Google Vs Facebook. Strength’s Vs Weaknesses.

To start of with, this one ain’t a technical post. This is a post explaining the thoughts that crossed my mind during my first 5 minutes in Facebook Mail. The bolded text is the happening in the I-World (Internet-World) and the text below are my thoughts.

So there was this big buzz in the I-World when Mark Zuckerberg announced a thing or two about Facebook Mail, a couple of weeks back I guess.

Another newbie in the I-World and lots of waves created. The success of Facebook means high expectations on the yet to materialize Facebook Mail. So I send in a request to get an invitation for the new Facebook Mail.

I got the Facebook Mail today. I was asked to upgrade the normal messages to the new Facebook Mail & I was given my new Facebook E-mail ID.

My first expressions were in a “Glad” note. Glad, as in I got hold of the Facebook mail before many of my friends. On the first look, it looked plainly similar to the old Facebook Messages, except that may be it covers the width of the page now.

So just to check the working of it, I sent a mail from my Gmail to the new Facebook ID. Back in Facebook when I tried to access the mail I had sent in from Gmail, they said there was a temporary glitch. A problem which did disappear by a refresh, but that was enough for me to come out with a Moral message. The following was my next post in FB.

Facebook Mail Sucks!! Zuckerberg can't beat Larry Page in the mailing front! (FB vs. Google: P)

What’s the Message from all this?

Google has the most successful search engine in the world, and one of the better mail services in Gmail, and another super success in Blogger. But none of those helped a bit when they ventured into Google Buzz, an application similar to Twitter. Google Wave is another, yet similar story of tragedy.

Facebook has the most successful social networking site in the world, but their next big thing; the Facebook Mail looks all set to be a crash & burn.

Everyone has got their own domains, Facebook the Social Networking & Google their own ones. Then why do they have to cross borders into another one’s territories ambitiously? Just as a nation enters into another one’s territory eyeing to reap benefits, but ends up in wars, destruction & famine. If those efforts were spent in their own territory, surely they would’ve been a brighter nation. Alike, instead of transcending into others domain, I wish Facebook expand and improve the glitches in their own services and the same  goes on with Google.

Facebook, Google, Twitter and all similar applications were all results of some brilliant ideas and dreams. Why are they now diluting their dreams by carving out pieces from others dreams?

Work on your Weaknesses rather than another one’s Strengths! ~ Naveen.

Ashok Chakra. A Tribute to Mumbai 26/11.

Today, 26/11/2010 marks the 2^nd anniversary of one of the most horrifying incidents of Post-Independence India. Let us salute the brave souls who lost their lives fighting selflessly on the 3 black letter days in Mumbai and also pray for all of the deceased souls.

 

Click here for the full list of the deceased during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Everyone will have a story to tell about this day, the date. My story of the Mumbai attacks goes on like this. On the night of 26^th Nov, 2008, I was chatting with a friend of mine from Mumbai. So while we were chatting, the news of a terrorist strike broke out and this friend was the one who told me about it. She rushed on to make a couple of phone calls to ensure the safety of her friends. I glanced across several websites to get to know the details and was incidentally relieved to find out it was not a bomb blast, which could really take away lots of lives instantly. Only after a while did I notice that the attack was even more dangerous and serious than a bomb blast. Live terrorists were shooting down innocent lives with machine guns in many crowded and landmark places of one of the most populous cities in the world. While this friend was chatting with me late in the night, she got a call and a moment or two later, returned to say her friend was also shot at the Taj Mahal Palace and went offline before I could offer a word of console.

I’ve always had this belief that the best of anyone comes out when in troubled times. I have fond memories how people unite in face of troubled times. Back in Sainik School while in the 9^th class, we used to be the junior-most in the house, inferior to the 10^th, 11^th & the 12^th guys. So facing the rigorous punishments on a day to day basis, what really happens is that it unites each one of the sufferers into one, one big nutshell. Mumbaikars found the same strength in the troubled times and they showed their courage and determination by going to their respective works from the very next day. By doing so, they had given out a clear message to the perpetuators of the attack that nothing can hinder the spirits of the people of Mumbai and the citizens of India.

