone search my videos in YouTube and post it on their website without my permission.

Furthermore, my "profile" location on TalentTrove is wrongly mentioned as "Indonesia" instead of "India" and the video descriptions are also incorrect.

While www. youtube.com is already facing a $1 billion lawsuite from viacom over video infringement, it would be interesting to note how Google reacts to sites like www.talenttrove.com using their videos.

Comments?

Monday, May 26, 2008

About Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Karnataka BJP


This title might be a little amusing to many and if I was reading this post for the first time, I would also contemplate about a common connection between the three. Of course, one can understand that Barrack and Hillary are fighting it out for the democratic Presidential nomination, but Karnataka BJP surely doesn't fit into the picture.



Well, I had thought of predicting an outcome of the recent Karnataka elections but somehow missed writing a post about the same. And, this time, I do not want to miss out on my prophesy:)

I am not a critic of the Gowda lineage. Infact, I was happy about Kumaraswamy's governance. But, when "he" failed the coalition that supported him so well, citing reasons Bangaloreans could not digest, like many, I predicted that his downfall was inevitable.

With BJP still popular and waiting for a comeback and the Congress still nursing wounds of being in opposition, I knew that the Saffron brigade would march to its first glory in the South.

And, it has happened. On May 28th, the BJP government under Yedurappa will be sworn-in, and thankfully this time, without its unreliable coalition.

So, what do I want to predict about the US democratic Presidential nomination? It is not a statement that is unique but it is an option lying with the delegates of the Democratic party and also the candidates, somewhere in the back of their minds.

It is undeniable that the majority of the votes received by the two candidates can be classified as "black" votes and "white" votes.

Hillary and Obama have both stated that they would certainly like to be THE nominee and not a running mate. But, Hillary, in particular has carried on the campaign even when it is clear that she would not be able to catch-up with Obama.

Further, both have them have religiously restrained from damaging personal attacks on each other. Hillary's husband, the former President Bill Clinton seems to have lost hope on his wife's campaign and had recently hinted that her aspirations could be met one day, if she becomes the Vice-President for now, in short, Obama's running mate.

So, if Barrack wins the nomination and nominates Hillary has his running mate, then nothing should stop the Democrats from winning the Presidential elections.

Obama should be aware that Senator Clinton is more popular than Senator Edwards, who is also being talked about as his running-mate. It would be generous and wise on his part to nominate a person who has never let his campaign be a cake-walk, rather than a person who conceded defeat half-way through the nomination process.

This also means that I am strictly ruling out McCain winning the elections. The Bush incumbency factor will largely be responsible for his debacle. And I think, America needs a young face as its leader ably supported by a lady who women, over the world look up to as an inspiration.

For a change, let us see if the party stands over vendetta.
Yeah, CHANGE is what I believe in, at least for this time.

Nokia E50 Review




I will not be writing about the technical specifications for the phone. The details are easily available on the Internet. Rather, I would be talking about my end-user experience.



a) Looks: Good, slim for a smartphone, compact vis-a-vis the Blackberry's. The cover that comes along with the phone is pretty cool.

b) Keys: Easy for people who can type really quickly with both hands.

c) Joystick: I had a Sony Ericsson K500i which gave me a traumatic joystick experience. I trust Nokia blindly and it looks to be good till date. Scrolling might be a problem though.
If you have thick fingers, this is probably not the joystick phone you are looking for.

d)Battery: Bad, especially if you use Bluetooth handsfree.

d)Utilities: Install Mail for Exchange and configure your office e-mails easily(Microsoft Exchange)

e)Wait time: As you increase the number of applications, the phone tends to become slower. So, install only those applications that you can't live without.

f) Software and Utilities: WWW.DOTSIS.COM is a good forum for the applications.

g) FM out: FM radio is missing??!!

My rating:
Good for Rs 8000+ INR(Approx. 188 USD) but be ready to carry your charger everywhere you go.

I will give it 2.75 out of 5 and would recommend Nokia E51 based on my experience.

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