Two years have gone and the lone captured terrorist Ajmal Kasab is still alive. Several leads have been found, but no real action has been taken against the real organizers of the crime. Heaven knows what, ‘Dossiers’ have been exchanged between the Indian & Pakistani governments and even the Media doesn’t have a count of it. The country has been spending crores of money to keep Ajmal Kasab alive, on his safety and security, but honestly, does that man deserve all these?

I can’t help myself not to criticize the judicial system of our nation. A person who killed 166 innocent people with machine guns; who as per the court waged war against the country, why in the hell is he alive still? I don’t know if many are aware of this, but SI Tukaram Omble sacrificed his own life while trying to arrest Kasab alive. This is an excerpt from Wikipedia.

Baudankar says that Assistant Sub Inspector Tukaram Omble was hit by the bullets as he was the first to charge towards Kasab and his associate armed with just a stick. "All those who were with Omble survived as he stood like a shield," adds Kadam. "When we saw that Omble was not letting go of the terrorist's gun, we knew we could not let his sacrifice go in vain. He held on and we completed his unfinished task," his colleague Sanjay Govilkar said.

It’s nothing like the news of a death sentence for Kasab makes any change in my life or gives me a high, but it’s that the life and sacrifice of brave men like SI Omble goes down the lane worthless in the present situation. The loop-holes in our Judiciary that keeps him alive even today are almost making fun of the sacrifices of those valiant officers. Lets hope the perpetuators of the attack gets caught, and soon the whole of terrorism gets wiped away from the face of our planet.

26/11 is now a part of history and bullet holes on the walls and the scars in the hearts of Mumbaikars shall remain forever. The least we can do is to be better citizens of this vibrant nation. For a nation which has had to face many unfortunate challenges like the terrorist attacks, cross-border insurgency and interior Naxalism, it’s a shame that our politicians are adding on to the woes by stupid scams and scandals, which becomes bigger & filthier every next time.

The Ashok Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield, during peace time. 15 Police men and 2 NSG commandos lost their lives encountering terrorists. Officers Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte and Tukaram Ombale and 2 NSG commando’s Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan & Havildar Gajendar Singh were awarded Ashok Chakra for their sacrifices. We salute one and all of them.

Image Courtesy - Flickr

bid adieu Freddie…..

 

This man probably had the broadest shoulders in the cricketing world, and the expectations over them were incredible & in accountable every time he crossed the boundary ropes. His sheer presence in the ground raised the spirits of the whole team. If there’s a man whose stature & credibility stands far above his achievements & statistics, it is Andrew Flintoff.

A hard smasher of the cricket bowl and a hostile hit-the-deck-hard bowler, Andrew Flintoff surely has been the greatest all-rounder I have watched in this game of cricket, and beyond all doubts, one of my favorite players. Watching the 2005 & 2009 Ashes series, where he steamed up to the bowling crease over and again with the whole crowd cheering behind him, chanting one & only name…“Flintofff,Flintofffff”, was much more exciting than even many T-20 matches. He might have been suffering from pain, so intense that he barely made it back to the bowling mark, limping, but then no pain in this world stopped him from his express-run, back to the crease and each delivery went past the batsmen as a fireball. Today after being at the receiving end of many a injuries, he has called it Quit.

A career which was hit hard by series of recurring injuries, his achievements are limited, considering the enormous talent he is. Andrew Flintoff probably was never a legend with his cricketing figures; there are not many centuries/five-wicket howls to talk about. But once fit, he was one of those bowlers of his generations that any batsman wouldn’t want to face, for his hostility & accuracy. A captain's boy in every aspect, a go-to man in any situation, he would present you a gem, when you had just dreamt of one. 

His passion for the game ensured that even his opponents spoke highly of him, clearly knowing that they will be at the receiving end of it all, his spirits, his powers and most terrifying; his fireballs. Now that the legend has finally come to terms with his body, the whole cricketing world shall miss him, shall speak highly of him, and will remember his monumental postures and power packed fist thumps for years. Let the smile in his face, remain for ever!

Andrew Flintoff’s profile at Cricinfo.

Andrew Flintoff’s page in Wikipedia